Archaeopteryx: feathers between dinosaurs and birds
A magpie-size dinosaur with wings and teeth
Quick facts
- When
- Late Jurassic, about 149 to 145 million years ago
- Size
- Roughly a magpie
- Mix of traits
- Feathered wings, but with teeth and a bony tail
- London specimen
- Acquired by the Natural History Museum in 1862
What happened
In the Late Jurassic, around 149 to 145 million years ago, a small, bird-like dinosaur called Archaeopteryx lived in what is now Germany. About the size of a magpie, it had broad feathered wings and could fly, yet it kept features no modern bird has, including sharp teeth and a long bony tail. The Natural History Museum bought the first skeleton in 1862, now called the London specimen and displayed in its Cadogan gallery, and it became one of the most famous fossils in the world.
Why it matters
Archaeopteryx sat right on the line between dinosaurs and birds, and when it was found it seemed to show, in a single animal, that one had evolved into the other. It remains a touchstone in the argument that birds are living dinosaurs, the thread this timeline picks up at the very end.
How we know
The Natural History Museum's record for Archaeopteryx dates it to the Late Jurassic, 149 to 145 million years ago, in Germany, describes its feathered wings, small body the size of a magpie, and teeth, and notes the museum acquired the London specimen in 1862.
Sources
- Natural History Museum, London. Archaeopteryx (Natural History Museum Dino Directory) (2024) · Reputable sourcenhm.ac.uk · The domain "nhm.ac.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Natural History Museum, London. How dinosaurs evolved into birds (Natural History Museum) (2024) · Reputable sourcenhm.ac.uk · The domain "nhm.ac.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Voeten et al.. Wing bone geometry reveals active flight in Archaeopteryx (Nature Communications, 2018, via PubMed Central) (2018) · Peer-reviewed (author-declared)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · Cited as a "journal" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Part of a timelineAge of Dinosaurs21 events · The age of the dinosaurs across the Mesozoic Era, from the Great Dying that cleared the way to the asteroid that ended their reign.View all →