Genus
Valid Extinct

Yi

Xu et al. 2015

Yi is a genus of scansoriopterygid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China. Its only species, Yi qi, is known from a single fossil specimen of an adult individual found in Middle or Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Hebei, China, approximately 159 million years ago. It was a small, possibly tree-dwelling (arboreal) animal. Like other scansoriopterygids, Yi possessed an unusual, elongated third finger that appears to have helped to support a membranous gliding plane made of skin. The planes of Yi qi were also supported by a long, bony strut attached to the wrist. This modified wrist bone and membrane-based plane is unique among all known dinosaurs and might have resulted in wings similar in appearance to those of bats.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Yi
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Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Maniraptora Unranked clade
Scansoriopterygidae Family
Yi Genus
Measurements
Length
0,33 m
Yi qi
Mass
0,52 kg
Yi qi
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Tiaojishan
1
Temporal distribution
Oxfordian (161.5–154.8 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Yi qi 165 Ma
News 1
Yi: Beast of the Week
Yi: Beast of the Week
China Jurassic Late Jurassic Dinosauria Yi +1
 This week we will be checking out a dinosaur that was so unusual, it completely changed what we thought we knew about dinosaur evolution.  Check out Yi qi! (pronounced "EE-chee")Yi was a small theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Hebei, in Northeastern China during the late Jurassic period, about 159 million years ago.  From snout to tail it only measured about a foot (30 cm) long and its wingspan was about 2 feet (60cm) wide.  The genus came, "Yi" translates from Mandarin to "wing" and
21/06/2026 prehistoricbeastoftheweek
Bibliography
Original description
X. Xu, X. Zheng, and C. Sullivan, X. Wang, L. Xing, Y. Wang, X. Zhang, J. K. O.’Connor, F. Zhang, Y. Pan. 2015. A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran theropod with preserved evidence of membranous wings. Nature 521(7550):70-73 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
X. Xu, X. Zheng, and C. Sullivan, X. Wang, L. Xing, Y. Wang, X. Zhang, J. K. O.’Connor, F. Zhang, Y. Pan. 2015. A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran theropod with preserved evidence of membranous wings. Nature 521(7550):70-73 DOI ↗