Toco+Toucan+(Past+Animal-+Archaeopteryx)+-+Garrick

Learn more about the Archaeopteryx's related species: Toco Toucan Learn more about the Toco Toucan's future species: The Steel Toucan

** Archaeopteryx ** By Garrick Lai

 The Archaeopteryx is considered to be one of the earliest and most primitive forms of bird known to human and is said to be the first land dweller to become a bird. In Greek, its name is Urvogel (meaning the original bird or the first bird) and this animal lived in the mid Jurassic Period, 150 million years ago. It is become know as the ancestors of all birds such as the Vampire Bat, and the Black Swan.The  Archaeopteryx  had become extinct at the end of the Jurassic period and archaeologists have been able to get information from the remains of well-preserved fossils. This bird was a carnivorous species which used its newly developed wings to catch food and help it survive. The Archaeopteryx has gone through many adaptations in order to survive for such a long period of time. This report is going to outline the characteristics, habitat, and the adaptations that the Archaeopteryx has gone through and why they became extinct. **__Characteristics __** The Archaeopteryx was the earliest primate that had resembled a bird and scientists believe that this bird lived approximately 150 million years ago in the Jurassic Period. The Archaeopteryx was a small bird with reptile features, which grew to approximately half a metre in length. The characteristics of this bird have similarities to the modern bird. However, this bird has features of reptiles as well and therefore it is believed that the bird is half aves (bird), half reptilian (reptile). The Archaeopteryx has  2 large (crow like) wings, 2 strong powerful legs to run and climb trees and highly developed eyes to spot predators. The Archaeopteryx had evolved to have wings for ** aerial locomotion ** but scientists have not concluded about whether the wings were used to glide (holding out their wings and able to descend at a long rate, due to the resistance in the air) or fly (flapping their wings to that they are able to ascend and descend at will) because it is so ancient. Most scientists believe that it could glide from tree to tree at short distances and as the Archaeopteryx adapted and evolved more, it gradually improved the ability to glide/fly.

Both of the Archaeopteryx’s wings ended in three-fingered claws and they used this to climb up trees and kill their prey. The claws at the end of its wings are a feature that is not present in modern day birds. Reptiles were commonly known to have claws at the tip of their limbs in the Jurassic period and through this, we are able to see the adaptation of Archaeopteryx from being a reptile to a bird. media type="youtube" key="kc15Kxy2HEg?version=3" height="278" width="458" align="right"

