Oviraptor - Hyena Analogue 2

The redesign of this earlier bone-cracking oviraptoran. [link]
I went for a skull much closer to that of Rinchenia, with the tooth-like palate projection being much closer to that of the ancestral oviraptor. On [link] ' s recommendation, these adaptable scavengers also sport a long, rough tongue, for scouring the marrow out of the previously cracked bones. The species shown here is one of the keystone species of pleistocene eurasia, playing a role very similar to the cave hyenas of our own past. These bone-cracking oviraptors developed during the pliocene, and only began to flourish as many of the more slender-snouted dromaeosaurs began to decline with their preferred prey during the harsh conditions of the ice age. The oviraptors were able to thrive in conditions that other predators could not, as they were able to fully wrest all the nutritional value from a carcass.