A new specimen of Archaeopteryx, only the ninth example of one of the world鈥檚 most famous fossil species, will be unveiled by the Solnhofen Museum in Germany on Friday 9 July.
Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, is characterised by dinosaurian features, long front limbs and flight feathers. The British Museum in London holds a nearly complete skeleton, as does Germany鈥檚 Berlin Museum. Five other partial skeletons and a feather have been formally described. An eighth fragmentary skeleton 鈥� consisting of bones from the forelimb and skull 鈥� was identified a few years ago, but has not been described in detail.
The new fossil, nicknamed 鈥淐hicken Wing鈥�, includes just two groups of wing bones and feather imprints. Reportedly discovered recently near Solnhofen, its worth was recognised by Martin R枚per, curator of the Solnhofen Museum, and it was confirmed as Archaeopteryx by Peter Wellnhofer of the Bavarian State Collection of Palaeontology and Geology.
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