OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Early toothed bird — Archaeopteryx lithographica

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier

Artist / Creator

H. Raab ( User: Vesta )

Date / Period

Late Jurassic — comparative predecessor · Late Jurassic, roughly 150 million years ago.

Object Type

cast

Medium

original_fossil

About This Object

Geologic period: Late Jurassic — comparative predecessor

Age: Late Jurassic, roughly 150 million years ago.

Feeding: Predatory or faunivorous feeding is inferred from teeth and skeletal anatomy.

Locomotion: Aerial capability is strongly supported, though the exact style and power of flight remain researched.

Body plan: Feathered animal with wings, a long bony tail, clawed fingers and toothed jaws.

Evidence: Feathers, toothed jaws, long tail and limb anatomy are direct fossil evidence.

Why it matters: Archaeopteryx remains one of the clearest classic examples of the anatomical transition between non-avian theropods and early birds.

Plain Language Identity: A Late Jurassic feathered avialan from Germany placed here as a comparative predecessor in the bird-origins story.

What You Are Looking At: A cast based on Archaeopteryx fossil material preserving a mixture of bird-like and non-avian theropod features.

Ecosystem: Late Jurassic Solnhofen archipelago environment.

Formation: Solnhofen Limestone.

Find Location: Bavaria, Germany.

Preservation: Visitor object is a cast.

Room Context Note: Archaeopteryx is Jurassic, not Cretaceous. It is intentionally retained in Room 07 only as a comparative bird-origins predecessor and must be visually labeled that way.

Open Questions: Do not present Archaeopteryx as the single direct ancestor of every living bird.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/archaeopteryx-lithographica-meyer:nmnhpaleobiology_3370799

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; comparative chronology retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Archaeopteryx lithographica

Evidence / representation: comparative_original_fossil_visual

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

comparative_original_fossil_visual

Cretaceous Worlds: Dinosaurs at Their Most Diverse.

Provenance

Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Bird Origins / Cretaceous Seas 1

Visual source institution: Wikimedia Commons

Exhibition History

Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.

Collection & Credit

Media license: CC BY-SA 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Subjects & Themes

Archaeopteryx lithographica Late Jurassic — comparative predecessor cast Bird Origins / Cretaceous Seas 1 Cretaceous Worlds

ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

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