It is known from a single fossil specimen representing the species Changyuraptor yangi, which was discovered from Early Cretaceous (125 million year old) deposits in Liaoning Province, China.

[3] Analysis of the fossil at the University of Cape Town, South Africa reveals that the specimen was a fully grown adult, approximately 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long and estimated to weigh 4 kilograms (8.8 lb), roughly the size of a turkey.

[6] Changyuraptor is thought to have existed alongside a variety of predatory and herbivorous dinosaurs of the Jehol Biota, including Yutyrannus, in moist temperate forest, primarily vegetated by ginkgos and conifers, with hot, dry summers and frosty winters.

From 2012 it was studied by an international team of scientists led by Dr. Luis Chiappe, Director of the Dinosaur Institute Department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The generic name of the dinosaur combines the Chinese words for "long feather", 長羽 (cháng yǔ), with Latin raptor ("robber", "seizer").