Genus
Valid Extinct

Mei

Xu and Norell 2004
Etymology Qui dort bien (chinois)

Mei is a genus of duck-sized troodontid dinosaur first unearthed by paleontologists from the Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China in 2004. Mei lived during the Early Cretaceous period. The binomial name of its only species, Mei long, means sleeping dragon.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore, omnivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Mei
click to enlarge
Fossil of Mei long (holotype), on temporary display at the Shanghai Natural History Museum as part of the exhibition "China's Dinosaur World". Shot on July 22, 2025. © 纳瓦拉的亨利 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Theropoda Unranked clade
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Neotheropoda Unranked clade
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Averostra Unranked clade
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Tetanurae Unranked clade
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Coelurosauria Unranked clade
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Maniraptora Unranked clade
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Paraves Unranked clade
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Deinonychosauria Infraorder
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Troodontidae Family
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Sinovenatorinae Subfamily
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Mei Genus
Measurements
Length
0,53 m ⓘ
Mei long
Mass
0,43 kg ⓘ
Mei long
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
2
Geological formations
Yixian
2
Temporal distribution
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
2
Species (1)
Mei long 126 Ma
Bibliography
Original description
X. Xu and M. A. Norell. 2004. A new troodontid dinosaur from China with avian-like sleeping posture. Nature 431:838-841 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
C. -L. Gao, E. M. Morschauser, and D. J. Varricchio, J. Liu, B. Zhao. 2012. A second soundly sleeping dragon: new anatomical details of the Chinese troodontid Mei long with implications for phylogeny and taphonomy. PLoS ONE 7(9):e45203:1-17 DOI ↗
X. Xu and M. A. Norell. 2004. A new troodontid dinosaur from China with avian-like sleeping posture. Nature 431:838-841 DOI ↗