Dinosaur fossil may be a whole new species of the first birds
25 October 2018
By Michael Marshall
A new species of Archaeopteryx, the famous “first bird”, has been identified. The discovery supports the idea that Archaeopteryx really is a transitional species between dinosaurs and their bird descendants, and not an evolutionary dead end as has been suggested.
Archaeopteryx was first recognised as a species in the 1860s. It was immediately seized on as evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution, because it appeared to be a bird with dinosaur-like traits. It had wings and feathers, but teeth instead of a beak. The obvious implication was that Archaeopteryx was a transitional fossil, showing how birds evolved from dinosaur ancestors.
It was about the size of a raven and may have had black feathers. It’s been suggested that it only flew in short bursts like a pheasant, and hunted at night.
However, over the last decade its position in the evolutionary tree of birds has been called into question, following the discovery of similar dino-birds in China. A 2011 study built a family tree and concluded that Archaeopteryx was a dinosaur, not a bird.
More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2183633-dinosaur-fossil-may-be-a-whole-new-species-of-the-first-birds/
