Archaeopteryx

The Archaeopteryx is a standalone fossil in the introduced in.

In
After donating the fossil in, its plaque in the museum will read:

"The archaeopteryx is considered a close relative to the ancestors of modern birds. Despite the similarities, its teeth and three-clawed hands contained marked differences. As its bones were hollow to keep its body lighter and allow for flight, fossils rarely survive."

Real-world information


Archaeopteryx is a primitive bird that lived during the Late Jurassic, approximately 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany. Eleven fossils have been discovered to date, featuring feather impressions (the first fossil was actually of a single feather), sharp teeth, and three clawed fingers. Whether the feathers were meant for insulation or flight is under contentious debate; CT scans show that Archaeopteryx did have the proper neural structures needed for flight, but would probably have flown in a manner very different from modern birds. The limestone that all specimens were unearthed from suggest that Archaeopteryx lived on islands surrounding a lagoon, enduring long dry seasons, and living amongst other creatures such as pterosaurs, turkey-sized carnivorous dinosaurs, another genus of early bird, ray-finned fish, lizards, and many insects. Cycads and conifers, though scarce, made up the flora of the lagoon. Archaeopteryx could grow up to 50 cm in body length.