Name:
Habitat:
Historical Period:
Size and Weight:
Diet:
Distinguishing Characteristics:
About Archaeopteryx:
As luck would have it, the first complete fossil of Archaeopteryx was discovered in 1862, only two years after Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. For believers in the new theory of evolution, this was a major find: With its birdlike beak, pigeon-sized body and feathers, Archaeopteryx was a prime candidate for the "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds. (By the way, the fossil site most famous for its Archaeopteryx remains is Solnhofen in Germany.) See more facts, figures and news about Archaeopteryx
Although Archaeopteryx is widely considered to be the first creature that's more bird than dinosaur, it's important not to lose sight of its distinctly reptilian characteristics, including a long, bony tail, a flat breastbone, and (most unbirdlike of all) its three claws jutting out from the middle of each wing. It's not even certain that Archaeopteryx could fly for extended periods of time, though it was almost surely capable of short jaunts.
Recently, a new study has shown that the inner ear of Archaeopteryx was similar to that of modern-day emus. Although emus aren't known for their particularly sharp hearing, the fact remains that Archaeopteryx's hearing ability seems to have been more on the bird than on the reptile end of the evolutionary spectrum. On the other hand, another study of Archaeopteryx's anatomy concludes that it was definitely more dinosaur than bird!
