Feathered Fossil Shows Famous Dinosaur Could Fly (Like a Chicken)
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Archaeopteryx represents a pivotal point in the grand evolutionary journey linking dinosaurs to their avian descendants. Paleontologists have many questions about the Jurassic-era animal’s behavior and anatomy, 165 years after it was discovered. How Archaeopteryx was able to fly higher than its feathered dinosaur cousins is one of the biggest mysteries. After spending more than 20 years in a private collection in Chicago, the Field Museum received one of the most complete and detailed fossil sets in 2022. The team published their findings in a study published May 14 in the journal Nature. From the tip to its tail, the team’s findings were published in Nature on May 14.
When we first received our Archaeopteryx I thought, “This is really, really cool,” and I was excited, Jingmai O’Connor said in an announcement. But despite his initial enthusiasm, O’Connor still had his doubts.
“Archaeopteryx has been known for
, I wasn’t sure what new things we would be able to learn,” he explained. “But because our specimen has been preserved and prepared so well, we are learning so much new information from its tip of the snout all the way to its tip of the tail.” CT scanning was a great help. This is where CT scanning came in handy.
“CT scanning was very important for our preparation process–it let us know things like, the bone is exactly 3.2 millimeters below the surface of the rock, which let us know exactly how far we could go before we would hit the bone,” said Connor, noting that this project represents the first time paleontologists have completed a CT scan on a complete Archaeopteryx.[so long]Fluorescent feathers
All known Archaeopteryx remains have been excavated from a region of limestone deposits located about 100 miles east of Stuttgart in Solnhofen, Germany. The Solnhofen limestone fossils have a chemical composition which causes the soft tissues to glow. Previous studies confirmed this. The team used UV light to help them distinguish between soft and hard tissues that are easily missed by human eyes. These even included details as subtle as scales on the bottoms of Archaeopteryx’s toes.
It’s not only its toes that provided valuable insights into the ancient dino-bird–paleontologists are particularly interested in its feet, hands, head, and wing feathers. For example, bones in the roof of its mouth aids experts in understanding the evolution of cranial kinesis, the feature found in modern birds that allows them to move their beak independently of their brain case.
“That might not sound exciting, but to people who study bird evolution, it’s really important, because it’s been hypothesized that being able to evolve specialized skulls for different ecological niches might have helped birds evolve into more than 11,000 species today,” said O’Connor.
Test flights
The Chicago specimen also offered scientists a never-before-seen physiological detail that appears to finally answer a longstanding question: How could Archaeopteryx (at least briefly) take to the air?
“This is actually my favorite part of the paper,” said O’Connor. “
shows that Archaeopteryx used its feathered wing for flight.” “If you are trying to fly, a long upper-arm bone can create a space between the primary and second features of the wing, and the rest your body,” explained O’Connor. If air can pass through the gap, it will disrupt your lift and prevent you from flying. Archaeopteryx had long arm bones but also proportionately-sized tertials. Many of its dinosaur relatives evolved feathers, but they stopped at the elbow and lacked the tertials necessary for flight.
“That tells us that these non-avian dinosaurs couldn’t fly, but Archaeopteryx could,” said O’Connor.
“Fly” is likely doing some heavy lifting there, however. Archaeopteryx was more like a chicken than a falcon capable of flying long distances, according to multiple studies. That said, the latest research also suggests these sizable feathers may have also served a role in “visual communication.” Regardless of Archaeopteryx’s aerial abilities, the Chicago specimen is continuing to reveal new details about present-day birds’ earliest origins.[It]”Archaeopteryx isn’t the first dinosaur to have feathers, or the first dinosaur to have ‘wings,'” said O’Connor. We think that Archaeopteryx is the first dinosaur to have feathers or wings.
