Dinosaur Names that Start with “V”

Check out the alphabetical list of dinosaur names beginning with the letter “V”. We’ll look at dinosaur pictures and discuss what their names mean, as well as learn more about dinosaur facts.

Dinosaurs with names that begin with the letter “V”

Vahiny

Vahiny are a kind of sophisticated titanosaur from Madagascar’s late Cretaceous epoch.

Vahiny, which means “wanderer” or “guest” in Malagasy (Madagascar’s official language), is related to the taxon’s rarity in the Mahajanga Basin. The species is named after Charles Depéret, a French palaeontologist who described the initial Madagascar dinosaur material and discovered the sauropodian nature of Malagasy osteoderms.

Valdoraptor

Valdoraptor was a medium-sized theropod that lived in what is now England during the early Cretaceous period.

The genus name is derived from the Latin words Valdus, which means “Wealden Group,” and raptor, which means “plunderer.”

Valdosaurus

Valdosaurus was a primitive iguanodont that existed in the early Cretaceous period in the United Kingdom, Spain, and maybe Romania.

Valdosaurus derives its generic name from the Latin valdus, which refers to the Wealden rock group, of which the Wessex Formation is a component. The term genre comes from the Latin word caniculatus, which means “channel” or “conduit.” It refers to the deep grooves between the femur’s condyles.

Vallibonavenatrix

Vallibonavenatrix was a Spinosauridae family medium-sized theropod that lived in what is now Spain during the early Cretaceous period.

The name Vallibonavenatrix is derived from the Spanish city of Vallibona and the Latin word venatrix (“hunter”). The genre name honours the holotype’s discoverer, Juan Cano Forner.

Variraptor

Variraptor is the genus name for a tiny theropod of the Dromaeosauridae family that lived in what is now France during the Late Cretaceous period.

Variraptor is derived from the Var department and the Latin raptor (“thief”, “robber”). The name honours Patrick and Annie Mechin, who discovered the variraptor bones.

Vayuraptor

Vayuraptor was a medium-sized theropod that existed in today’s Thailand during the early Cretaceous period.

Vayuraptor derives its name from the Indian god of wind (Vayu in Sanskrit) and the Latin word raptor (“thief”). The genre name relates to Thailand’s Nong Bau Lamphu region.

Vectaerovenator

Vectaerovenator is a theropod of unknown systematic position that existed in modern-day England during the early Cretaceous epoch. A group of palaeontologists led by Chris Barker identified and characterised it in 2020.

The name Vectaerovenator is derived from the Latin vectis (a reference to the finding of Vectaerovenator bones on the Isle of Wight), the Greek aeor (“air” – a reference to the skeleton’s high degree of pneumatization), and the Latin venator (“hunter”). The species name inopinatus means “unexpected, because the rock layers from which this animal evolved are deficient in dinosaur waste.”

Vectiraptor

Vectiraptor is a small predatory dinosaur from the Dromaeosauridae family that lived in the early Cretaceous period on the Isle of Wight. Nicholas Longrich and colleagues named and described the Vectiraptor after discovering a few remains in 2004.

Vectiraptor is derived from the Latin terms for the Isle of Wight, Vectis and raptor (“thief”, “robber”). Mick Green, the discoverer of the remains, is honoured with the genre moniker.

Velafrons

Velafrons is a lambeosaurin (crested hadrosaurid) genus whose fossils were discovered in late Campanian strata in Mexico. The extracranial skeletons of lambeosaurins are remarkably similar, hence it was regarded a different genus based on the structure of the skull.

The term Velafrons alludes to a dinosaur’s unique crest and means “sail forehead”; it was formed by combining the words vela (Spanish for sail) and frons (Latin for forehead). The species name (coahuilensis) was derived from the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico, where it was discovered.

Velocipes

Velocipes is a controversial early theropod. Velocipes may be related to or belong to the neoteropods. Velocipes lived in today’s Poland during the late Triassic period.

Huene did not cite the name’s origin in his article, but Velocipes is thought to be derived from the Latin terms velox (“quick” or “agile”) and pes (“foot”), which most likely relates to Huene’s stated speed of the animal.

The species name guerichi is most likely a tribute to Georg Gürich, a geologist from the Geological Museum in Wrocaw (formerly Breslau) who discovered many Triassic reptile fossils in Upper Silesia, including the Velocipes holotype.

Velociraptor

Velociraptor is a small theropod that lived towards the end of the Cretaceous period in the present-day Gobi Desert.

Velociraptor is derived from the Latin words velox (speed) and raptor (thief) and means “rapid thief.” V. mongoliensis gets its name from the location where the bones were discovered: Mongolia. Whereas the species name V. osmolskae was given in honour of prof. Halszka Osmolska (1930 – 2008), an exceptional Polish dinosaur researcher who described over a dozen new species of this fascinating group of creatures.

Velocisaurus

Velocisaurus was a tiny theropod of the Ceratosauria group that existed in present-day Argentina during the late Cretaceous period. It is a mystery creature noted for its fractured remnants.

Velocisaurus is derived from the Latin velox (“fast”) and the Greek sauros (“reptile”, “lizard”). It refers to the anticipated capacity to run quickly. The species epithet unicus refers to the theropod’s peculiar anatomy.

Read also: A-Z list of Dinosaur Names and Pictures