Dinosaurs · Small ornithopod

Valdosaurus

Say it val-doh-sore-us. The name means ‘Wealden lizard’.

Valdosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small ornithopods

Length: 3 m
Diet: Plant-eater
When: Early Cretaceous142 to 121 million years ago
Fossils found in: England, Niger, Romania
Named by: Galton (1975)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Ornithischia › Ornithopoda › Euornithopoda › Iguanadontia › Euiguanadontia › Dryomorpha › Dryosauridae

Where Valdosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small ornithopods. Small, fast, two-legged plant-eaters. See all 12

Found in Britain. Fossils of Valdosaurus have been found in the United Kingdom. Read about how Britain moved across the globe in Britain's journey.

Lived at the same time

Iguanodon · same country
Afrovenator · same country
Jobaria · same country
Becklespinax · same country
Hylaeosaurus · same country
Eotyrannus · same country
Neovenator · same country
Hypsilophodon · same country

Other small ornithopods

Dryosaurus Late Jurassic
Atlascopcosaurus Early Cretaceous
Zephyrosaurus Early Cretaceous
Leaellynasaura Early Cretaceous
Yandusaurus Mid Jurassic
Oryctodromeus Late Cretaceous
Gasparinisaura Late Cretaceous
Parksosaurus Late Cretaceous

Source: Valdosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.