Archaeopteryx: The Ancient Wing

Some scientists believe that some dinosaurs may have had feathers, which would help to keep them warm in cold climates. Paleontologists have found the mummified remains of hadrosaurs (the "duck-billed" dinosaurs) and ceratopsians (such as Triceratops), as well as the impressions of the skin of hadrosaurs, so we know that these particular groups of dinosaurs did not have feathers, but it is possible that other dinosaurs might have had feathers.

In the one hundred plus years since the discovery of the first Archaeopteryx skeleton, other skeletons and a preserved feather have been discovered, giving paleontologists a lot of information about this animal. Since then, other species of fossil birds have been found. Hesperornis was a large, swimming bird that lived in the late Cretaceous Period, and Ichthyornis was a smaller bird that lived at the same time, and probably looked a lot like our modern seagulls. Interestingly, both of these early birds still had teeth, like Archaeopteryx.

Two other famous extinct birds are Diatryma and Phorhusrhacos (formerly called Phororhachos), giant ground birds which arose during the Tertiary Period. The Tertiary Period occurred during the Cenozoic Era, and followed the Cretaceous Period, it began about 65 million years ago, and ended about 2 million years ago. Diatryma and Phororhachos did not have teeth, and resembled our modern ratite birds (such as the ostrich, emu, and rhea), but they were not related to them.

Recently, paleontologists discovered an animal called Mononykus, which may also be a missing link in bird evolution. More research has to be done so we can learn more about the early birds, and how they evolved. And we have lithographic printing to thank for our first glimpse at these fossil birds!

In my next article, I will be talking about a different extinct flyer, the Pterosaurs.

For more information about extinct birds, read "Wings over Spain " by Luis Chiappe and "First came feathers" by Mark Norell, both articles in the September 1998 issue of Natural History.

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