The Archaeopteryx feathers were one of the key diagnostic features of a bird and this is one of the main reasons why this bird was considered an aves creature. No modern animals have feathers except birds and this is one of the main evidences that evolution occurred. These feathers were on its body to regulate its body temperature so that it would be able to hunt early in the morning before cold blooded animals were active. Scientist also debated that the Archaeopteryx grew wings for flying purposes instead of keeping warm but either way it has helped the Archaeopteryx to survive. **__Habitat __** Archaeopteryx is a crow–sized bird that lived in the late Jurassic Period, approximately 150 million years ago. Before the present continents were formed, most continents where joined together. The Archaeopteryx lived in the area where Germany and England lies today and scientists know this because of Archaeopteryx fossils were found in this area. The climate in the Jurassic era was much more extreme compared to the present day and temperatures were hotter, which animals and plants have had to adapt to. The Archaeopteryx lived in low lying sub-tropical islands which experienced little rainfall and had to endure long dry seasons with constant high temperatures. Vegetation such as shrubs and small trees were present in this area and many animals have relied on these kinds of vegetation to use as shelter, food source and a place to hide. The Archaeopteryx is a carnivorous species which live in diverse habitat. It ate many different types of food. The Archaeopteryx had eaten things such as insects, small lizards and gecko’s that had hidden on trees and shrubs but when near a river or a lagoon, it ate fishes and other animals that have come to drink water. The Archaeopteryx had competitors but due to its very aggressive behaviour, many creatures avoided them. The Archaeopteryx is not high up in the food chain and also has many predators. These predators were generally <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px;">cold blooded and bigger than the Archaeopteryx. To survive from these predators, the Archaeopteryx climbs up trees and glide/fly away. Predators had been not only land animals, but also sea predators that had filled the seas. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">Water is important to all life and if an organism cannot obtain water, they will perish. Therefore water is important in any habitat. The Archaeopteryx have experienced droughts, and in many cases, for long periods of time. They were forced to travel long distances to reach a water supply, either from the sea, lake or a lagoon. When drinking water, all animals are very cautious because of the land and water predators, such as the the //<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px;">Deinosuchus //, which wait for this opportunity to attack. The Archaeopteryx is also vulnerable when drinking water but climbed on top of trees to scout around before drinking. This gave the Archaeopteryx a slight advantage over other species of animals. Archaeopteryx also uses the water to lure out prey. The Archaeopteryx climbs up trees and waits beside a water source for the opportune time when the prey is most vulnerability. Some of the animals in the seas that Archaeopteryx also ate were the large variety of fish in the seas, crabs and other sea creatures that was in the water. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Adaptation __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">The Archaeopteryx have evolved and adapted in many ways to suit its environment in order to survive and this is due to natural selection. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Structural Adaptation – Wings and Feathers __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">One extraordinary adaptation that the Archaeopteryx went through was the ability to take flight. It is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px;">unclear if the Archaeopteryx was simply gliders or capable of flying by flapping its wings but either way it had developed the concept to take flight and it is said to be the ancestors of all birds. The Archaeopteryx had a pair of wings which were relatively large to increase its surface area. This large surface area was used to ‘catch’ the air/wind so it is able to take flight. The wings have an air foil shape which controls the wings, to lift up/down or just to adjust its course (left and right). Scientists believe that the Archaeopteryx was only capable of take flight for a short distances and this is evident in its weak bone joints between its wings and body. The adaptation of wings has helped the Archaeopteryx to escape from danger and to catch prey. The wings have also increased its body size to scare off other animals it had felt threatened by. It is unsure if feathers on the Archaeopteryx were evolved to take flight or just to keep itself warm but either way, feathers have been an important characteristic of the Archaeopteryx. The feathers would warm its blood up early in the morning, before most cold blooded predators could hunt and this adaptation was one of the key elements of its survival. One reason that the Archaeopteryx might have evolved wings was due to vast amount of predators. By having this adaption, the Archaeopteryx improves its chances of survival as it is able to run away quicker. The adaptation of the feather improves its flight and helps regulate body temperatures so that it will survive in extreme weather in the Jurassic Period.