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2w ago

Advanced Imaging Reveals New Insights into Chicago's Archaeopteryx Fossil

CT and UV scans of the exceptionally preserved specimen confirm flight capability, ground-dwelling behaviors, and evolutionary traits in the earliest-known bird.

A fossil of the Jurassic bird Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Germany, is pictured under UV light to show soft tissues alongside the skeleton, in the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago, in this undated photograph. Delaney Drummond/Field Museum/Handout via REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY
A life reconstruction of the Jurassic bird Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Germany, including its tertial feathers that would have helped it fly, is seen in this undated image released by the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Michael Rothman/Handout via REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY

Overview

  • The Field Museum's Chicago Archaeopteryx, one of the best-preserved of 14 known specimens, was analyzed using CT scans and UV light to uncover unprecedented soft tissue and skeletal details.
  • Researchers identified specialized tertial feathers on the wings, confirming that Archaeopteryx was capable of powered flight, unlike its non-avian dinosaur relatives.
  • Soft tissues in the hands and feet suggest the bird primarily lived on the ground but could climb trees, offering new behavioral insights.
  • The fossil's complete vertebral column revealed an additional tail vertebra, bringing the total to 24, and provided evidence of early cranial kinesis in the skull's evolution.
  • The study, published in Nature, marks the beginning of further analyses of this fossil, which has been meticulously prepared over a year to preserve its exceptional details.