Valdoraptor

Weald thief / Weald robber

• Valdo- · Latin · of the Weald (Wealden)
• -raptor · Latin · thief, plunderer, seizer

The name combines a Latinised reference to the Wealden, the geological group of Early Cretaceous rocks in southern England from which the fossil was recovered, with the Latin word 'raptor', meaning a thief or plunderer. The Wealden (Latin 'Valdum' or 'Valdus') is a well-known sequence of freshwater and terrestrial sediments exposed across the Weald of Kent and Sussex. The '-raptor' suffix was commonly applied to carnivorous dinosaurs thought to be active predators.

Named by

Olshevsky

Year named

1991

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Valanginian

Found in

Wealden Group, East Sussex, England, UK

Valdoraptor oweni is based on a single fragmentary metatarsal (foot bone) from the Wealden Group of England, described originally under a different assignment and later re-evaluated by Olshevsky in 1991. Because the material is so fragmentary, the genus is widely regarded as a nomen dubium — a doubtful name that cannot be confidently diagnosed or compared to other theropods. It is thought to represent a large theropod dinosaur, possibly a tetanuran, but its exact affinities remain unresolved.