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Paper Challenges Ideas About 'Early Bird' Dinosaur

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

The "early bird" archaeopteryx may not be a bird, after all.

The first fossil of the raven-size species was an immediate sensation when it was excavated in 1860, in southern Germany. It had feathers and a wishbone, like birds, but teeth and a long, bony tail, like reptiles. Coming the year after publication of The Origin of Species, the discovery swayed many scientists into accepting Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's staunch ally, recognized the fossil in a limestone slab as a transitional species between dinosaurs and birds. Over time, the 10 known specimens of archaeopteryx became widely regarded as examples of the earliest bird, which lived about 150 million years ago.