Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing elected foreign fellow of Royal Society of London

Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing has been elected as a foreign fellow of the Royal Society of London, joining the ranks of scientific giants such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.

The Royal Society, the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences, founded in 1660, announced the 2026 election list on Wednesday, recognizing more than 90 outstanding researchers from around the world in fields such as astronomy, cancer research, mathematics and biotechnology.

Xu, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023. Specializing in reptile fossils dating from 250 million to 65 million years ago and in stratigraphy, he has made systematic and original contributions to dinosaur paleontology.

As one of the most internationally active scholars in vertebrate paleontology, Xu has provided key evidence for the theory that "birds evolved from dinosaurs" through extensive original research. He has published more than 300 papers, with 40 appearing in top international journals, such as Nature and Science.

Xu has named more than 80 new dinosaur species, making him one of the scholars with the most valid dinosaur genera and species in the world today — a number that exceeds that of any other living person.

His research has been selected multiple times for China's Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances. Notable discoveries include Anchiornis huxleyi, which dates to 160 million years ago, predating Archaeopteryx, and showing that feathers and flight-related structures had already evolved in dinosaurs before the emergence of birds. Additionally, he discovered Gigantoraptor erlianensis, the largest feathered dinosaur ever found.

In 2012, Nature magazine interviewed Xu, noting that he "brought revolutionary perspectives to dinosaur evolution research and helped China become a powerhouse in paleontology."

Beyond his research, Xu is dedicated to promoting public science education by conducting lectures. His essay "Dinosaurs Flying to the Blue Sky" was included in elementary school Chinese textbooks.

Two other Chinese scientists were also elected as foreign fellows of the Royal Society this year. Li Can, a researcher at the CAS' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, specializes in catalysis and solar energy conversion. Cao Xiaofeng, a researcher at the CAS' Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, specializes in plant stress tolerance mechanisms, genome adaptation, forage breeding, and saline-alkali soil remediation. Cao is the first female scientist from the Chinese mainland to be elected as a foreign fellow of the Royal Society.