THE ARCH^OPTERYK. 



237 



BOXES OF TAIL OF (A) BENGAL VULTURE AND 

 OF (B) ARCH.KOPTERYX. 





formation at Soleuhofen, with impressions of feathers radiating fan-wise from each anterior limb, and 

 diverging obliquely in a single series of a long tail. The characters of this singular feathered fossil 

 seemed so unlike those of a bird, that Professors Andreas Wagner and Hermann von Meyer concluded 

 that the animal in question was most probably a feathered reptile and not a bird at all. 



Happily for British paheontologists, this remarkable fossil was secured for the National Museum in 

 1862, and a memoir on it was contributed by Pro- 

 fessor Owen to the Transactions of the, Zoological 

 Society in the same year. The specimen is preserved 

 in intaglio and relievo, on two slabs of Solenhofeii 

 limestone, the lower one of which represents the 

 ancient surface of what was once tidal mud, 

 upon which the carcase of the bird was left after 

 its death, the upper being composed of the 

 layers of alluvium deposited by subsequent tides, 

 and to these we are indebted for the preservation 

 of the fossil. The impressions of the feather 

 are most beautifully preserved upon the lower 

 slab, exhibiting the tail and wings, and some 

 further portions of the skeleton itself. The 

 head, neck, and dorsal vertebrae alone are wanting. The right scapula and humerus, and both 

 the fore-arms, are well preserved. Two of the fingers of the wing appear to have been free and to 

 have been armed with sharp recurved claws. In modern birds the anterior of the three digits of the 



pinion remains free, and in some species supports 

 a claw or spur as, for instance, in many of the 

 Thrushes a tubercle, or small callosity, can be felt 

 with more or less distinctness. Several Plovers 

 and Jacanas have spurs, as also the Spur-winged 

 Geese (Plectropterus), while the Screamer (Pala- 

 medea cornuta) has two spurs, and the Megapodes 

 have a tubercular rudiment of a pinion-claw. 



The lower right limb is well preserved, con- 

 sisting of femur, tibia, and tarso-metatarsal bones. 

 To the latter bone four toes are articulated, one 

 hind toe and three fore toes, the latter armed 

 with sharp recurved claws. The foot agrees with 

 that of a true perching bird, but from the 

 fan- wise and rounded arrangement of the wing- 

 feathers, it would appear to have been a bird of 

 feeble flight. The most singular characteristic of 

 this Oolitic bird is its tail, which is complete, 

 and consists of no fewer than twenty narrow elon- 

 gated vertebrae, the dimensions of which slowly 

 but constantly diminish, so that the last is the 

 smallest. The feathers of the tail are attached in 

 pairs to each vertebra throughout its entire length. 

 In most recent birds we find the tail very short 

 and powerful, composed of vertebrae varying from 

 five to nine in number, with well-developed spinous 

 processes on their upper and under side, the last vertebra being very peculiarly formed, and, 

 with few exceptions, it is always the largest. This last joint, called the os coccygis, or plough- 

 share bone, is composed of two or more coalesced vertebrae, and gives attachment to the rectrices or 

 quill-feathers of the tail, besides supporting the oil-glands. The above woodcut exhibits the peculiar 

 ending to the tail of Arcliceopteryx, as compared with that of a recent bird. 



AKCH.EOPTERYX LITHOGRAPHICA. 





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