Pronunciation: ar-kee-OP-tuh-RIDGE-uh-day
Author: Thomas Henry Huxley
Year: 1871
Meaning: Ancient wing family (see etymology)
Locomotion: Bipedal (2 legs)
Synonyms:
Archornithidae (Carus, 1875)
Archaeopterygiformes? (Fürbringer, 1888)
Archaeopteridae (Shufeldt, 1903)
Archaeornithidae (Petronievics, 1925)
Anchiornithidae? (Xu et al. 2016)
Archornithidae (Carus, 1875)
Archaeopterygiformes? (Fürbringer, 1888)
Archaeopteridae (Shufeldt, 1903)
Archaeornithidae (Petronievics, 1925)
Anchiornithidae? (Xu et al. 2016)
[Xu, You, Du and Han (2011]Definition
The clade comprising all birds closer to Archaeopteryx than to Passer domesticus (the House Sparrow) or Dromaeosaurus.
About
?? Etymology
Archaeopterygidae is derived from the Greek "arkhaios" (ancient, primeval) and "pteryx" (wing)—for the group anchor Archaeopteryx, and the Latin "-idae" (family).References
• von Meyer H (1861) "Archaeopteryx litographica (Vogel-Feder) und Pterodactylus von Solenhofen". Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde. 1861: 678-679.
• Owen R (1863) "On the Archaeopteryx of Von Meyer, with a description of the fossil remains of a long-tailed species from the lithographic stone of Solnhofen". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 153: 33-47. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1863.0003.
• Huxley TH (1871) "Further evidence of the affinity between the dinosaurian reptiles and birds". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 27: 12–31.
• ICZN (1961) "Opinion 607. Archaeopteryx VON MEYER, 1861 (Aves); Addition to the Official list". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 18(4): 260-261.
• ICZN (1977) "Opinion 1070. Conservation of Archaeopteryx lithographica VON MEYER 1861 (Aves)". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 33: 165-166.
• Charig AJ, Greenaway F, Milner AC, Walker CA and Whybrow PJ (1986) "Archaeopteryx Is Not a Forgery". Science, 232(4750): 622-626. DOI: 10.1126/science.232.4750.622.
• Lambert D (1993) "The Ultimate Dinosaur Book".
• Paul GS (2002) "Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds".
• Chiappe LM and Witmer LM (2002) "Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs".
• Bock WJ and Bühler P (2007) "Archaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer, 1861 (Aves): proposed conservation of usage by designation of a neotype". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 64(4): 261–262.
• Chiappe LM (2007) "Glorified Dinosaurs".
• Wellnhofer P (2009) "ARCHAEOPTERYX: The Icon of Evolution".
• Xu X, You H, Du K and Han F (2011) "An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China and the origin of Avialae". Nature, 475 (7357): 465–470. DOI: 10.1038/nature10288.
• ICZN (2011) "Opinion 2283 (Case 3390)
Archaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer, 1861 (Aves): conservation of usage by designation of a neotype". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 68(3): 230-233. DOI: 10.21805/bzn.v68i3.a16.
• O’Connor J, Clark A, Kuo P-C, Kiat Y, Fabbri M, Shinya A, Van Beek C, Lu J, Wang M and Hu H (2025)
"Chicago Archaeopteryx informs on the early evolution of the avian bauplan". Nature, 641: 1201-1207. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08912-4.
• O’Connor JK, Clark AD, Kuo P-C, Wang M, Shinya A, Van Beek C and Chang H (2025) "Avian features of Archaeopteryx feeding apparatus reflect elevated demands of flight".
The Innovation, 7(2): 101086.
DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2025.101086.
• O’Connor JK and Clark AD (2026)
"The ecology of Archaeopteryx". Discover Ecology, 2: 12.
DOI: 10.1007/s44396-026-00026-z.
• Meilak EA, Gostling NJ, Palmer C, Provini P and Heller MO (2026) "Hop, hop and away: On the take-off of Archaeopteryx using a multiple leaping mechanism".
Developmental Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.07.018.
