28 Days Of Dinosauria - 3

[swordznsorcery]

Day 03: Archaeopteryx, one of the most important dinosaurs in our unfolding understanding of the evolution of therapod dinosaurs into birds. Originally thought to be one of the earliest birds, it's since been reclassified as a dinosaur (and then a bird again, and then a dinosaur again). It's a dinosaur at the moment though, or was last I checked; and zoologically speaking they're the same thing anyway. The problem is, when one line evolves into another, there's no sharp line of delineation, but a series of small steps. So you have the non-avian dinosaurs on one side, the avian dinosaurs on the other, and a lot of murky sliding about betwixt and between. Which is where Archaeopteryx lies. Another German dinosaur this, and again from 150 million years ago, so quite possibly it flew over Sciurumimus, if not particularly gracefully.

Due to scanning elctron microscopy, and the good fortune of some very nice fossil specimens, it's been possible to look at the microscopic structure of Archaeopteryx's feathers, and it's generally assumed that they were black.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

It's a dinosaur at the moment though, or was last I checked;

LOL!

I do love the sound of the name Archaeopteryx. It's a very satisfactory bunch of syllables and sounds like the object of a fantasy quest.

[swordznsorcery]

It's a lovely word, isn't it. It means ancient feather, which is also quite groovy.

[pedanther]

The problem is, when one line evolves into another, there's no sharp line of delineation, but a series of small steps.

As someone once said, the trouble with the Search for the Missing Link is that when you find it, all that happens is you have two more Missing Links to search for.

[swordznsorcery]

Yes! Palaeontologists tend to glare now when people mention missing links, for precisely that reason. It's a bit like being trolled by evolution.

[dimity_blue]

Aww, I like the Archaeopteryx. I wouldn't have wanted to meet one as it'd probably have seen me as a very early worm, but still. It doesn't hurt that its name is easier to pronounce.

[swordznsorcery]

Oh, you'd be in no danger from Archie. He was no bigger than a raven.

[liadt]

I like the idea of archaeopteryx as an ancient cool raven.

[swordznsorcery]

It probably wouldn't have looked very cool when it was flying (bit ungainly, apparently), but I bet it looked cool when it was hanging about on the ground.