It is unnecessary to discuss here the relationships of the birdlike reptiles, but, as the most convincing argument in support of the theory of the reptilian descent of birds, I present a restoration of the Archæopteryx, the earliest known progenitor of the class Aves. This restoration is
Fig. 1.—Restoration of the Archæopteryx, a toothed, reptilelike bird of the Jurassic period. (About 1⁄5 natural size.)
based on an examination of previous restorations in connection with a study of the excellent plates which have been published of the fossils themselves.[1] Two specimens have been discovered; one being now in the British Museum, the other in the Berlin Museum. They were both found in the lithographic slates of Solenhofen, in Bavaria, a formation of the Jurassic period, and, together, furnish the more important details of the structure of this reptilelike bird.
This restoration, therefore, while doubtless inaccurate
- ↑ For recent papers on the Archæopteryx see Natural Science (Macmillan Co.), vols, v-viii.
