In the previous two posts (part 1 here, part 2 here), I
discussed the shapes and sizes of the muscles and their origins
and insertions of the oviraptorid skull. I deigned to provide
the basis of the muscles mapped to the skull, supported by
reference to updated muscle map locations in extant sauropsidans
by Marc Jones for Sphenodon punctatus (tuatara) and turtles, by
Eric Snively and Casey Holliday for birds, lizards, and
crocodilians in general, and in some specific cases for various
theropod dinosaurs. As a restriction, I’ve chosen to put higher
weight on avian and theropod dinosaur muscles mapped by these
researchers, with attention to sphenodontids and lizards. These
maps are harder to determine without personal examination, so in
the case of “Big Beak,” generalization is used rather broadly.
Even being able to acquire a cast of an oviraptorid skull with
excellent preservation would benefit this process. Now, an
extension of this research is to look at individual
oviraptorids. And in this, the various map