Word: archaeopteryx
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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When paleontology Student Douglas Lawson set out to explore Texas' Big Bend National Park three years ago, he was confident that his fossil hunt would be productive. After all, remnants of creatures ranging from the ferocious dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex to the first true bird, Archaeopteryx, had already been unearthed in the fossil-rich wasteland. What Lawson found exceeded his wildest hopes: fragments of huge wing bones imbedded in a sandstone outcropping in a remote part of the park. Now, after comparing the bones with the remains of similar creatures found elsewhere, Lawson has announced that they belong...
...fact, except for a lack of feathers, corallestris has a strong resemblance to the first true bird, archaeopteryx, which made its appearance toward the end of the age of dinosaurs. Thus Thomel thinks that examination of the dinosaur's fowl-like characteristics may shed some light on the evolution of reptiles into birds. Trouble is, he says, scientists may never get the chance to look for more specimens. In September the government expropriated the area for a missile and artillery range for the French army. Defense Minister Michel Debré has promised that the government will continue to allow...
...when Ostrom held the fossil to the light, he saw the distinctly unreptilian impression of a feather. "My heartbeat began going up fast," recalls Ostrom, who quickly recognized that the specimen was not a pterosaur at all. It was, in fact, a far rarer prehistoric aviator: an Archaeopteryx (literally "ancient wing"), the earliest known bird...
What makes the "newest" Archaeopteryx fossil especially significant is that it may help resolve an old scientific argument about the evolution of birds. According to the more popular theory, birds are descended from small tree-dwelling reptiles that developed crude "wings," like those of the modern flying squirrel. They used those wings for gliding round their arboreal habitats and dodging foes. The other theory says that birds evolved from ground-dwelling reptiles that grew similar membranes, helping them to take increasingly longer leaps after insects and other fast-moving prey...
When he examined the specimen under a microscope, Ostrom noticed a feature on "Archy" that had not been preserved on the three other known Archaeopteryx fossils. It was the faint imprint of a horny sheath-or fingernail-like covering-on the three claws protruding from each of the wings of these ancient birds. Resembling the talons of a contemporary eagle, these razor-sharp, miniature scythes were obviously better suited for catching and slicing up prey than for scampering up the trunks of trees. Thus, Ostrom suggests, Archaeopteryx's lizard-like forebears probably launched themselves into the air from...