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The Feathers of the Jurassic Urvogel Archaeopteryx

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The Evolution of Feathers

Part of the book series: Fascinating Life Sciences ((FLS))

Abstract

The Jurassic stem bird Archaeopteryx is an iconic transitional fossil, with an intermediate morphology combining features of non-avian dinosaurs and crown Aves. Importantly, fossils of Archaeopteryx preserve not only the bones but also details of the plumage and therefore help shed light on the evolution of feathers, wings, and avian flight. Plumage is preserved in multiple individuals, allowing a detailed documentation of the feathers of the wings, tail, hindlimbs, and body. In some features, Archaeopteryx’ plumage is remarkably modern, yet in others, it is strikingly primitive. As in extant birds, remiges and coverts are enlarged and overlap to form airfoils. Remiges and rectrices exhibit asymmetrical, pennaceous vanes, with interlocking barbules. The hindlimbs bear large, vaned feathers as in Microraptor and Anchiornis. Rectrices are numerous and extend the full length of the tail to the hips. The plumage of crown Aves was assembled in a stepwise fashion from Anchiornis through Archaeopteryx, culminating in a modern arrangement in ornithothoracines. Subsequent stasis in feather and wing morphology likely reflects aerodynamic and developmental constraints. Feather morphology and arrangement in Archaeopteryx are consistent with lift-generating function, and the wing loading and aspect ratio are comparable to modern birds, consistent with gliding and perhaps flapping flight. The plumage of Archaeopteryx is intermediate between Anchiornis and more derived Pygostylia, suggesting a degree of flight ability intermediate between the two.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the curators and staff of the Natural History Museum (London), Humboldt Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin), Jura-Museum (Eichstätt), and Wyoming Dinosaur Center (Thermopolis), especially Raimund Albersdörfer, Martina Köbl-Ebert, Daniela Schwarz, and Burkhard Pohl for access to the specimens in their care, without which this study would not be possible. NRL is grateful to Tony Russell for his patience as a supervisor and mentor and many discussions and also to Philip J. Currie for the discussions. We further thank Jakob Vinther, Oliver Rauhut, and Xu Xing for the discussion and Tom Holtz for his comments on the manuscript. CF is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant PZ00P2_174040.

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  1. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Nicholas R. Longrich

  2. Stammham, Germany

    Helmut Tischlinger

  3. Departement für Geowissenschaften, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Switzerland

    Christian Foth

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Correspondence to Nicholas R. Longrich .

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  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Christian Foth

  2. Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Palaeontology and Geobiology, GeoBioCenter, München, Germany

    Oliver W. M. Rauhut

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Longrich, N.R., Tischlinger, H., Foth, C. (2020). The Feathers of the Jurassic Urvogel Archaeopteryx . In: Foth, C., Rauhut, O. (eds) The Evolution of Feathers. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27223-4_8

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