Open Paleo

Valdoraptor

Olshevsky, 1991 VALD-o-RAP-tor Nomen dubium

From Latin 'Valdus' (Wealden, referring to the Wealden Group) and 'raptor' (plunderer); meaning 'Wealden plunderer'.

137.1–132.6 million years ago Valanginian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Valdoraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. It is known only from bones of the feet. The holotype, BMNH R2559 (incorrectly given by Owen as BMNH R2556), was found near Cuckfield in layers of the Grinstead Clay Formation dating from the late Valanginian. The specimen is damaged, lacking parts of the upper and lower ends. It has a conserved length of 21.5 centimeters (8.5 in) and an estimated total length of 24 centimeters (9.4 in). If an ornithomimosaur, it would be the first known from England and the earliest record of the group.

Under dispute

Valdoraptor is based on a partial metatarsus, and its affinity is contested. Naish and Martill (2007) regarded the metatarsus as diagnostic and discussed it among possible Wealden allosauroids. Allain and colleagues (2014) found its diagnostic characters homoplastic, including a compressed metatarsal II also seen in noasaurids, and treated it as a nomen dubium while referring it to Ornithomimosauria on comparison with the Angeac-Charente theropod. Cau and Paterna (2025) have since recovered that theropod within Abelisauroidea.

Species

Valdoraptor oweni (Lydekker, 1889) Nomen dubium

Type species

First named as Megalosaurus oweni

Named in honor of Sir Richard Owen, who first described the type metatarsus material (as belonging to Hylaeosaurus sp.).

Holotype
BMNH R2559 , Natural History Museum
Material
Three associated metatarsals (II, III, IV) of a single left foot in Wealden matrix; proximal ends broken obliquely, inner bone retains distal articular surface, middle has partial distal surface, outer distal end missing.
Horizon
Grinstead Clay Formation, Valanginian, Early Cretaceous , 137.1–132.6 million years ago
Locality
Cuckfield, West Sussex, United Kingdom

Synonyms

  • Altispinax oweni reassigned

    Reassignment by von Huene (1923) of Lydekker's Megalosaurus oweni to Altispinax; subsequently moved to Valdoraptor by Olshevsky (1991).

  • Megalosaurus oweni reassigned

    Original combination named by Lydekker (1889) for the Cuckfield metatarsus material that Owen (1858) had earlier referred to Hylaeosaurus sp.

References

  1. Owen, R. (1858). Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations. Part IV. Dinosauria (Hylaeosaurus). Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society 8-26.

    Refers three metatarsals to Hylaeosaurus sp.; a mirrored lithograph caused over a century of confusion about which foot was preserved, and the catalog number Owen gave (2556) is incorrect.

    owen1858a
  2. Lydekker, R. (1889). Note on some points in the nomenclature of fossil reptiles and amphibians, with preliminary notices of two new species. Geological Magazine 6: 325-326.

    Names Megalosaurus oweni for the metatarsus Owen had referred to Hylaeosaurus, separating it from M. dunkeri on size; later reassigned through Altispinax to Valdoraptor.

    lydekker1889a
  3. Olshevsky, G. (1991). A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia. Mesozoic Meanderings 2: 1-196.

    Erects Valdoraptor as a new genus for Lydekker's Megalosaurus oweni, removing it from both Megalosaurus and von Huene's Altispinax; tentatively places it in Allosauridae pending further study.

    olshevsky1991a
  4. Naish, D.; Martill, D. M. (2007). Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia. Journal of the Geological Society 164(3): 493-510. doi:10.1144/0016-76492006-032

    Calls the metatarsus, with a compressed, dorsolaterally ridged metatarsal II, diagnostic, and lists Valdoraptor among possible Wealden allosauroids.

    naish2007a
  5. Allain, R.; Vullo, R.; Le Loeuff, J.; Tournepiche, J. F. (2014). European ornithomimosaurs (Dinosauria, Theropoda): an undetected record. Geologica Acta 12(2): 127-135. doi:10.1344/105.000002083

    Finds the diagnostic characters homoplastic and treats Valdoraptor as a nomen dubium, but refers the holotype to Ornithomimosauria on comparison with Angeac-Charente metatarsals.

    allain2014a
  6. Huene, F. V. (1923). Carnivorous Saurischia in Europe since the Triassic. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 34: 449-458. doi:10.1130/gsab-34-449

    Reassigned Megalosaurus oweni to Altispinax.

    huene1923a
  7. Allain, R.; Vullo, R.; Rozada, L.; Anquetin, J.; Bourgeais, R.; Goedert, J.; Lasseron, M.; Martin, J. E.; Pérez-García, A.; Peyre de Fabrègues, C.; Royo-Torres, R.; Augier, D.; Bailly, G.; Cazes, L.; Despres, Y.; Gailliègue, A.; Gomez, B.; Goussard, F.; Lenglet, T.; Vacant, R.; Mazan; Tournepiche, J. F. (2022). Vertebrate paleobiodiversity of the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Angeac-Charente Lagerstätte (southwestern France): implications for continental faunal turnover at the J/K boundary. Geodiversitas 44(25): 683-752. Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a25

    Retains the Angeac-Charente theropod in Ornithomimosauria on an anatomical survey, without a phylogenetic analysis.

    allain2022a
  8. Cau, A.; Paterna, A. (2025). Beyond the Stromer's Riddle: the impact of lumping and splitting hypotheses on the systematics of the giant predatory dinosaurs from northern Africa. Italian Journal of Geosciences 144(2): 162-185. doi:10.3301/IJG.2025.10

    Recovers the Angeac-Charente theropod, the comparison material for the ornithomimosaur referral, within Abelisauroidea.

    cau2025a