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When the excavation retains the full body of the animal at the time of death, seeing that she observes the instant photo over time. Archeopteryx-the most famous bird-and now bird is a great specimen that has been unlimited for scientists for decades, offers previously unseen evidence of the first bird’s ability to fly.
Researchers have long considered Archeopteryx going into the air, and most of its feathers’ dinosaur cousins never left the ground, and some said the Archeopteryx was probably more glider than a real flyer. The first winged miracle fossils of this Jurassic were found in southern Germany more than 160 years ago and is about 150 million years ago; So far, only 14 fossils have been found. However, private collectors have created some of these rarities by isolating fossils from research and catching this main moment of bird evolution.
One such fossil was recently acquired by the Chicago Natural History Museum and answered the long -term question about the Archeopteryx flight. Researchers May 14 Published a description of the sample of pigeons in Nature, announcing that ultraviolet (UV) light and computed tomography (CT) were revealed by soft tissues and structures that have never been seen in this ancient bird. The results included feathers showing that the Archeopteryx could reach power flight.
Although most archeopteryx fossil specimens are “incomplete and crushed”, only one digit was missing in this fossil and timeless time, said Dr. Jingma O’Connor, Paleontologist and Associated Curator at the Fossil Reptile Field Museum.
“The bones are just exclusively preserved in 3D;” We also have more fossil soft tissues associated with our example than we have seen in any other person. “
The Archeopteryx fossil appears under the UV light, with soft fabrics next to the skeleton. – Delaney Drummond/Field Museum
Feather flight
Fossil and co -authors of the field museum Akiko Shinya and Constance van Beek have been working on an example for more than a year. They spent hundreds of hours scanning and modeling bone positions with three dimensions; limestone chippings; And using UV light to illuminate the boundaries between mineralized soft tissue and rocky matrix.
Their preparation – a process that took about 1600 hours in total, estimated that O’Connor – paid off. Researchers found the first feathers of flight feathers, called “tertialias”, archeopteryx, which grow along the humerus between the elbow and the body, and is an important component of all modern bird flight. Since the 1980s, scientists have hypothesized that the Archeopteryx had territory due to its humerus, said O’Connor. But this is the first time such feathers have been found in the archeopteryx fossil.
The surprises did not end there. The elongated scale on the leg pads mentioned that Archeopteryx spent time, as modern pigeons and pigeons do. And the bones in the roof of the mouth provided clues on the evolution of the skull feature in birds called skull kines, independent skull bone movement against each other. This feature gives birds more flexibility as they use their blunt.
“It was one” wow! “After another,” said O’Connor.
The discovery of the Terais “is especially an extraordinary discovery because it shows that Archeopteryx could actually fly,” said Dr. Susan Chapman, an associate professor at the Department of Biological Sciences in South Carolina. Chapman, who has not been involved in the study, is investigating bird evolution using paleontology and development biology.
“Chicago’s Archeopteryx prepares have done a great job not only to preserve bone structure but also to soft tissue impressions,” Chapman said in an email to CNN.
But the Archeopteryx could probably only fly for small distances, she added. Despite having thirds, it lacked certain adapted flights seen in modern birds, such as specialized flight muscles and breast bone extension, called a rug to attach those muscles, said Chapman.
The turn point of the evolution
The museum purchased this Archeopteryx copy of 2022, and at that time Julian Sigger, the president and CEO of the museum, called it “the most significant acquisition of the field museum of the Museum because he applied to T. Rex.”
This fossil plate, which in 2022 Purchased outdoor museums, may not seem like an unspeakable eye, but the “impressive” specimen gave a wealth of information about the earliest known bird. – Delaney Drummond/Field Museum
Whether the evolutionary importance of the Archeopteryx was the relationship between non -avian terropod dinosaurs and origin that caused all modern birds. But in a sense, the museum took a big gambling on this particular fossil, says O’Connor. Since 1990 He was in private hands and his condition was unknown. When they arrived at the museum, scientists were not sure what to expect, said O’Connor.
It would be too low to say that the fossil exceeded their expectations.
“When I found out we were going to buy Archeopteryx, I never enjoy my wildest dreams, I thought we would end such an impressive specimen,” said O’Connor. “This is one of the most important macroevolutionary transitions in Earth life history. So it is a very important moment of evolution on the planet. ”
Chapman added that the significance of such examples emphasizes why scientific access should be preferred compared to the collection of private fossil collections. When fossils are sold for profit and private, not studies, “their preparation is often poor, resulting in loss of essential soft tissue structures,” she said. “Moreover, the translated such examples for the understanding of humanity about evolution has been lost for decades.”
O’Connor added that Chicago Archeopteryx retains many other important details about bird evolution. As the data already collected from fossil and analysis is still performed, its entire history has not yet been told.
“There’s a lot to come,” she said. “I hope everyone is wondering how I am.”
Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and how it works in the magazine. She is the author ‘Carpet of zombie errors: Surprised Science of Parasitic Mind Control ”(Hopkins Press).
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