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Recently, a new fossil site containing microvertebrate remains has been discovered in the upper part of the Nenjiang Formation (early Campanian) in the Songliao Basin, northeast China. Five isolated theropod teeth were discovered. The teeth were analysed based on morphological traits and the results showed that they correspond to the clades of Troodontidae, Dromaeosauridae and ?Tyrannosauridae. One dromaeosaurid tooth can be furtherly assigned to Dromaeosaurinae. It is the first discovery of theropod teeth from the Nenjiang Formation, also the first record of the Dromaeosaurinae from China. This study extends the known geographic range of these clades of theropods. The new materials also expand knowledge of the terrestrial ecosystem during the Late Cretaceous of the Songliao Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a new taxon of advanced ornithuromorph bird, Khinganornis hulunbuirensis gen. et sp. nov., from the previously unreported Pigeon Hill locality of the Lower Cretaceous Longjiang Formation in the northern Greater Khingan Range area of Inner Mongolia, China. A cladistics analysis resolves K. hulunbuirensis as the sister group of a clade formed by Changzuiornis and Iteravis among ornithuromorphs. The osteohistological analysis indicates that K. hulunbuirensis is the first ornithuromorph that maintained an uninterrupted growth during a longer period characterised by slow deposition of low-vascularised and terminal avascular bone tissue. The relatively long hindlimbs and elongate pedal digits with long proximal phalanges suggest a wading and amphibious ecology for the new bird. The discovery of K. hulunbuirensis represents the first occurrence of Jehol birds in the Greater Khingan Range and documents the northernmost known geographic distribution of the celebrated avifauna in China. The new record implies more extended palaeogeographic range for the early diversification of Mesozoic birds on the eastern side of Laurasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]