The Best Little Oviraptorid in Mongolia

The specimen known as GIN 100/42 (and by some as IGM 100/42, but anachronistically) is one of the most complete oviraptorid specimens preserved and (partially) described. Complete except for the last few dorsal vertebrae, lacking a gastral basket and some limb bones, nearly every part is there.

GIN 100/42 (or 100/42 for short) was originally dumped into Oviraptor sp. by Barsbold Rinchen way back in 1976 prior to description of new oviraptorids, showing that there was substantial diversity at play. While Greg Paul produced a skeletal, his was to effectively dump the complete skull of 100/42 onto a mocked-up body based mostly on Oviraptor philoceratops AMNH FR 6517, and the common image of oviraptorids in media for the last few decades comes from that decision. It's clearly incorrect, but we'd not know this until the finding of Citipati osmolskae, a new long-necked oviraptorid. That discovery suggested that 100/42 was, in fact, a Citipati-like species of some sort; but Oviraptor was a very different creature.

Current data strongly indicates that 100/42 is a new species of some sort; it's not the same as Citipati osmolskae and there are substantial cranial differences along with similarities, which cannot necessarily be explained by ontogeny (that we know of). Postcranial proportions and cranial morphology reveal distinct differences amongst oviraptorids, and the unique crest on the nose presents many novel interpretations of oviraptorid cranial anatomy. More is forthcoming.

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I've produced a variety of skeletal diagrams for this specimen, my favorite amongst oviraptorids, but this stands (on one foot) as the most thorough. I've saved the big working file for this to make sure I can modify it, fixing it, should the need arise. Currently, there's some concern that the vertebral proportions are a little off, but I made a lot of effort to try to scale things properly based on specially-shared photos of the mount.