Early Birds 1

Birds have a completely different kind of wing. The bird's wing is made from a row of feathers that are attached to the arm and the bones of the very small second and third fingers. Because they did not fossilize easily, there are few specimens of prehistoric birds to teach us about their origins. The first clue came in the middle of the last century. In 1861, workmen in a German limestone quarry found the fossil impression of a single feather in the rock layer where many fossil reptiles had already been found. The fossil was named archaeopteryx, which means 'ancient feather'.

The world's most valuable fossil

Shortly afterwards a fossil skeleton was found in the same area. It looked like that of a small reptile with feathered wings and tail. However, because of the feathers it was considered to be a bird and, after prolonged bargaining between 1862 and 1863, it was bought by the British Museum (Natural History) in London for £700. Now it is without doubt the world's most valuable fossil, partly because of its great beauty and rarity, but mainly because it is a superb example of evolution 'caught in the act'. Later four other fossil skeletons of this ancient bird, archaeopteryx, were found.

The size of a pigeon

These five fossil skeletons indicate an animal about the size of a pigeon with a curious mixture of bird and reptile features. Archaeopteryx's head was like that of a reptile, with toothed jaws. The brain was larger than is usual in reptiles, but was not as well developed as that of birds. The whole backbone was like that of a reptile, and included a long tapering tail. The hands were each formed of three long fingers.

A fossil of archaeopteryx

A reconstruction of archaeopteryx