The Archaeopteryx: The History and Mystery Surrounding the Flying Dinosaur Genus

The massively popular 1990 novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and its subsequent movie adaptations led to a huge resurgence in interest in dinosaurs and the prehistoric world. That interest continues to the present day, even though most of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park weren’t actually from the Jurassic period. Triceratops, Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus Rex and the huge sauropods such as Brachiosaurus that feature in the book and movies all actually belong to the Late Cretaceous period, more than 40 million years after the end of the Jurassic. Regardless, certain kinds of dinosaurs remain instantly recognizable.

The movie also popularized pterodactyls, and the concept of flying dinosaurs fascinates people. There is no doubt that Archaeopteryx, which lived over 150 million years ago, was one of the earliest birds or avialans (bird-like creatures), and when the first fossil of it was discovered, it was hailed as a potential missing link between dinosaurs and birds. The name Archaeopteryx comes from Greek, the word for “ancient” and the term for “wing” or “feather.” The creature is occasionally referenced by the German, “Urvogel,” which literally means “primeval bird.” From the known species of Archaeopteryx, the creature grew no longer than half a meter (20 inches), including its long, bony tail. Despite its bird-like appearance, scientists point out that the genus has far more in common with the dinosaurs of its day than with the thousands of bird species of our modern age.

Over time, however, others would argue it was actually the missing link between birds and other reptiles. Meanwhile, the debate over whether it was the first avialan came and went, as it was discovered to not be the first.