Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx, forma de transición entre reptiles y aves
- Date
- 1861 · confidence high
- Place
- Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany
- Credited to
- Hermann von Meyer (description), Richard Owen, Thomas Huxley
- People
- 👤 Hermann von Meyer1801–1869👤 Richard Owen1804–1892👤 Thomas Henry Huxley1825–1895
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A Jurassic fossil with feathers and reptilian features (teeth, bony tail, claws), found two years after On the Origin of Species. It was the first 'transitional form' confirming Darwinian predictions.
What it led to
- palaeontological evidence for evolution
- the hypothesis of a dinosaurian origin for birds (Huxley, Ostrom)
- evolutionary palaeontology
Built on
- Evolution by natural selection1858-1859
- Solnhofen lithographic limestone