{"id":27782,"date":"2025-05-14T15:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T15:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27782"},"modified":"2025-05-14T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T15:23:08","slug":"fossil-suggests-feathered-archaeopteryx-probably-flew-like-a-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27782","title":{"rendered":"Fossil Suggests Feathered Archaeopteryx Probably Flew Like a Chicken"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New insights into the flying capabilities of a nonbird dinosaur were drawn from an unusually well-preserved specimen known as the Chicago Archaeopteryx.<\/p>\n

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In 1861, scientists discovered Archaeopteryx, a dinosaur with feathers, in 150-million-year-old limestones in Solnhofen, Germany. They didn\u2019t know it at the time, but that fossilized skeleton \u2014 and the several that followed \u2014 provided a key piece of evidence for the theory of evolution, as well as for the fact that birds were actually dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

Archaeopteryx specimens have, \u201cmaybe more than any other fossil, changed the way that we see the world,\u201d said Jingmai O\u2019Connor, a paleontologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Over 164 years, researchers have pored over every detail of available specimens, trying to puzzle out how birds came to fly. Therefore, you might expect that such a well-studied fossil species wouldn\u2019t be capable of surprises. But in <\/em>a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Nature<\/a>, Dr. O\u2019Connor and a team of researchers revealed previously unrecorded soft tissues and skeletal details from a new specimen, known as the Chicago Archaeopteryx<\/a>. What they found also helps explain why some feathered dinosaurs got off the ground, if only for short-haul flights.<\/p>\n

Sussing out Archaeopteryx\u2019s abilities in flight and how it fit in its environment has long been tricky, Dr. O\u2019Connor said. A majority of specimens are cartoonishly flattened by geology, making it difficult to discern important skeletal details. And while its earliest discoverers and most modern scientists have concluded that the species could likely take off, particular bodily features have left paleontologists seeking more data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The latest specimen, acquired by the Field Museum in 2022 and on public display since 2024, allowed Dr. O\u2019Connor\u2019s team to begin addressing some of the anatomical uncertainties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Chicago Archaeopteryx.<\/span>Field Museum<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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A line drawing of the same fossil.<\/span>Jingmai O’Connor<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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New insights into the flying capabilities of a nonbird dinosaur were drawn from an unusually well-preserved specimen known as the Chicago Archaeopteryx.In 1861, scientists discovered Archaeopteryx, a dinosaur with feathers, in 150-million-year-old limestones in Solnhofen, Germany. They didn\u2019t know it at the time, but that fossilized skeleton \u2014 and the several that followed \u2014 provided a key piece of evidence for the theory of evolution, as well as for the fact that birds were actually dinosaurs.Archaeopteryx specimens have, \u201cmaybe more than any other fossil, changed the way that we see the world,\u201d said Jingmai O\u2019Connor, a paleontologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.Over 164 years, researchers have pored over every detail of available specimens, trying to puzzle out how birds came to fly. Therefore, you might expect that such a well-studied fossil species wouldn\u2019t be capable of surprises. But in a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, Dr. O\u2019Connor and a team of researchers revealed previously unrecorded soft tissues and skeletal details from a new specimen, known as the Chicago Archaeopteryx. What they found also helps explain why some feathered dinosaurs got off the ground, if only for short-haul flights.Sussing out Archaeopteryx\u2019s abilities in flight and how it fit in its environment has long been tricky, Dr. O\u2019Connor said. A majority of specimens are cartoonishly flattened by geology, making it difficult to discern important skeletal details. And while its earliest discoverers and most modern scientists have concluded that the species could likely take off, particular bodily features have left paleontologists seeking more data.The latest specimen, acquired by the Field Museum in 2022 and on public display since 2024, allowed Dr. O\u2019Connor\u2019s team to begin addressing some of the anatomical uncertainties.The Chicago Archaeopteryx.Field MuseumA line drawing of the same fossil.Jingmai O’ConnorWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27784,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27782"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27785,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782\/revisions\/27785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}