Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Chinese Fossils Show Human Middle Ear Evolved from Fish Gills

　　The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear.
　　Embryonic and fossil evidence proves that the human middle ear evolved from the spiracle of fishes. However, the origin of the vertebrate spiracle h...

Societies & Publications

Research Progress

Strange Fossil Solves Giraffe Evolutionary Mystery

　　Fossils of a strange early giraffoid have revealed the key driving forces in giraffe evolution, according to a study led by researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Scien...

First Fossil of a Daytime Active Owl Found at t...

　　A research team led by Dr. LI Zhiheng and Dr. Thomas Stidham from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered the amazingly well-preserved fossil skeleton of an extin...

News and Events

Xinhua：Chinese scientists find fossil of new m...

　　This undated photo shows the fossil specimen and sketch of Honghesaurus, a new species of marine reptiles known as a pachypleurosaur. (Chinese Academy of Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)
　　BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have dis...

ChinaDaily: Researchers piece together evidence...

　　The Xujiayao site and the reconstructed skull of Xujiayao Man [Photo/Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]
　　An international team led by Chinese paleoanthropologists recently discovered a species of early hominin with...

the First Herbivorous Filter-feeding Marine Reptile