A Farmer’s Fossil Turns Out to Be a New Feathered Dinosaur, and a Clue on Flight
A fossil picked up by a farmer in western Liaoning has been named Norellraptor barsboldi, a new feathered dinosaur described in a study published in Nature Communications on 29 September 2026. The 57-centimetre skeleton belongs to the microraptorines, small bird-like dinosaurs whose feathered limbs have long fuelled a debate over whether flight evolved once or several times.
The authors say Norellraptor barsboldi supports the second answer, though their case rests on a single specimen and a preliminary bone analysis. The skeleton is complete, and it adds a new name to a group that Discover Wildlife notes may contain more than a dozen genera.
How a Farmer's Find Became Norellraptor barsboldi
The specimen was found near Lamadong Town in Jianchang County and donated in 2023 to the mu...