Why is archaeopteryx considered a bird

Comparing this structure to that of modern birds revealed the archaeopteryx most likely had black feathers. These black melanosomes have structural properties that strengthen feathers for flight, furthering strengthening the argument that the archaeopteryx could fly. Artist's rendering of archaeopteryx. Even if the archaeopteryx could, in fact, fly, it is probable that the archaeopteryx could not fly well. The relatively flat sternum of the archaeopteryx — as opposed to the more rounded sternum of modern birds — suggest that the archaeopteryx lacked some of the more powerful flight muscles of modern birds.

Although this does not mean that the archaeopteryx could not sustain flight, it is more likely that the archaeopteryx was a weak flyer. As a result, the archaeopteryx probably used a combination of running, leaping, gliding, and flapping in order to achieve some type of basic flight. Normally, only the hard parts of an animal — bone, teeth, shell — are preserved in fossil records.

Heck, even T. So one by one we've learned Archaeopteryx 's uniquely avian traits weren't so unique. The writing was really on the wall," says Lawrence Witmer, a palaeontologist at Ohio University in Athens. Whether this change will be permanent depends on what other animals are discovered in the future, says Thomas Holtz, a palaeontologist at the University of Maryland in College Park. You take this new Chinese species out of the mix and the argument falls apart, so the new placement is precarious at best until further evidence is dug up.

Xu, X. Nature , Article Google Scholar. Download references. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Reprints and Permissions. Kaplan, M. Archaeopteryx no longer first bird. Nature This feather, however, may have come from another, undiscovered proto-bird. In , the first Archaeopteryx skeleton, which was missing most of its head and neck, was unearthed near Langenaltheim, Germany.

As a form of payment, it was given to a doctor, who later sold it to the London Natural History Museum. The discovery coincided with the publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," and the specimen, dubbed the London Specimen, seemed to confirm his theories.

Through various transactions, the fossil, which is the first found to have an intact head, eventually wound up being in the Humboldt Museum fur Naturkunde, where it still resides. The 12th and last Archaeopteryx specimen to be found was discovered in and announced in , but hasn't yet been scientifically described.

Recent discoveries from China, Mongolia and Argentina have shaken up what paleontologists knew about the relationship between stem-birds and bird-like theropods. In , scientists uncovered a fossil in Liaoning, China, whose combination of features unexpectedly suggested Archaeopteryx was actually just a relative of the lineage that ultimately gave rise to birds. When the researchers analyzed features of the new specimen, Xiaotingia zhengi , and Archaeopteryx , they concluded that both animals belonged to the dinosaur group Deinonychosauria — bird-like theropods, which includes Velociraptor and Microraptor — instead of the stem-bird group Avialae.

The analysis, published in Nature, also suggested the earliest known avialan is a pigeon-size feathered creature known as Epidexipteryx hui , recently discovered in Inner Mongolia, China. Archaeopteryx fossil Creative Commons - Wikipedia. Explore further. More information: rsbl. Provided by University of New South Wales.

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