| Named By: | Robert Long & Phillip A Murry in 1995 |
| Time Period: | 228-203.6 Ma Late Triassic |
| Location: | USA, Arizona - Chinle Formation, New Mexico - Chinle Formation, Redonda Formation, Santa Rosa Formation, Texas - Tecovas Formation, Utah - Chinle Formation |
| Size: | About 1.2 meters long |
| Diet: | Carnivore/Piscivore |
| Fossil(s): | Multiple individuals |
| Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Archosauriformes | |
Vancleavea is a genus of extinct, armoured, non-archosaurian archosauriform with relatively small limbs from the Late Triassic of western North America. The type and only species is V. campi, named by Robert Long & Phillip A Murry, 1995. A nearly complete and articulated skeleton was discovered at the Coelophysis Quarry in north-central New Mexico (Ghost Ranch), USA, and was prepared at the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology in Abiquiu, New Mexico before being formally described in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in 2009. Vancleavea was first discovered in 1962 from the Petrified Forest Member of the Petrified Forest National Park and initially described by Long and Murry in 1995. The genus is named after Phillip Van Cleave, who discovered the first known remains of the genus. Vancleavea is a fairly common occurrence in most levels of the Chinle Formation, however, due to the poorly preserved remains, it is difficult to compare specimens across stratigraphic levels.