Tianyuraptor is a newly described genus of short-armed dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous and whose remains have been found in the Jehol Group Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China. It is based on a nearly complete skeleton and is similar to other Liaoning dromaeosaurids, with the exception of being somewhat less developed. The type specimen, formally described in 2009, also exhibits features unknown in previously described Laurasian dromaeosaurids but present in the Gondwanan dromaeosaurids and basal avialans, and is described as a transition that reduces the morphological gap between these groups of animals. The newly described animal also differs from previously described dromaeosaurids in that it possesses a comparatively small furcula and proportionall