Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx is famously known as the transitional fossil between non-avian theropods and birds. Discovered in the fine-grained Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria, Germany, it lived during the Late Jurassic period around 150 million years ago. Roughly the size of a modern magpie or raven, this small predator was capable of gliding or flapping flight, supported by asymmetric flight feathers on its wings and long tail. Unlike modern birds, it retained ancestral reptilian features, including three clawed fingers on each wing, sharp teeth in its jaws, and a long bony tail. It likely hunted insects and small vertebrates among the dry scrub and coastal lagoons of the ancient European archipelago. A dozen skeletal specimens are known, each showing exquisite details of plumage and bone structure that continue to illuminate avian origins.

It was the first discovered fossil bridging the evolutionary gap between non-avian dinosaurs and modern birds.

Where and when

Archaeopteryx lived in the Late Jurassic, from 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago (Tithonian age). Its remains come from Germany, in the Solnhofen Limestone.

The numbers

Length 0.5 m (estimates run from 0.4 to 0.5 m). Mass about 0.71 kg. Hip height about 0.2 m. That is 0.3 human-lengths, or 0.04 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Archaeopteryx with a bus Place on the timeline