Feathered dino find leaves status of Archaeopteryx up in the air

[DainBramaged]

Yet another feathered dinosaur has joined the throng of those discovered in recent years, but this one bears some bad news for the beloved Archaeopteryx, which may not occupy a pivotal location in the transition from theropod dinosaurs to birds after all.


Archaeopteryx, for those without a replica hanging on their wall, is an iconic feathered dinosaur which caused quite a stir when it was discovered in 1861 in Germany. It was especially remarkable because it arrived just two years after Charles Darwin finally published On the Origin of Species. Archaeopteryx was immediately seen as a transitional fossil that supported Darwin’s theory. In the fourth edition of his book, Darwin wrote, “Hardly any recent discovery shows more forcibly than this how little we as yet know of the former inhabitants of the world.”

Nine more specimens of Archaeopteryx have since been found, and while debate has persisted, it has continued to be considered the earliest known bird, even as additional fossils from the dinosaur-bird transition have been found. The discovery of a new species often requires taxonomists to do some shuffling, as the specimen sometimes refuses to fit neatly into an existing group. The people who have characterized the newest member of the feathered dinosaur family argue that it necessitates a shuffling that may bump the distinguished Archaeopteryx from its prominent position.

Xiaotingia zhengi was a chicken-sized dinosaur, very similar to Archaeopteryx, that lived during the late Jurassic period, about 155 million years ago. Like many other feathered dinosaurs, it was discovered in China. Like Archaeopteryx, Xiaotingia was a pint-sized carnivore, and its remarkably complete skeleton shows impressions of feathers covering its entire body.

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/07/feathered-dino-leaves-status-of-archaeopteryx-up-in-the-air.ars