Vectaerovenator
"Wight air-filled hunter"
- Lived
- 120 to 113 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- United Kingdom
- Named by
- Barker et al. 2020
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
115 million years ago
Habitat
It probably lived on land near the shallow sea that deposited the Ferruginous Sands in England. Polacanthus and Mantellisaurus are also reported from the wider region's marine sands.
Field notes
About Vectaerovenator
What it was like
Vectaerovenator was a two-legged predator known from four backbones. The bones are full of air spaces, like those of birds, which gave it its name. It may have been several meters long.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now England. Its bones come from the Ferruginous Sands, which formed in the sea, so its body probably washed out from land. The armored Polacanthus lived in the region.
How it was found
Barker and colleagues named it in 2020. The bones were found on a beach by members of the public.
Field gallery
More views of Vectaerovenator
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Vectaerovenator.
The evidence
The science behind Vectaerovenator
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The known bones include a neck vertebra, back vertebrae, a tail vertebra and part of a neck rib.
- Large openings lead into air chambers inside the neck and back bones.
- The bones probably belong to the same animal, based on their size, appearance and surrounding sandstone.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its missing head, neck, trunk and tail are compared with Dubreuillosaurus, and its missing hands and feet with Torvosaurus.
Still unknown
- Its closest relatives within Tetanurae; the proposed tyrannosauroid placement has weak support.
- The shape of its head, hands and feet.
- Its skin covering and color.
Discovery timeline
- 2007Its worldNaish & Martill
- 2008Its worldNAISH & MARTILL
- 2020Named itBarker et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Vectaerovenator
Its world
Reviewed the British theropod record, noting its diversity and how often the fossils are fragmentary.
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: 493-510
Read the paper : Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia (opens in a new tab)Its world
Reviewed armored and plant-eating dinosaurs from England, including the marine-sand records that help describe Vectaerovenator's wider world.
Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: Ornithischia. Journal of the Geological Society 165: 613-623
Read the paper : Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: Ornithischia (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a theropod with unusually large air chambers in its backbone and left its exact family placement open.
A highly pneumatic middle Cretaceous theropod from the British Lower Greensand. Papers in Palaeontology 6: 661-679
Read the paper : A highly pneumatic middle Cretaceous theropod from the British Lower Greensand (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Tetanurae
Sources: Wikidata