In 1999, Hou and Chen of the Nanjing Institute of Paleontology and Geology briefly described a specimen of very small bird obtained by the museum and named it Liaoxiornis delicatus. One month later, another specimen, obtained by the National Geological Museum of China (Beijing), was named by Li and Li as Lingyuanornis parvus.[3] Soon afterwards, it was found that both museums had obtained different slabs of exactly the same specimen; because Liaoxiornis delicatus was named slightly earlier, that name takes precedence.[4]