remains of two remarkable skeletons, belonging to that very 
wonderful reptile-like bird, Archeopteryx. 
Only two skeletons of this wonderful bird are known, and 
they were obtained, many years ago, from the Solenhofen, or 
Lithographic slates of Bavaria. The wing and tail-feathers 
are as perfectly developed as in modern bide But these 
precious fossils present two characters which have long since 
been lost by birds. The first of these is the presence of well 
developed teeth in the jaws. The birds of to-day have horny 
beaks. The teeth bespeak the reptile. The second is the long, 
tapering tail, which is composed of a series of cylindrical bones, 
forming a lizard-like appendage. But each bone, be it noted, 
supported a pair of stiff, tail-quills, so that the tail of this ancient 
bird, in its general appearance, differs in a very striking way 
from that of a modern bird, wherein these feathers seem all to 
spring from a common base, fan-wise. But as a matter of fact 
‘ pygostyle ” 
which supports the tail feathers of the adult, is found, in the 
this appearance is deceptive, for the large bone, or ‘ 
embryo, to be made up of a series of separate pieces, agreeing in 
number with those of the tail of the fossil ancestor, Archezopteryx. 
Each of these separate bones has, in fact, in the course of the ages, 
been shortened up to the condition of mere discs; and this 
“telescoping ” of the vertebre has brought the once separated 
feathers close up, so that their bases lie packed in like the spokes 
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