Intriguing German Fossil Could Be an Entirely New Species of Archeopteryx

The winged Archeopteryx is one of the most famous dinosaurs known to science, yet arguments about their place in the evolutionary family tree. The reported discovery of an entirely new species of Archeopteryx with distinctly bird-like features. Critics, on the other hand, say it's premature to designate the fossil specimen as belonging to a new species.

It's called Archeopteryx albersdoerferi-A Jurassic dinosaur that's less reptile-like and more bird-like Archeopteryx species, according to new research published today in Historical Biology. If confirmed, it would be only the third species of Archeopteryx identified among the 12 known fossilized skeletons (or 10, depending on who you ask).

This particular fossil was discovered in 2009, but it was referred to as a new scanning technique for the analysis, so it's a classic case of an old fossil being viewed through new eyes. That the authors of the new study would declare the specimen a distinct species should not come as a surprise. Virtually every new fossil of Archeopteryx has, at first, been declared a new species Archeopteryx lithographica gold Archeopteryx siemensii, after further scrutiny. The same could happen to Archeopteryx albersdoerferi, but only time will tell.

Archeopteryx is one of the most intriguing dinosaurs in the paleontological record. Discovered back in the 1860s, this Jurassic era dinosaur was celebrated as a conspicuous demonstration of evolution in action. Not quite lizard and not quite bird, it seemed to show, almost literally, lizards evolving into birds. Archeopteryx was thus branded a "transitionary" species-a so-called missing link between extinct dinosaurs and modern birds.

Over the years, however, paleontologists have struggled to place Archeopteryx in the family tree that leads to modern birds. The discovery of other dinosaur-era bird-like creatures, with sizes and characteristics more Archeopteryx was an evolutionary dead end, and that modern birds have a different common ancestor. Archeopteryx was dubbed to "convergently bird-like non-avialan theropod," which means a non-avian feathered dinosaur that acquired bird-like characteristics through the processes of convergent evolution.

That's what makes this new analysis so potentially important. The lead author of the new study, Martin Kundrát from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Slovakia, said the specimen is more like modern birds Archeopteryx specimen uncovered to date. The new paper is thus nudging Archeopteryx a step or two closer to the family tree that leads to modern birds.

this Archeopteryx fossil was pulled from the Mörnsheim Formation of Germany, and it's the youngest of all the known Archeopteryx specimens by about 500,000 years, according to the study. All Archeopteryx Jurassic date fossils dating back to the late 150 million years ago, a time when the first bird-like dinosaurs were emerging. It bears a close resemblance to an older species A. lithographica, the researchers claim, but the age of the new fossil, in conjunction with its unique physical characteristics, Archeopteryx.

To study the specimen, Kundrát's team used a scanning technique called synchrotron microtomography, which allows scientists to visualize specimens in three dimensions and to observe interior features without having to cut them open.

"By way of digitally dissecting the fossil we found that this specimen of all of the others," John Nudds, co-author of the study and a paleontologist at Manchester University, said in a statement. "It possessed skeletal adaptations which would have resulted in much more efficient flight. In a nutshell we have discovered A. lithographica evolved into a more advanced bird, better adapted to flying Archeopteryx. "

The unique features of the cranial bones, the unique wing elements and the pectoral girdle (chest), and a hardier arrangement of hand bones. Importantly, none of these features are found in the older Archeopteryx specimens, which tend to be more reptile-like in their features, noted the researchers.

"This is the first time that many bones and teeth of Archeopteryx "said Kundrát," The use of synchrotron microtomography was the only way to study the specimen as it was heavily compressed in many parts of the world. "

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Troublingly, the researchers claim their new study offers the first synchrotron microtomographic examination of the [Archaeopteryx] genus, "which is categorically untrue. Earlier this year, a research team from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, and Palacký University in the Czech Republic used a synchotron to study the flight potential Archeopteryx. That Kundrát and Nudds, published in Nature Communications, is a glaring omission.

Dennis Voeten, the lead author of the Nature Communications paper, said the new study provides "a welcome contribution to our understanding of the variability that Archeopteryx exhibits within the genus, "but he is not convinced the fossil represents a new species.

"Nearly all these specimens have been included in their own species, and later revisions remained unable to distinguish these animals in a limited number of well-defined 'natural' species," Voeten told Gizmodo.

The rate of growth and physical variability Archeopteryx "Difficult to reconstruct," he said, and several key features, such as the sizes of bones and subtle physical traits, could be the result of individual variation, or even deformations of the bone after the animal died, rather than the signs of a separate species.

"Nevertheless, this novel provides a powerful second example of the value of synchrotron tomography in reliably visualizing the internal structures of priceless and fragile fossils," he said. "Future evaluations of the beautiful fossils of Archeopteryx will undoubtedly reveal which morphological characters are associated with its true specificity, and which results from other factors in play. "

As a final post, the top image used in this post-an artist's reconstruction A. albersdoerferi-takes some serious liberties. though Archeopteryx exhibits physical characteristics consisting of flying, it has not yet been that it was a free flyer. As I wrote earlier this year, "scientists do not know if this animal used its wings for passive gliding or powered, active flight. Another possibility is that Archeopteryx was a ground-dwelling animal that did not fly at all, using its wings for something else, like snatching prey, leaping, or sexual displays. "

All this said, the recent work done by Voeten and Kundrát both in the direction of Archeopteryx being a flying creature, but its exact mode of flying remains a mystery.

[Historical Biology]