China Yields Two New Dinosaur Species, Microraptor and Sauropod, Advancing Fossil Record

Carnegie Museum of Natural History curator Dr. Matt Lamanna and an international team have identified a new microraptor species, Jian changmaensis, from the Changma Basin in Gansu Province. Dating to about 120 million years ago, it is the first non‑avian dinosaur found at this renowned fossil‑bird locality and offers new data on the evolution of powered flight in birds.

Paleontologists led by Dr. Ya‑Ming Wang reported a new sauropod, Yantaloong lini, from the Middle Jurassic Zhanghe Formation in Yunnan. The specimen appears to belong to the Turiasauria clade, a group previously undocumented in East Asia, and helps fill a gap in the evolutionary record of large long‑necked dinosaurs.

Both discoveries expand the known diversity of Cretaceous and Jurassic dinosaurs in China and provide fresh insights into the evolutionary pathways that led to modern birds and later sauropod lineages.