The oldest Archaeopteryx

Overview of the skeleton of the new Archaeopteryx specimen (From Rauhut et al., 2018)

The Archaeopteryx story began in  the summer of 1861, two years after the publication of the first edition of Darwin’s Origin of Species, when workers in a limestone quarry in Germany discovered the impression of a single 145-million-year-old feather. On August 15, 1861, German paleontologist Hermann von Meyer wrote a letter to the editor of the journal Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaeontologie, where he made the first description of the fossil. On on September 30, 1861, he wrote a new letter:  “I have inspected the feather from Solenhofen closely from all directions, and that I have come to the conclusion that this is a veritable fossilisation in the lithographic stone that fully corresponds with a birds’ feather. I heard from Mr. Obergerichtsrath Witte, that the almost complete skeleton of a feather-clad animals had been found in the lithographic stone. It is reported to show many differences with living birds. I will publish a report of the feather I inspected, along with a detailed illustration. As a denomination for the animal I consider Archaeopteryx lithographica to be a fitting name”. 

The near complete fossil skeleton found in a Langenaltheim quarry near Solnhofen – with clear impressions of wing and tail feathers –  was examined by Andreas Wagner, director of the Paleontology Collection of the State of Bavaria in Germany. He reached the conclusion that the fossil was a reptile, and gave it the name Griphosaurus. He wrote: “Darwin and his adherents will probably employ the new discovery as an exceedingly welcome occurrence for the justification of their strange views upon the transformations of animals.” In later editions of The Origin of Species, Darwin indeed mention the Archaeopteryx: “That strange bird, Archaeopteryx, with a long lizardlike tail, bearing a pair of feathers on each joint, and with its wings furnished with two free claws . . . Hardly any recent discovery shows more forcibly than this, how little we as yet know of the former inhabitants of the world.”

Archaeopteryx lithographica, Archaeopterygidae, Replica of the London specimen; Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany. From Wikimedia Commons

Over the years, eleven Archaeopteryx specimens has being recovered. The new specimen from the village of Schamhaupten, east-central Bavaria is the oldest representative of the genus (earliest Tithonian). The new specimen was discovered by a private collector. Although it was registered as German national cultural heritage, which guarantees its permanent availability, the specimen remains in private hands (Datenbank National Wertvollen Kulturgutes number DNWK 02924).

The new specimen is preserved as a largely articulated skeleton. However, the shoulder girdles and arms, as well as the skull have been slightly dislocated from their original positions, but the forelimbs remain in articulation. The skull is triangular in lateral outline and has approximately 56 mm long. The orbit is the largest cranial opening (approximately 16 mm long), and the lateral temporal fenestra is collapsed. There are probably four tooth positions in the premaxilla, nine in the maxilla and 13 in the dentary.

Articulated dorsal vertebral column of the new Archaeopteryx, including dorsal ribs and gastralia. Scale bar is 10 mm. (From Rauhut et al., 2018)

The postcranial skeleton was affected by breakage and loss of elements prior to or at the time of discovery. The sacral region, and the caudal vertebrae are very poorly preserved. Several dorsal ribs are preserved, and gastralia ribs are present in the thoracic region and the abdominal region. The shoulder girdle comprises the scapula, coracoid and furcula. Both humeri are poorly preserved. Parts of the phalanges are, largely poorly, preserved, and they do not show much detail. The pubic shafts are slender and very slightly flexed posteroventrally, an as in all specimens of Archaeopteryx, the distal end of the ischium is bifurcated. The femora are also poorly preserved and largely collapsed. Both tibiae are preserved in articulation with the fibulae and the proximal tarsals. The digits of the feet are complete on both sides, but partially overlapping.

Until recently, the referral of new specimens from the Solnhofen Archipelago to the genus Archaeopteryx, seems unproblematic, but the re-examination of the fourth (Haarlem) specimen of Archaeopteryx, and the discovery in the last years of specimens from the Late Jurassic of China that are similar to Archaeopteryx, raises the question if the specimens referred to Archaeopteryx represent a monophyletic taxon.

 

References:

Rauhut OWM, Foth C, Tischlinger H. (2018) The oldest Archaeopteryx (Theropoda: Avialiae): a new specimen from the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary of Schamhaupten, Bavaria. PeerJ 6:e4191 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4191

Foth C, Rauhut OWM. 2017. Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17:236 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-1076-y

MEYER v., H. (1861): Archaeopterix lithographica (Vogel-Feder) und Pterodactylus von Solenhofen. Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde. 6: 678-679

Wellnhofer Peter, A short history of research on Archaeopteryx and its relationship with dinosaurs, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 343:237-250, doi:10.1144/SP343.14, 2010

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