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Citipati

Say it: CHIT-ee-pah-tee

Name means: “funeral pyre lord”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Citipati was a bird-like dinosaur that sat on its eggs like a chicken. It had a short, toothless beak and a tall crest on its head. This dinosaur lived in the desert of Mongolia about 75 million years ago.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Ukhaa Tolgod, Djadokhta Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia1 2

Food

A bit of everything1 4

Length

2.5 to 2.9 m1

Weight

75 kg to 110 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 4 big dogs

as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 16 bananas end to endas heavy as 22 watermelons

How big was Citipati compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Citipati means 'funeral pyre lord' in Sanskrit, named after a skeleton-like spirit in Tibetan folklore.1

One famous Citipati fossil is nicknamed 'Big Mama' because it was found sitting on a nest of eggs.1

Citipati had a pygostyle, a fused tailbone that supported a fan of feathers, just like modern birds.1

Its arms and tail were covered in long feathers that probably helped shade and protect its eggs and babies.1

Citipati was one of the largest oviraptorids, about the size of an emu, and weighed as much as a large dog.1

Scientists think Citipati may have brought small dinosaurs to its nest to feed its hatchlings.1

AI-made picture of Citipati — An AI-made picture of how Citipati might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Citipati

?How big was Citipati?

Citipati was about 2.5 to 2.9 metres long and weighed 75 to 110 kilograms. That is much larger than an emu.1

?What did Citipati eat?

Citipati was probably omnivorous, meaning it ate both plants and meat. Scientists think it may have brought small dinosaurs to its nest to feed its babies.1 2

?Did Citipati have feathers?

Yes, Citipati had long feathers on its arms and tail. These feathers probably helped protect its eggs and babies from sun, wind, and rain.1

?Why did Citipati sit on its eggs?

Citipati sat on its eggs to keep them warm and safe, just like birds do today. Its arms spread over the nest helped shade and protect the eggs.1 3

?When did Citipati live?

Citipati lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 to 71 million years ago. It lived in the desert of Mongolia.1 2

?Was Citipati a dinosaur?

Yes, Citipati was a dinosaur, specifically a type of bird-like theropod called an oviraptorid. It was not a bird, but it was very closely related to birds.1 2

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Myth buster

Myth: Oviraptorids like Citipati were egg thieves.

Truth: The name Oviraptor means 'egg thief', but fossils show Citipati was a caring parent that brooded its own eggs, not a robber.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Citipati
Named by: Clark et al. 20014
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Oviraptoridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Djadokhta4
Countries: Mongolia4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Citipati was named in 2001 by paleontologists James Clark, Mark Norell, and Rinchen Barsbold. The first fossils were found in the 1990s at Ukhaa Tolgod in Mongolia.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Citipati was mostly a plant-eater or an omnivore that also ate meat.1

Where the facts come from

Citipati (en.wikipedia.org)
Citipati | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Citipati Osmolskae: Get to Know a Dino | AMNH (amnh.org)
Citipati in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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