1 June 2019 | NewScientist | 41“There’s a complete lack of any evidence for
large trees.” Instead, small shrubs appear to
have dominated. Also, the very idea that
Archaeopteryx could fly has been
controversial. It may have been birdlike with
feathers, but it lacked key markers of flight,
such as a solid breastbone to anchor its wings.
Determined to resolve the debate, in 2011,
Ryan Carney at the University of South
Florida carried out a microscopic examination
of an Archaeopteryx feather. This revealed
pigmented structures called melanosomes
indicating that the plumage was matt black,
which would have aided flight. “In modern
birds, black melanin pigment substantially
increases the strength and durability of
feathers,” says Carney. Unfortunately, his
finding didn’t settle the matter: the feather
he scrutinised was the original Archaeopteryx
fossil, which according to a new analysis
probably belonged to another dinosaur.Evidence Carney has gathered since, however,
makes a strong case. Unlike other studies,
which tend to focus on a single anatomical
feature, he looked at the bigger picture, such
as how the muscles and joints moved the
entire forelimb. Based on this analysis, in 2016,
Carney concluded that Archaeopteryx could fly.
This fits with what Rauhut and his
colleagues have reported as well. Examining
the eleventh specimen, they found that its
body was covered in pennaceous feathers,
the kind that in modern birds have evolved
for flight. Their shape indicated that this
process had already begun in Archaeopteryx.
But it probably wasn’t a very adept flier. Last
year, another group compared the internal
structure of Archaeopteryx bones with those
of modern birds and concluded that it was ableto fly, but only for short bursts, like a pheasant.
“It’s not a great style of flight,” says Rauhut.
Not glamorous, but it was enough to make
an epic journey. In a 2017 paper, Rauhaut
argued that birdlike dinosaurs evolved on
the Asian part of Laurasia then migrated west
towards what is now Europe. Archaeopteryx
alone appears to have crossed the inland sea
to reach the Solnhofen archipelago.
Flight may have helped Archaeopteryx
evade predators but it is unlikely to have been
skilled enough to catch its own prey on the
wing. We know it hunted by day, however,
because it lacks the large eye sockets found
in nocturnal animals. But what did it eat?
The shape of its teeth suggests insects.
Rauhut notes that each Archaeopteryx
specimen has distinctive teeth, hinting
that they were adapted for different diets
depending on what was available on the island
where it lived. For instance, the eighth haslarge, cone-shaped back teeth, suitable for
cracking hard foods. This hints it ate insects
with tough shells, perhaps beetles, he says.
It isn’t just their teeth that differ. The bones
in each Archaeopteryx skeleton also vary in
size and proportions, raising questions about
whether they really are all from the same
species, as some research has concluded.
Other work has grouped them into at least
two species: Archaeopteryx lithographica
and Archaeopteryx siemensii. And a paper
on the eighth specimen published last year
suggested it belonged to a new species.
All of this controversy over classification
has an intriguing implication. It suggests a
parallel between Archaeopteryx and the
Galapagos finches studied by Darwin. These
birds also live on remote islands and are
adapted to the different opportunities offered
by their particular island habitat. Thought to
number 17 species, they are a classic example
of^ adaptive radiation, where a multitude of
species evolves rapidly from a single one.
Archaeopteryx may have done the same thing
on the Solnhofen archipelago. Perhaps they
are the Darwin’s finches of the Jurassic. ❚This specimen, discovered in the mid-1870s,
is best preserved of all 11 Archaeopteryx fossils“ Archaeopteryx could
probably fly in short bursts,
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Michael Marshall is a science writer
based in Devon, UK. Follow him on
Twitter @m_c_marshall