Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (abbreviated to IVPP) of China is a prominent research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaur specimens (many from the Yixian Formation). As its name suggests, research is focused on both paleontological topics and those relating to human prehistory. The institution, located in Beijing, grew out of the Cenozoic Research Laboratory in 1929 and is its own institution under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its staff have increasingly worked internationally, and were authors or coauthors on 45 Nature and Science articles in the period 1999 - 2005. Notable paleontologists who have been affiliated with the IVPP include Yang Zhongjian (aka C. C. Young), Dong Zhiming, and Zhao Xijin.