Wellnhoferia – Wikipedia
Wellnhoferia was a genre of original birds and a close relative of the Archaeopteryx . So far, a single skeleton is known that traditionally Archaeopteryx is attributed and also as Solnhofener Archaeopteryx-Exemplar is known. Whether it is at Wellnhoferia To have an independent genus or another Archaeopteryx -Sexemplar is still controversial. The skeleton was recovered in the Eichstätt region from the Solnhofen plate limestone, one of the most important fossilla places in the world, and is dated to the Upper Jura (lower tithonium). It is a little bigger than everyone Archaeopteryx -Exemplary and reached the size of a house chicken. [first]
The skeleton was initially in the private fossil collection of Friedrich Müller, the former mayor of Solnhofen. Müller prepared the fossil and sold it to the municipality of Solnhofen in 1987, where it is exhibited today in the Mayor-Müller Museum. The find year and the exact location are not known. Peter Wellnhofer published the first description of this fossil in 1988. [first]
The skeleton was found within the upper Solnhofen layers that are dated to the lower subtithonium. It is located on a 39 × 52 cm rock plate, which was assembled from several fragments. Since the fossil was covered by a toned location, there is no counter plate as it is at Archaeopteryx -Exemplaries was found. The skeleton is not fully preserved, among other things, the majority of the skull, the rear tailing, parts of the back spine and the cervical spine are missing. Only the front snout tip is preserved from the skull, while only 15 tail vertebrae have been handed down. Müller artificially added the missing tail end. Evidence of feathers are only obviously preserved – flat ripples that emerge from the left Elle (Ulna) are interpreted as spring shafts on the long arm feathers. However, information on tail feathers and feathers of the right wing are completely missing. [first]
The rock plate shows the right side of the fossil. The tail is steeply straight up, while the neck is very strongly curved over the back; So the skull was found in the area of the back vertebrae. The rust brown coloring of the bones stems from the diagenetic overcrustation by iron -containing minerals such as lemonite. [first]
The genus Wellnhoferia was scientifically described by Andrzej Elzanowski in 2001, with the only way Wellnhofeia great . [2] From Archaeopteryx it differs primarily by the construction of the foot skeleton: the fourth toe only has four toe members (phalanges) – not five, as with Archaeopteryx . In addition, the fourth toe is shorter overall. Elzanowski argues that the number of toe members of today’s birds is not very variable, which is why the demarcation is too Archaeopteryx is given. Ostrom (1992) noted that in today’s amphibians by undesirable developments during the embryonic phase sometimes reduces toe members, which is why this characteristic could actually have been only a special feature of this individual. [first]
While some researchers follow the argumentation of Elzanowski and Wellnhoferia recognize as an independent genus, [3] other researchers continue to write the fossil of the genus Archaeopteryx to. Peter Wellnhofer, who first described the Fossil in 1988, is still ordered Archaeopteryx To, however, writes that the assignment to an independent genus “cannot be clearly invalidated”. [first]
- ↑ a b c d It is f Peter Wellnhofer: Archeopteryx. The original bird of Solnhofen. Pfeil Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-89937-076-7.
- ↑ Andrzej Elżanowski: A new genus and species for the largest specimen of Archaeopteryx. In: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. BD. 46, nr. 4, 2001, ISSN 0567-7920 , S. 519–532, online (PDF, 4,02 MB) .
- ↑ Kevin Padian: Basal avialae. In: David B. Weihampel, Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska (ed.): The Dinosauria. 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA u. a. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2, S. 210–231, doi: 10.1525/california/9780520242098.003.0013 .
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