After analysis the Chicago 13th ‘Archaeopteryx’ is not another Archaeopteryx
It’s SVP abstracts season.
The conventioneers are all heading back home from Minneapolis this year.
We’ll start the season off with only one abstract featuring the latest addition (Figs 1, 2, 4) to the dozen or so Solnhofen birds (eg Fig 3) that sprinkle the LRT (subset Fig 5).
Figure 1. The Field Museum Solnhofen bird here with wings re-articulated.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/field_solnhofen_bird588.gif?w=237″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/field_solnhofen_bird588.gif?w=551″ class=”size-full wp-image-85821″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/field_solnhofen_bird588.gif” alt=”Figure 1. The Field Museum Solnhofen bird here with wings re-articulated.” width=”551″ height=”698″ />
Figure 1. The Field Museum Solnhofen bird here with wings re-articulated.
Everyone wants to own their own Archaeopteryx.
Unfortunately, the type specimen, the London specimen, is closest to STM9-52, basal to Hesperornis in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2325 taxa). So the type specimen is not at all close to being the first bird. A long list of other specimens are all phylogenetically closer = more primitive.
So… we have a bit of a kerfuffle here. The other Solnhofen birds, including the newest one, #13 (Fig 1), the Chicago specimen, are not congeneric with the type, and need new names. ‘Proarchaeopteryx‘ comes to mind, but better names are out there.
Figure 1. The Field Museum Chicago Solnhofenbird is not Archaeopteryx, but related to the n12 private specimen in the LRT. These nest with Scansoriopterygids.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89531″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. The Field Museum Chicago Solnhofenbird is not Archaeopteryx, but related to the n12 private specimen in the LRT. These nest with Scansoriopterygids.” width=”584″ height=”526″ />
Figure 2. The Field Museum Chicago Solnhofenbird is not Archaeopteryx, but related to the n12 private specimen in the LRT. These nest with Scansoriopterygids. The furcula is not visible on the fossil. No scale bar.
O’Connor J et al 2024 wrote:
“The 13th Archaeopteryx, here designated the Chicago specimen, preserves a nearly
complete skull revealing new information regarding the cranial structure and biology of
this iconic taxon.”
For reasons known only to academic paleontologists, they prefer to lump all Solnhofen birds under the genus Archaeopteryx… perhaps for branding and status.
Figure 2. Reconstruction of the geologically oldest Archaeopteryx, now nesting at the base of the Scansoriopterygidae. Note the large premaxillary teeth and short snout on a relatively small skull.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/archaeopteryx12recon5881.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/archaeopteryx12recon5881.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-24888″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/archaeopteryx12recon5881.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Reconstruction of the geologically oldest Archaeopteryx, now nesting at the base of the Scansoriopterygidae. Note the large premaxillary teeth and short snout on a relatively small skull.” width=”584″ height=”572″ />
Figure 3. Reconstruction of the geologically oldest Archaeopteryx, now nesting at the base of the Scansoriopterygidae. Note the large premaxillary teeth and short snout on a relatively small skull.
O’Connor J et al 2024 wrote:
“The updated palatal morphology is intermediate between troodontids and other stem birds.”
After testing in the LRT, #13 (Fig 1) is closer to #12 (Fig 3), a private specimen that does not preserve an intact reconstructable palate. These two are basal members of the Scansoriopterygidae, including Mei, Jiangornis, Yi, Ambopteryx, and others.
Funny thing about the Scansoriopterygidae:
academic paleontologists prefer to nest this clade prior to birds. Wikipedia reports, “Scansoriopterygids are among the smallest non-avian dinosaurs known.”
Figure 3. The palate of #13. Colors added here.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx.palatine588.jpg?w=198″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx.palatine588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89541″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/chicago.archaeopteryx.palatine588.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. The palate of #13. Colors added here.” width=”584″ height=”884″ />
Figure 4 The palate of #13. Colors added here. Note the tiny projections on the medial rim of the blue palatine. That loose gray-green bone is the displaced quadratojugal.
Another funny thing about members of the Scansoriopterygidade:
academic paleontologists prefer to hold on to the myth of the bat-wing bird, even though they also say that clade members Yi and Ambopteryx are not birds.
Build your own LRT to test prior analyses. If I can do it, so can you.
Figure 2. Subset of the LRT focuscing on Solnhofen birds. many labeled with the wastebasket taxon, Archaeopteryx.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/solnhofen_birds_archaeopteryxlrt.jpg?w=111″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/solnhofen_birds_archaeopteryxlrt.jpg?w=380″ class=”size-full wp-image-78852″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/solnhofen_birds_archaeopteryxlrt.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Subset of the LRT focuscing on Solnhofen birds. many labeled with the wastebasket taxon, Archaeopteryx.” width=”584″ height=”1573″ />
Figure 5. Subset of the LRT focuscing on Solnhofen birds. many labeled with the wastebasket taxon, Archaeopteryx. The above chart does not include #13, which nests with #12 in the LRT.
O’Connor J et al 2024 wrote:
“Small circular projections preserved along the medial margin of the palatine are interpreted as remnants of dermal papillae. This suggests that these structures, widespread in Neornithes and considered functionally homologous to palatal teeth, co-evolved with the highly mobile tongue indicated by the basihyal in paravians, preserved for the first time in an Archaeopteryx.”
Good to know! Hard to see (Fig 3). Interesting that this was the first thing the co-authors focused their attention on given the excellent preservation of feathers (Fig 1) bones and that big lump of something anterior to the pubes.
I saved reporting analysis of #13 until after the first publication on this specimen, and the need to clarify issues surrounding this genus and specimen.
References
O’Connor J et al: Chicago Archaeopteryx reveals early transformations in the avian skull. SVP abstracts 2024.
The Field Museum announces acquisition of ‘Archaeopteryx 13’
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/11/04/after-analysis-the-chicago-13th-archaeopteryx-is-not-another-archaeopteryx/
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