Overview
- A peer-reviewed study in the Annals of Carnegie Museum names the new species Jian changmaensis from fossils recovered in the Changma Basin of Gansu Province in northwestern China.
- Researchers led by Matt Lamanna and Jingmai O'Connor place Jian close to Microraptor and Velociraptor in the dromaeosaur group and estimate its length at about a meter, roughly the size of a barn owl.
- The team infers Jian was feathered and occupied both trees and the ground based on the shape of the shoulder and arm bones, proposing possible gliding ability by analogy to four-winged relatives.
- Associated crushed bird bones at the site resemble regurgitated pellets, which the authors cite as direct evidence that Jian likely ate birds and may have produced owl-like pellets after feeding.
- Scientists stress the conclusions are provisional because the species is described from only five shoulder and arm bones and they say more complete remains are needed to confirm anatomy and behavior.