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Structural Adaptation – Claws and Teeth __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> The Archaeopteryx is a carnivorous creature and has adapted to have strong sharp teeth and razor sharp claws at the end of its wings. The carnivorous behaviour causes the bird to have many structural adaptations that allowed them to survive. It uses its razor sharp claws and teeth inside its jaw to kill and rip their prey into smaller pieces so that it was edible and can be easily digested. Since this animal is a carnivorous creature, it has also adapted to digesting meat. The enzymes inside its stomach have evolved to be able to digest raw meat and change this into energy for the body to use. The claw of Archaeopteryx is also used for climbing up trees so that it is able to spot prey and predictors. The environmental pressures such as the skin of the prey it cause the Archaeopteryx to adapt these structural adaptations in order to prevent starvation. By having these claws and teeth, it is able to kill faster and more efficiently so that it can get more food for itself to eat. By having more food, The Archaeopteryx will reduce it's chances of starvation and able to increase its a survival **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Structural Adaptation- Brain __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">The Archaeopteryx has evolved to have a bigger brain which has helped it to survive in many ways. The evolution of this bigger brain may have been due to the new developing characteristics of flight that it has evolved. The Archaeopteryx had to be able to calculate and predict how the prey is going to move and this require more brain power which therefore the Archaeopteryx had to grow bigger brains. Also the Bigger brain adaptation of they Archaeopteryx may have been due to their prey hiding more efficiently. The Archaeopteryx were forces to evolve and grow bigger brains so that they would have been able to catch their prey. Environmental pressures such as the predators becoming more intelligent cause the Archaeopteryx to grow bigger brains to counter by being ‘smarter’. By having a bigger brain, the Archaeopteryx could have able to avoid predators and hunt for preys more efficiently which would increase its survival rate. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Behaviour Adaptation – Flight __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">The adaptation of flight is very unique. The Archaeopteryx uses it ability of flight to catch its prey. It climbs up a tree, waits until he finds a prey and swoops down to kill it. This technique of flight, gave the prey nearly no chance of escaping. Another way the Archaeopteryx uses its ability of flight is to run away from predators. The Archaeopteryx would climb up a tree use its ability of flight to fly from tree to tree. Environmental pressure of this adaptations could have been caused due it its lack of mobility and by taking flight, it has helped it’s survive as it can catch food more effectively and gives the Archaeopteryx a higher rate of survival. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Behaviour Adaptation – Aggressiveness __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> The Archaeopteryx is a very aggressive creature and many animals were scared of it. This aggressiveness had led to the Archaeopteryx fighting over many other creatures for food. The Archaeopteryx had developed many threating gestures to scare off its competitors. By having this adaptation of the Archaeopteryx being aggressiveness, has caused many competitors to be scared off it. Environmental pressure that may have led to the aggressiveness of this bird was due to the limited supply of food. By being more aggressive, many predators were scared off and would make the Archaeopteryx have less chance of starvation. The Archaeopteryx would not starve and this will increases its chances of survival. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Environmental Pressure __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt;">The cause of this animal’s extinction is still unknown. Scientist have no solid, definite reasons why the Archaeopteryx has gone extinct because it had been extinct over 150 million years ago. But due to modern technology and the knowledge of evolution, there are many theories of how they have become extinct. One theory of the extinction of this bird was the evident geological period shifts, moving from Jurassic period to the Cretaceous period. As the Jurassic period moved into the Cretaceous period, the climate had become much colder and the environment became much wetter. The Archaeopteryx might have been unable to adapt to the environment quick enough, unlike some other animals which out-competed the Archaeopteryx by eating its food supply and making it extinct. Some scientist also believes the theory that the Archaeopteryx got extinct due to speciation. The Archaeopteryx had evolved and adapted to various species of birds and the original Archaeopteryx is no longer in existence and therefore it became extinct. __ Bibliography __ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strauss, B. (2011). // Archaeopteryx //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">. Retrieved June 15, 2011 from http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/aviandinosaurs3/p/archaeopteryx.htm  || <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Science Mystic (2008). //Archaeopteryx//. Retrieved June 16, 2011 from http://sciencemystic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Archaeopteryx1-300x230.png || <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Wiley, A. (2009). //Archaeopteryx//. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.makalapa.k12.hi.us/Makalapa_Folder/HTML/adapt&survive/aw/archaeopteryx.html ||   Wiley, A. (2009). // Archaeopteryx //. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.makalapa.k12.hi.us/Makalapa_Folder/HTML/adapt&survive/aw/archaeopteryx.html  || = =
 * **__<span style="color: #365f91; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Information __** ||  **__<span style="color: #365f91; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Photographs/images __**  ||
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 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">Discoveringreligion (Mar 20, 2010). // Discovering Religion: Ep 08 - Archaeopteryx //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">. Retrieved June 22, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc15Kxy2HEg  ||   Schroeder, G. L. (2008). // ARCHAEOPTERYX & TINSHEMET // . Retrieved June 19, 2011 from http://www.biblemysteries.com/library/archaeopteryx.htm   ||
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 * <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Wikipedia (2011). //Archaeopteryx//. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx ||   Wikipedia (5th july 2009). // File:Archaeopteryx lithographica (Berlin specimen).jpg // . Retrieved June 19, 2011 from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg   ||