In 1998 Ji Shuan and Luis Chiappe discovered among the many specimens of the National Geological Museum of China at Beijing assigned to Confuciusornis, an exemplar that seemed somewhat different. Subsequent preparation by the American Museum of Natural History showed that it indeed was a separate species, new to science. Changchengornis was a close relative of the better-known Confuciusornis. In 1999 it was assigned to the Confuciusornithidae.