Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx is one of the most important fossils ever discovered. It is a flying dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. It shows the evolutionary link between non-avian theropod dinosaurs and birds, but it is not the ancestor of modern birds.[2]

Quick facts: Archaeopteryx Temporal range Late Jurassic (... ▼

Archaeopteryx Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Tithonian), 150.8–148.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
The Berlin Archaeopteryx specimen (A. siemensii).
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Paraves
Family:	†Archaeopterygidae
Genus:	†Archaeopteryx Meyer, 1861 (conserved name)
Type species
†Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 (conserved name)
Referred species
†A. siemensii Dames, 1897 †A. albersdoerferi Kundrat et al., 2018
Synonyms[1]
Genus synonymy Griphosaurus Wagner, 1862 (rejected name) Griphornis Woodward, 1862 (rejected name) Archaeornis Petronievics, 1917 Jurapteryx Howgate, 1984 Wellnhoferia? Elżanowski, 2001 Species synonymy Griphosaurus problematicus Wagner, 1862 vide Woodward 1862 nomen rejectum Griphornis longicaudatus Owen 1862 vide Woodward 1862 nomen rejectum Griphosaurus longicaudatus (Owen 1862 vide Woodward 1862) Owen 1862 vide Brodkorb 1863 nomen rejectum Archaeopteryx macrura Owen, 1862 (rejected name) Archaeopteryx siemensii? (Dames, 1897) Archaeornis siemensii (Dames, 1897) Peteronievics vide Petroneivics & Woodward 1917 Archaeopteryx owenii Petronievics, 1917 (rejected name) Archaeopteryx recurva Howgate, 1984 Jurapteryx recurva (Howgate, 1984) Howgate 1985 Archaeopteryx bavarica Wellnhofer, 1993 ?Wellnhoferia grandis Elżanowski, 2001

The first Archaeopteryx was found in 1860 near Solnhofen in Bavaria, Germany. Today, ten skeletons and one feather of Archaeopteryx have been found.[3]

Archaeopteryx was a small carnivorous dinosaur with feathers and wings. It had a mouth with teeth, claws on the hands and a long tail. Today, it is known that dromaeosaurs, and possibly most other extinct theropods, looked like birds and that many had feathers. When they are born, today's South American hoatzin have claws on their wings when they are young, just like Archaeopteryx.