Life in Centro Island
The ovoviraptors

The process of global aridification has significantly impacted higher latitudes, particularly the island of Centro, which has experienced a reduction in rainfall due to low temperatures and the consequent evaporation deficit. Over the course of a few million years, the island's once flourishing dry forests have transformed into cold grasslands with scattered humid forest patches near rivers. The absence of tree cover has forced many large herbivores to develop swift escape capabilities to evade predators. This, in turn, has prompted the evolution of high-speed predators adapted for chasing down prey.

On the island of Centro, however, the role of apex predator has not been assumed by mammals, as is the case elsewhere, but rather by large eggpouchers known as ovoviraptors (genus Ovoviraptor). This genus comprises four species of different trophic levels, ranging from turkey to cassowary-sized.
Despite their impressive head size, ovoviraptors possess a weak bite force and lateral skull, not allowing them to. Instead of using their beaks to grasp prey, they employ stabbing motions: their muscular necks enable lightning-fast downward head movements, delivering powerful blows akin to a hammer strike, which can cause significant bone fractures in their prey. However, for the blow to be fatal, it needs to be heavily loaded, making it more efficient against herbivores smaller than the predator itself; for this reason, ovoviraptors' necks are longer and stronger compared to their ancestors. All these features are extremely in line with the anatomical trend found in terror birds and the major part of the herdstalkers. 

Ovoviraptors primarily target prey within their own size range, although it is not uncommon to witness reproductive pairs taking down prey of larger size. Herbivoos are often avoided by these predators due to their impressive heights (which could be the result of a parallel evolution): they instead focus their attention on slower and shorter prey, like rodents, which comprise most of their diet.