Page 173 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

The Solnhofen Specimen
Discovered near Eichstatt in the 1960s
and described by Wellnhofer in 1988.
This species was initially described as
Compsagnathus, but was later reclassi-
fied as Archaeopteryx lithographica.

The Solnhofen Specimen

The Eichstatt Specimen
Discovered by Workerszell in 1951 and
described by Peter Wellnhofer of the
Munich Museum of Palaeontology in
Germany. This fossil is the smallest of
the genus, being only two-thirds the size
of the other species. Despite being very
different from the genus Archaeopteryx,
it is still an Archaeopteryx lithographica.
The Eichstatt Specimen

The Berlin Specimen
Unearthed near Blumenburg in 1877,
this was described by W. Dames in
1884. The best known of the
Archaeopteryx specimens, it was
thought to be a better example than the
London one because it had a complete
head (although fragmented). It was
eventually sold to the Berlin Museum.
The Berlin Specimen

The London Specimen
This Archaeopteryx fossil was found
near Langenaltheim in 1861 and
described by Hermann von Meyer that
same year. This and the Berlin species
are the best known Archaeopteryx
fossils. It was eventually sold to the
British Museum by Dr. Carl Haberlein, an
amateur paleontologist.
The London Specimen