Variraptor

Var robber

• Var · French (place name) · the Var department/river in southeastern France
• raptor · Latin · robber, plunderer

Variraptor combines the name of the Var, the department in southeastern France where the fossils were found, with the Latin word for "robber" or "plunderer". The name therefore means "Var robber", marking both the location and its identity as a predatory theropod. The only named species is V. mechinorum, honouring the Méchin family, who found the remains.

Named by

Le Loeuff and Buffetaut

Year named

1998

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Grès à Reptiles Formation, Var, southeastern France

A small theropod known from fragmentary remains (vertebrae and a partial bone fragments). It was originally described as a dromaeosaurid-like raptorial theropod, but its material is scanty and its exact affinities and validity are debated; some researchers regard it as a doubtful or indeterminate theropod.