Dino Wiki / All dinos / Beaked plant-eaters

Dino card No. 1873 of 2,027

Valdosaurus

Say it: val-doh-SORE-us

Name means: “Weald lizard”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Valdosaurus was a small, fast plant-eater that ran on two legs. It lived in what is now England and Spain during the Early Cretaceous period, about 140 to 121 million years ago.1 2

Lived

155 to 120 million years ago3

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Isle of Wight and Sussex, England, and possibly Spain3 2

Food

Plants3 1

Length

1.2 to 4 m2

The smallest specimens were juveniles; adults reached about 4 m

Weight

10 kg to 400 kg2

Height

up to 1.4 m2

at the shoulders

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2 bicycles in a rowas long as 22 bananas end to endas heavy as 13 big dogsas heavy as 80 watermelonsup to the handle of a door

How big was Valdosaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Valdosaurus was first thought to be a different dinosaur. Its bones were originally called Hypsilophodon, then Camptosaurus, and later Dryosaurus before getting its own name in 1977.2

The most complete Valdosaurus skeleton was found in 2012 at Compton Bay on the Isle of Wight. It includes a nearly complete tail, hips, and both back legs.2

A full-grown Valdosaurus was about as long as a small car (4 metres) and weighed as much as a large pig (400 kilograms).2

Valdosaurus lived in a warm, floodplain environment with rivers and lakes. The area had seasonal wildfires and occasional storms.2

Its name means 'Weald lizard', after the Weald area of southern England where its fossils were first found.1

Valdosaurus belongs to a group of plant-eaters called dryosaurids, which were fast, bipedal ornithopods.3 2

AI-made picture of Valdosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Valdosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Valdosaurus

?How big was Valdosaurus?

About 4 metres long, 1.4 metres tall at the shoulder, and weighed around 400 kilograms. Juveniles were much smaller, only about 10 kilograms.1 2

?What did Valdosaurus eat?

It ate plants. It was an herbivore.1 2

?When did Valdosaurus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 140 to 121 million years ago.1 2

?Is Valdosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a small ornithopod dinosaur.1 2

Ask Rex about Valdosaurus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Valdosaurus
Named by: Galton 19773
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Dryosauridae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia3
Age of the rocks: 155 to 120 million years (Kimmeridgian / Aptian)3
Rock formations: Wessex, Tunbridge Wells Sand, Weald Clay3
Countries: United Kingdom, Spain3
Fossil records: 12 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The first Valdosaurus fossils were collected in the 1800s by Reverend William Fox on the Isle of Wight. In 1975, Peter Galton named it Dryosaurus canaliculatus, and two years later he gave it its own genus, Valdosaurus.2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether some fossils from Spain and other parts of England really belong to Valdosaurus or to other dryosaurids.2

Where the facts come from

Valdosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Valdosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Valdosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex