A new feathered gliding dinosaur named Jian changmaensis was announced in a study published in the Annals of Carnegie Museum

A new feathered gliding dinosaur named Jian changmaensis was announced in a study published in the Annals of Carnegie Museum

¨     A new feathered gliding dinosaur named Jian changmaensis was announced on 4 June 2026 in a study published in the Annals of Carnegie Museum.

¨     The fossil is approximately 120 million years old and was discovered in the Changma Basin, Gansu, China.

¨     Jian changmaensis belongs to Microraptoria, a group of small predatory theropod dinosaurs within the broader dromaeosaurid family.

¨     Microraptors are Early Cretaceous dinosaurs and are closely related to Velociraptor.

¨     The fossil shows long feathers on both forelimbs and hind limbs, giving it a four-winged appearance.

¨     This body structure is interpreted as an adaptation for gliding rather than powered flight.

¨     The estimated wingspan was about four feet, comparable to a barn owl.

¨     Similar four-winged adaptations have been observed in other microraptor fossils from northeastern China.

¨     The Changma Basin is an important site for Early Cretaceous vertebrate fossils, including bird remains such as Gansus yumenensis.

¨     The basin has also yielded clusters of broken bird bones, suggesting possible predatory activity within the ecosystem.

¨     Jian changmaensis is the only confirmed microraptor fossil found outside northeastern China.

¨     This discovery extends the known geographical distribution of microraptors within Asia.