7.2 Archaeopteryx
This is a cast of the London Archaeopteryx specimen. Look at the feathers – which parts of the animal do they cover? Examine the wing feathers – are they symmetrical or asymmetrical?
Compare the anatomy of Archaeopteryx with that of Compsognathus and the modern birds. What differences and similarities can you detect?
There are now ten specimens of Archaeopteryx known and occaionally new specimens come to light. Some of the previous ones can be seen here, here and here.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike 3.0 License
'Vertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution' has been released as an open educational resource (OER) on a Creative Commons 'Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike' license. This means that once downloaded, content can be modified and improved to complement a particular course. This requires, however, that improvements are recycled back into the OER community. All content present at the time of download must be accordingly credited and, in turn, novel content must be appropriately licensed. For more information, please refer to the license deed by clicking on the link above.