BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have identified a new feathered dinosaur species dating back approximately 120 million years, offering fresh physical evidence to help unravel the evolutionary path of dinosaur flight.
The exceptionally well-preserved fossil, unearthed in northeast China's Liaoning Province, retains clear imprints of extensive feathers surrounding its skeleton.
The study, recently published in the journal Vertebrata PalAsiatica, indicates that this dinosaur is the only known pennaraptoran -- a group closely related to modern birds -- to have simultaneously developed both large foot feathers and exceptionally long, fan-shaped tail feathers. It had around 16 tail feathers, somewhat reminiscent of a peacock's plumage.
The research team has classified the new species within the dromaeosaurid family of theropod dinosaurs, making it a close relative of the Velociraptor and Microraptor.
Scientists noted that this unique morphological combination -- featuring large forelimb wing feathers alongside well-developed foot and tail feathers -- has never been seen in any previously discovered dinosaur. This unprecedented trait serves as a crucial "golden key" for unlocking the mysteries of dinosaur flight evolution and tracing the origins of modern birds.
Team leader Xu Xing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, officially named the species Changzhousaurus sinensis. The name was chosen in recognition of Changzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, for its longstanding efforts to integrate dinosaur science popularization with cultural tourism. ■
