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Archaeopteryx lithographica ("ancient feather-wing") is the earliest and most primitive known avian, which lived during the late Jurassic around 155 to 151 million years ago in present-day Germany. Eight specimens of the species have found — technically, seven actual specimens and one feather! It has a jaw with a full set of teeth, a rather flat sternum ("breast-bone"), a furcula ("wishbone"), gastralia ("belly ribs"), a long bony feathered tail, and three claws on its feathered wings. This "missing link" is a transitional fossil, with features clearly intermediate between those of modern reptiles and birds. Birds are dinosaurs, thus dinosaurs are not (technically) extinct:  Support evolution, baby!

(I apologise for any inaccuracies, I sketched this from memory.)

Medium - 2B mechanical pencil.

© Diane N. Tran.
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:iconriotgirlckb:
~riotgirlckb Dec 8, 2010  Hobbyist Photographer
wow i lvoe this :D
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:icontranimation-art:
*tranimation-art Dec 8, 2010  Professional Filmographer
Thanks! Fighting for females. Naughty them.
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:iconriotgirlckb:
~riotgirlckb Dec 8, 2010  Hobbyist Photographer
yeah well many species today do that its just habit i suppose the way they evolved lol
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:icontranimation-art:
*tranimation-art Dec 8, 2010  Professional Filmographer
That's the call of nature for you. ;p
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:iconriotgirlckb:
~riotgirlckb Dec 8, 2010  Hobbyist Photographer
yeah true lol and fascinating :D
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:iconsthenadrakaina:
~SthenaDrakaina Nov 17, 2010  Hobbyist General Artist
Way cool! The sketchy quality of the graphite really adds to the sense of movement and soft feathers.

Archaeopteryx belonged to an offshoot group (preceeding the Enantiornithes) that did go extinct. Modern birds arose from a different lineage (the Neornithines). Still dinos, though!

But, taxonomists being who they are, that could change next week.
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:icontranimation-art:
*tranimation-art Nov 19, 2010  Professional Filmographer
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

According to my research, most scientists have never placed the Archaeopteryx (along with the Confuciusornis) as part of the enantiornithes at all, but part of the neornithes. :shrug:
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:iconsthenadrakaina:
~SthenaDrakaina Nov 19, 2010  Hobbyist General Artist
Probably depends on which university your research comes out of. At my uni we say they aren't neos, but I'm sure other taxonomic groupings are used elsewhere. Give 'em five minutes and they'll put it in a new clade then ten minutes later they'll merge that clade with something random.
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:icontranimation-art:
*tranimation-art Nov 19, 2010  Professional Filmographer
My research says neos, although it didn't fit ALL the requires for it to be a pure neornithes. Oh, those fickle scientists. :XD:
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:icongeotrixqueen:
~GeotrixQueen Apr 18, 2008  Student General Artist
I really like the picture. It speaks saurion and avian. Yet, the Archaeopteryxs look a little bit like Confusicornis rather than Archaepteryxs.
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