|
|
Article: Smile when you call me a dinosaur. (Archaeopteryx fossil mistakenly identified)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 9, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Smile when you call me a dinosaur
If you live in Bavaria and just happen to have a fossil of a skinny, pigeon-sized dinousaur in your basement, you might want to take another look. It could be the next speciment of the rare genus Archaeopteryx, the most primitive known bird--one that is helping scientists link Aves back to their reptilian ancestors. Peter Wellnhofer of the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Historical Geology in Munich reports in the June 24 SCIENCE that he has identified a new Archaeopteryx specimen, which had been found many years ago and misidentified as the dinousaur Compsognathus.
This well-preserved fossil, called the ...