A
particulary important and still contentious discovery is Archaeopteryx
lithographica, found in the Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of
southern Germany, which is marked by rare but exceptionally
well preserved fossils. Archaeopteryx is considered by many
to be the first bird, being of about 150 million years of
age. It is actually intermediate between the birds that we
see flying around in our backyards and the predatory dinosaurs
like Deinonychus. In fact, one skeleton of Archaeopteryx that
had poorly preserved feathers was originally described as
a skeleton of a small bipedal dinosaur, Compsognathus. A total
of seven specimens of the bird are known at this time.
It has
long been accepted that Archaeopteryx was a transitional
form between birds and reptiles, and that it is the earliest
known bird. Lately, scientists have realized that it bears
even more resemblance to its ancestors, the Maniraptora,
than to modern birds; providing a strong phylogenetic link
between the two groups. It is one of the most important
fossils ever discovered.
Unlike
all living birds, Archaeopteryx had a full set of teeth,
a rather flat sternum ("breastbone"), a long,
bony tail, gastralia ("belly ribs"), and three
claws on the wing which could have still been used to grasp
prey (or maybe trees). However, its feathers, wings, furcula
("wishbone") and reduced fingers are all characteristics
of modern birds.