Conchoraptor
Small Dino Big Beak

Conchoraptor was a small, bipedal dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period, between 70 and 66 million years ago. It only stood between 3 and 6 feet high and weighed . It did not have teeth, but a strong beak, possibly to feed on mollusks by crushing their shells to get the soft meat inside.

Dino Fact File- Conchoraptor

Name	Conchoraptor
Classification	Saurischian-Theropod
Food	Carnivore
Length	3-6 feet
height	3 feet
weight	20 pounds
Range	Mongolia
Time Period	Late Cretaceous Period

The first Conchoraptor fossils found, was discovered in 1971, on an expedition in Mongolia. Conchoraptor was a relative of another type of dinosaur, called an Oviraptor. The head of Oviraptor was decorated with bony crests, but this specimen had no such decoration. When the fossil was found, it was believed to be a young oviraptor, whose crest had simply not developed at time of death. After further skeletal study though, it was indeed proven to be a different species. Conchoraptor was established as a distinct genus by Dr. Rinchin Barsbold in 1986.

The Conchoraptor Timeline

Mesozoic
Triassic	Jurassic	Cretaceous

The name comes from the Greek konkhè, meaning "mussel", and Latin raptor, meaning “plunderer.” Barsbold named it ‘conchoraptor, because of his hypothesis that rather than preying primarily upon eggs as had been traditionally thought, his discovery may have been specialized to feed on mollusks.

The skull of Conchoraptor was made up of hollow bones and had internal connections. These connected between both ears functioned as resonance chambers and improved hearing.

Conchoraptor Fossil Locations

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