A 57-centimeter fossil featuring four feathered wings has been unearthed in the Jiufotang Formation of northeastern China, belonging to a previously unknown species named Norellraptor barsboldi. Published in Nature Communications and coordinated by the Ophis Museum in Teramo, Italy—in collaboration with Qiang Ji of the Hebei University of Geosciences and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the discovery highlights a remarkably complete skeleton of a small predator that lived roughly 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous.

Belonging to the Microraptor genus - predatory dinosaurs closely related to birds - the specimen was at least three years old at the time of its death and preserves long feathers on both its forelimbs and hindlimbs. Italian paleontologist Andrea Cau spearheaded the international research effort, further cementing Italy's footprint in high-profile paleontological breakthroughs.