“The Fossil That Bridged Dinosaurs and Birds”
Binomial Archaeopteryx lithographica · ar-kee-OP-ter-iks
Late Jurassic - 151-148 Ma
IllustrationArchaeopteryx fossil records in Fossil Atlas are mapped as selected modern discovery locations, with 3 source-backed records currently shown. Bavaria, Germany, especially Solnhofen Limestone lagoon deposits in the current atlas. Key mapped formations in the current dataset include Camarillas, Painten, Solnhofen Limestone. These pins are fossil record locations, not a complete ancient habitat map.
Archaeopteryx was a Late Jurassic avialan dinosaur from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. Fossil Atlas presents it with fossil-location context, bird-evolution relevance, and careful caveats.
Drawn true to scale on a metre ruler.
Length
measured0.5 m · 1.6 ft
Largest known specimens
Height
measured0.25 m (0.8 ft)
Body mass
estimate0.8 kg · 1.8 lb
Typical adult
Top speed
estimate16 km/h · 10 mph
Modelled, debated
Archaeopteryx was a small, crow-sized avialan dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen lagoons of what is now Bavaria. It had the feathered wings and asymmetric flight feathers of a bird alongside the toothed jaws, clawed hands, and long bony tail of a theropod dinosaur. Whether it could sustain powered flight or was primarily a glider is still debated, but its position in the evolutionary tree makes it central to understanding how birds evolved.
Flight feathers
Asymmetric primary feathers similar in structure to those of modern flying birds, suggesting at least some degree of flight capability. The wing loading and muscle attachment points are debated.
Teeth
Small, conical teeth in both jaws, a feature retained from its non-avian theropod ancestors and absent in modern birds.
The bony tail
A long, bony tail rather than the fused pygostyle of modern birds. Flight feathers attached along its length form a tail fan, unlike anything in living birds.
Clawed hands
Three clawed fingers on each wing, likely useful for gripping branches or prey. Modern birds retain vestiges of these bones but no external claws.
Position of this animal’s known range across 252 million years of the Mesozoic and beyond.
151-148 million years ago
Archaeopteryx preserves feathers and a long bony tail in the same fossil story.
It is an avialan dinosaur, so the page distinguishes it from typical non-avian dinosaur examples.
The Solnhofen Limestone is a famous European fossil-lagerstatte.
A single feather was described by Hermann von Meyer in 1861, followed shortly after by the first skeleton from the Solnhofen quarries. The timing, two years after Darwin's On the Origin of Species, gave the fossil immediate significance as apparent evidence of transitional forms. Twelve body specimens and the isolated feather are now known, all from the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria. Each new specimen has contributed to debate about exactly where Archaeopteryx sits in the bird family tree and whether it was a direct ancestor of modern birds or a closely related side branch.
Animals known from the same deposits and time as Archaeopteryx.
Compsognathus
A small, fast theropod from the same Solnhofen deposits, showing the non-avian dinosaurs sharing Archaeopteryx's lagoon environment.
Rhamphorhynchus
A long-tailed pterosaur from the same Solnhofen limestone, flying over the same shallow tropical lagoons.
Scaphognathus
Another Solnhofen pterosaur, part of the broader flying fauna of the Late Jurassic Tethys lagoon environment.
Other members of Archaeopterygidae.
Microraptor
A four-winged dromaeosaur from Early Cretaceous China, showing a related but distinct experiment in feathered flight or gliding.
Anchiornis
A small feathered theropod from China, slightly older than Archaeopteryx and similar in some respects, whose position in the bird family tree is actively debated.
Xiaotingia
A feathered theropod from China that, when described in 2011, was argued to sit closer to dromaeosaurs than to birds, temporarily displacing Archaeopteryx from its traditional place in the avian family tree.
Pins show selected fossil records for Archaeopteryx; use them as modern discovery evidence, not a complete range map. Modern fossil discovery map: pins show where selected fossil and specimen records were found today, not ancient Earth positions. What does this mean?
Specimen evidence
No open specimen media or embeddable model assets are available in the local enrichment data yet.
Archaeopteryx is represented here by selected fossil records from bavaria, germany, especially solnhofen limestone lagoon deposits in the current atlas. Fossil Atlas maps those records as modern discovery locations.
No. The map shows modern fossil discovery locations from selected records. Ancient habitat and paleogeographic reconstructions are separate questions.
The current Fossil Atlas records include Camarillas. Formation coverage depends on the selected dataset and may not be complete.
Yes. Use the expedition card generator to turn the Archaeopteryx map and specimen profile into a shareable card.
Selected fossil records from PBDB and museum biodiversity aggregators. This is not a complete fossil count by country; source labels and confidence notes help distinguish canonical paleobiology records from specimen-media records.
Reconstruction images are labeled illustrations and do not represent fossil evidence. Size, speed, and bite-force figures are typical published estimates and remain subject to revision as new specimens are described.
Maps use curated PBDB, museum, and specimen-source records with visible caveats.
Pins show where fossils were found or reported today, not exact ancient habitat positions.
Artwork is labeled separately from specimen photos, maps, and source records.
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