Archaeopteryx
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
| Archaeopteryx |
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| Scientific Classification |
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Archaeopteryx lithographica |
Archaeopteryx is an extinct bird that possesses some reptilian features causing it to be classified as a evolutionary transitional form, and is considered the first of the so called feathered dinosaurs. It has been associated, geologically with the late Jurassic and dated by radiometric dating methods at 150 million years.
Archaeopteryx was a fully flying and perching bird (though it has an unfused spine, no bill, a reptilian skull, adult teeth, no reptilian snout and bony tail, features seen in no modern bird). Recent discoveries seem to have shown that there are enough similarities between Archaeopteryx and Dromaeosaur that they can be considered varieties of the same created kind. This includes evidence from Dromaeosaur's feathers that it could fly. Archaeopteryx is dated as 20 million years older than Dromaeosaur. Archaeopteryx could not have evolved from Dromaeosaur. In fact Archaeopteryx is older than most of its alleged ancestors, which is a BIG problem for evolutionists, assuming total and complete replacement (thus extinction) of the original species.
According to the U.S. National Park Service (Dinosaur National Monument):
| “ | Fossils of Archaeopteryx, a little animal that lived in the middle of dinosaur times, do show traces of feathers, so it has often been called the first bird. But the skeleton of Archaeopteryx looks almost exactly like that of a small meat-eating dinosaur, right down to its tiny sharp teeth. So what was it- -a bird or a dinosaur? Some scientists think that Archaeopteryx was both: a warm-blooded, feathered dinosaur that became the ancestor of the birds.[1] | ” |
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Archaeopteryx's features
Avian features
- Feathers are present. No other modern animals except birds have feathers.
- Archaeopteryx had an opposable hallux (big toe). It is a character of birds and not dinosaurs. A reverse toe is however found in theropod dinosaurs and some other dinosaurs.
- Furcula (wishbone) formed of two clavicles fused together in the midline.
- Publis elongate and direct backwards.
- Bones are pneumatic.
Reptilian features
- Premaxilla and maxilla are not horn-covered (or bills are not present).
- Trunk region and vertebrae are fused. But in other birds they are always fused.
- Necks are attached to skull from the rear as in dinosaurs, not from below as in modern birds.
- Archaeopteryx had a long bony tail.
- Archaeopteryx had teeth.
- Nasal opening are far forward and are separated from the eye by a large preorbital fenestra (hole). This is typical of reptiles, but not of birds. Fenestra when present in birds when present is greatly reduced, and is involved in prokinesis (movement of the beak).
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References
- ↑ Dinosaurs and Dinosaur National Monument by the U.S. National Park Service.
External links
Creationist References
- Archaeopteryx is NOT a hoax — it is a true bird, not a 'missing link'
- Is the fossil bird Archaeopteryx an evolutionary missing link?
Secular References
- Dromaeosaurid Archaeopteryx
- news@nature.com - Flying dinosaur had 'bird brain'
- All about Archaeopteryx
- Archaeopteryx Wikipedia
See Also
- Birds
- Transitional forms
- Paleozoology
- Transition from diapsid reptiles to birds Response to Talk.Origins
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