THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
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Birds of a Feather?
China's mysterious 'feathered dinosaurs' fly into Europe
About 20 million years older than China's spectacular
feathered dinosaurs, Archaeopteryx lithographica is considered
by many to be the first bird. Archaeopteryx is actually intermediate
between modern birds and predatory dinosaurs like Deinonychus.
In fact, one skeleton of Archaeopteryx that had poorly preserved
feathers was originally described as a skeleton of a small bipedal
dinosaur, Compsognathus. Seven specimens — including this
one held at the Natural History Museum — have been found so far.
Fine sediment, laid down in a tropical lagoon over time to form sandstone,
preserved the outline of the feathers, which scientists believe developed
from dinosaur scales.
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