Archaeopteryx a.k.a.‭ ‬Urvogel

Ar-kay-op-teh-rix.
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Nisha Yadav

Physicist

Nisha Yadav is a dedicated physicist whose work bridges the gap between physics and paleontology. With a deep interest in the processes that preserve ancient life, she explores how physical principles govern fossilization and the preservation of extinct species.

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Name

Archaeopteryx ‭(‬Ancient wing‭)‬. Archaeopteryx is sometimes called Urvogel which is German for ‘first bird’, but this is not an alternate binomial name.

Phonetic

Ar-kay-op-teh-rix.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Aves,‭ ‬Archaeopterygidae.

Diet

Carnivore/Insectivore.

Species

Size

Up to about‭ ‬50‭ ‬centimetres long.

Known locations

Various locations in Germany.

Time Period

Tithonian of the Jurassic.

Fossil representation

Many specimens,‭ ‬some almost complete and preserved flat on a slab,‭ ‬some just of feathers.

In Depth

Further Reading

– On the Archaeopteryx of Von Meyer, with a description of the fossil remains of a long-tailed species from the lithographic stone of Solnhofen – Richard Owen – 1863. – On the animals which are most nearly intermediate between birds and reptiles – Thomas Henry Huxley – 1868. – Remarks upon Archaeopteryx lithographica – Thomas Henry Huxley – 1868. – Further evidence of the affinity between the dinosaurian reptiles and birds – Thomas Henry Huxley – 1870. – Archaeopteryx and the origin of birds – J. H. Ostrom – 1976. – Feathers of Archaeopteryx: Asymmetric vanes indicate aerodynamic function – A. Feduccia & H. B. Tordoff – 1979. – Flight capability and the pectoral girdle of Archaeopteryx – S. L. Olson & A. Feduccia – 1979. – What size was Archaeopteryx? – D. W. Yalden – 1984. – Archaeopteryx Relationship With Modern Birds – Thomas Holtz Jr – 1995. -‭ ‬A new genus and species for the largest specimen of Archaeopteryx‭ ‬-‭ ‬Andrzej Elzanowski‭ ‬-‭ ‬2001. – Body plumage in Archaeopteryx: a review, and new evidence from the Berlin specimen – P. Christensen & N. Bonde – 2004. – Structure and function of hindlimb feathers in Archaeopteryx lithographica – N. Longrich – 2006. – Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx – Gregory M. Erickson, Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Zhonge Zhou, Alan H. Turner, Brian D. Inouye, Dongyu Hu, Mark A. Norell – 2009. – Narrow Primary Feather Rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx Suggest Poor Flight Ability. – Science. 328 (5980): 887–889. – Robert L. Nudds & Gareth J. Dyke – 2010. – Archaeopteryx was robed in black – Brian Switek – 2011. – New evidence on the colour and nature of the isolated Archaeopteryx feather – R. Carney, Jakob Vinther, Matthew D. Shawkey, Liliana d’Alba & J�rg Ackermann – 2012. – Re-evaluating Moodie’s Opisthotonic-Posture Hypothesis in fossil vertebrates. Part I: Reptiles – The taphonomy of the bipedal dinosaurs Compsognathus longipes and Juravenator starki from the Solnhofen Archipelago (Jurassic, Germany) – A. G. Reisdorf & M. Wuttke – 2012. – Synchrotron-based chemical imaging reveals plumage patterns in a 150 million year old early bird – Phillip L. Manning, Nicholas P. Edwards, Roy A. Wogelius, Uwe Bergmann, Holly E. Barden, Peter L. Larson, Daniela Schwarz-Wings, Victoria M. Egerton et al. – 2013. – Archaeopteryx in 4D. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 103. – Ryan Carney, Julia Molnar, Earl Updike, William Brown, Jessie Jackson, Matthew Shawkey, Johan Lindgren, Peter Sj�vall, Peter Falkingham & Jacques Gauthier – 2014. – Wing bone geometry reveals active flight in Archaeopteryx. – Nature Communications. 9 (1): 923. – Dennis F. A. E. Voeten, Jorge Cubo, Emmanuel de Margerie, Martin R�per, Vincent Beyrand, Stanislav Bureš, Paul Tafforeau & Sophie Sanchez – 2018.

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