New Microraptor Species Sheds Light on Dinosaur Flight Evolution

A 120-million-year-old fossil uncovered in the Changma Basin of Gansu province, northwestern China, consists of three-dimensional shoulder and forelimb bones. Researchers identified it as a previously unknown microraptor species, naming it *Jian changmaensis* after a one-winged mythic bird and the basin where it was found.

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The specimen dates to the Early Cretaceous (?120 Ma) and represents the most recent definitive microraptor fossil. Prior microraptor finds were confined to northeastern China; this discovery extends the clade’s known range to the western side of the continent.

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The study was led by Dr. Matt Lamanna (Carnegie Museum of Natural History), with co-authors including Jingmai O’Connor (Field Museum, Chicago), Steve Brusatte (University of Edinburgh), and T. Alexander Dececchi (Dakota State University). Additional contributors hailed from the Gansu Geological Museum and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

New species of dinosaur, a cousin of Velociraptor, probably glided on four “wings” and hunted early birds

The fossil displays a large supracoracoid fenestra in the coracoid, an unusually long shoulder bone, and evidence of long feathers on both fore- and hind-limbs—producing a “four-wing” arrangement. The preserved upper arm bone measures ~4 inches, implying a total wingspan of roughly four feet, comparable in size to a barn owl.

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Microraptors are interpreted as arboreal gliders that hunted small birds. The Changma Basin contains abundant bird fossils, including *Gansus yumenensis*, and clusters of avian bone fragments resembling owl pellets. Researchers propose that *Jian changmaensis* preyed on these birds, filling a niche for small, tree-dwelling predators.

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The authors emphasized that the specimen “provides critical new information on the biological history of the Changma region and the ecological context of the ancestors of today’s birds.” They noted that the find “expands the geographic range and helps show the diversity in anatomy of this group,” and that the dinosaur sits “on the cusp of becoming true birds.”

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Scientists acknowledge uncertainty about the function of the supracoracoid fenestra and whether microraptors achieved powered flight or remained obligate gliders. The scarcity of microraptor fossils at Changma—only one specimen among >100 bird fossils—raises questions about preservation bias or ecological rarity.

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While most authors describe *Jian* as a glider, some suggest the anatomy could support limited flapping. The precise aerodynamic role of the elongated shoulder and the extent of feather coverage remain unresolved, highlighting the need for biomechanical modeling.

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• “Jian changmaensis reveals that non-avian dinosaurs lived in what is now the Changma Basin, an area famous for its fossil birds,” — Matt Lamanna, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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• “If you saw that thing sitting in a tree, you wouldn’t think velociraptor from ‘Jurassic Park,’” — Matt Lamanna, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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• “This is neat, a new fossil of those dinosaurs that were basically on the cusp of becoming true birds,” — Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh

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• “Scientists have found these weird, broken-up clusters of bird bones at this site, and we didn’t know what made them. This new microraptor dinosaur, Jian changmaensis, is our best guess,” — Jingmai O’Connor, Field Museum

New species of dinosaur, a cousin of Velociraptor, probably glided on four “wings” and hunted early birds

• “It also expands the geographic range and helps show the diversity in anatomy of this group, all of which is important in determining where, when and who among them could use aerial locomotion,” — T. Alexander Dececchi, Dakota State University

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• “Jian and the other microraptors probably weren’t capable of true, powered flight, but they could probably glide like a flying squirrel,” — Jingmai O’Connor, Field Museum

New species of dinosaur, a cousin of Velociraptor, probably glided on four “wings” and hunted early birds

The team plans high-resolution CT scanning of the wing elements to model aerodynamic performance, additional fieldwork in the Changma Basin to locate more non-avian specimens, and comparative analyses with other microraptor fossils to refine the evolutionary pathway toward avian flight.

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