By Xeno
One of the most controversial topics in science during the past many decades has been the debate over the origin of birds: did they evolve from dinosaurs or reptiles? This debate quieted down for awhile until the discovery of an important new fossil in the nineteenth century. This fossil, known today as the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx (pictured above), led to fresh insights, thus reigniting this debate. Today, it is fairly well-accepted by the scientific community that birds are a special lineage of theropod dinosaurs.
When you look closely at the above fossil, you can see similarities as well as clear morphological differences between Archaeopteryx and, say, a chicken. Archaeopteryx has fingers instead of wings, Archaeopteryx has a long bony tail instead of a short bony nubbin... More...
