Zhonghe Zhou

His main research interest is on the origin and early evolution of birds, feathers and bird flight. He is also involved in the study of Mesozoic fishes, feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs, stratigraphy and the evolution of the Jehol Biota, the relationship between paleoenvironment and biological evolution in order to better understand the evolution of the Lower Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem. In the past twenty years, together with his colleagues, he has discovered and published over 20 new species of birds from the Early Cretaceous of Northeast China, making it the most important area for the study of early bird evolution. Our understanding of their early morphological differentiation and ecological and evolutional radiation has been greatly improved with the information revealed by Zhou and his colleagues. Also with colleagues, he has named over a dozen dinosaurs and pterosaurs.