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Changmiania

Say it: chang-mee-AH-nee-ah

Name means: “eternal sleeper”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersEarly Cretaceous

Changmiania was a small, fast-running dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It had a beak for eating plants and might have dug burrows to sleep in. Two nearly complete skeletons were found in perfect lifelike poses, as if they were resting when they were buried.1 2

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Lujiatun village, Liaoning Province, China5 1

Food

Plants5

Length

1 to 1.5 m1

estimated based on skeleton size

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 3 house cats nose to tailas long as 8 bananas end to end

How big was Changmiania compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Changmiania had a short neck with only six neck bones, which is unusual for dinosaurs and may have helped it dig.1 2

Its hip bones were tilted upward and partly covered the backbone, a feature seen in some digging mammals.1 2

The two known skeletons are so well preserved that they show no signs of weathering or scavenging, suggesting they were buried quickly while alive.1 2

Changmiania's hind legs were about twice as long as its front legs, making it a fast runner.1 2

Scientists think Changmiania might have been a facultative digger, meaning it could dig but did not live underground full time.1 2

Its name means 'eternal sleeper' in Chinese, because the fossils were found in sleeping-like poses.1

Changmiania lived about 125 to 119 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period.5

AI-made picture of Changmiania — An AI-made picture of how Changmiania might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Changmiania

?How big was Changmiania?

About 1.2 metres (4 feet) long. That is roughly the size of a small dog.3 4

?Did Changmiania dig burrows?

Yes, scientists think it could dig burrows. Its short neck, short forearms, and shovel-shaped snout are features that help digging animals.4 2 3

?What did Changmiania eat?

Changmiania was an herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It had a beak for snipping off leaves and other plant material.4 3

?How fast could Changmiania run?

Changmiania was a very fast runner. Its hind legs were about twice as long as its front legs, and its long, stiff tail helped it balance while running.3 2

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Changmiania was a true underground burrower like a mole.

Truth: Scientists say it was probably a facultative digger that could dig but spent most of its time above ground, as shown by its long running legs.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Changmiania
Named by: Yang et al. 20205
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Thescelosauridae5
Classification: Ornithischia5
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)5
Rock formations: Yixian5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Changmiania was named in 2020 by Yang Y., Wu W., Dieudonné P., and Godefroit P. based on two nearly complete skeletons found in the Lujiatun Beds of Liaoning, China.5 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Changmiania really dug burrows, because the fossils lack detailed information about the surrounding rock and how they were buried.1 2

Where the facts come from

PeerJ A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China (peerj.com)
A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Eternal Sleep: Dinosaurs Died Underground, Fossils Perfectly Preserved | Institute of Natural Sciences (naturalsciences.be)
Changmiania (en.wikipedia.org)
Changmiania in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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