Archaeopteryx found at Solnhofen

In 1861 Hermann von Meyer, a German paleontologist, described a single feather impression from the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, and named it Archaeopteryx lithographica, the ancient wing in stone. Later that year a nearly complete skeleton from the same quarries came to light, with a fan of tail feathers and fully formed wing feathers. It was purchased by the British Museum in 1862 for 700 pounds, and Richard Owen described it in 1863. The animal, about 50 cm long, has wings with asymmetrical flight feathers, but also teeth, clawed fingers and a long bony tail.¹

The timing could hardly have been better. Darwin's On the Origin of Species came out in 1859, and critics said transitional forms were missing. Archaeopteryx seemed to be exactly that: a mixture of reptile and bird. Thomas Huxley used it and other fossils to argue that birds descend from dinosaurs. A second skeleton, the Berlin specimen with a fine head and teeth, turned up in 1874 or 1875, and about a dozen have been found in total.¹

The Solnhofen lagoons, about 150 million years old, preserved soft details because the water was still and lacked oxygen. Today Archaeopteryx is seen as one of a diverse group of feathered dinosaurs. Whether it was a true bird or a close relative is debated, and just how well it could fly is under study.³²