Dinosaurs A to Z
Hypsilophodontidae

Vectidromeus insularis

"Isle of Wight runner"

Generic ornithopod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Vectidromeus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ornithopod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Vectidromeus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (145–100 Mya)
Place
United Kingdom
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Hypsilophodontidae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Ornithopoda Small fast bipedal plant-eaters.
Vectidromeus reconstruction by Ddinodan
Reconstruction · Ddinodan (CC-BY)

Vectidromeus (meaning “Isle of Wight runner”) is an extinct genus of hypsilophodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation of England. The genus contains a single species, V. insularis, known from a partial skeleton belonging to a juvenile individual.

What we know

  • Named by Longrich et al., 2024.
  • Fossils found in United Kingdom.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Vectidromeus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.