In 2014, Foth and his colleagues analyzed the plumage of a new skeletal specimen (the 11th specimen, which is privately owned and yet to be named) and compared it with those of bird-like theropods and other basal birds. "Furthermore, color could be important for camouflage." "This indicates that these dinosaurs and basal birds probably already used their plumage for signaling (in relation to species recognition mating) like modern birds," Foth said. On the other hand, plumage studies of bird-like theropods (predatory dinosaurs) and basal birds suggest the animals had complex color and iridescent patterns, which conceivably were also present in Archaeopteryx. But a new analysis, which was published in 2013 in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry and used different methods, suggests the Archaeopteryx's flight feathers had a different coloration, possibly being light (or white) with black tips. In a 2011 study published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists determined that Archaeopteryx's feathers were black. Other research, presented at the 2016 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Salt Lake City, found that Archaeopteryx would have been able to fly without running first on the ground, Live Science reported.Īn artist's interpretation of what Archaeopteryx looked like in flight. Given that Archaeopteryx is the oldest flying member of the avialan lineage on record, it's likely that "active dinosaurian flight had evolved even earlier," study co-researcher Stanislav Bureš, a researcher at Palacký University in the Czech Republic. "Data analysis furthermore demonstrated that the bones of Archaeopteryx plot closest to those of birds like pheasants that occasionally use active flight to cross barriers or dodge predators, but not to those of gliding and soaring forms such as many birds of prey and some seabirds that are optimized for enduring flight," study co-researcher Emmanuel de Margerie, a researcher at The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Toulouse, France, said in a statement. Even though Archaeopteryx didn't have the same features in its shoulders that help modern birds fly, its wings looked like those of modern birds that fly, they found. The researchers used synchrotron microtomography - a tool that uses radiation to make magnified, 3D digital reconstructions of an object - to study the Jurassic creature's fossils. "Therefore, we think that it could perform a simple flapping flight over a very short distance, maybe in relation to hunting or escape behavior," Foth said.Ī 2018 study published in the journal Nature Communications also found evidence that Archaeopteryx could fly, although not like any bird alive today does. "Thus, it is very likely that Archaeopteryx could fly, but it is hard to judge if it was a flapper or a glider."Īrchaeopteryx had a primitive shoulder girdle that likely limited its flapping abilities, but it also probably lived in areas without big trees for gliding, and its claw structure suggests it probably didn't climb often or perch on trees. "The contour feathers in the wing and on the side of the tails of Archaeopteryx have an asymmetric shape, which is usually related to a higher aerodynamic performance," Christian Foth, a paleontologist at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, told Live Science. Interestingly, the Archaeopteryx specimens found thus far lack any feathering on the upper neck and head, which may be a result of the preservation process.īased on its wings and feathers, scientists believe Archaeopteryx likely had some aerodynamic abilities.
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