The flight of Archaeopteryx
Abstract
The origin of avian flight is often equated with the phylogeny, ecology, and flying ability of the primitive Jurassic bird, Archaeopteryx. Debate persists about whether it was a terrestrial cursor or a tree dweller. Despite broad acceptance of its arboreal life style from anatomical, phylogenetic, and ecological evidence, a new version of the cursorial model was proposed recently asserting that a running Archaeopteryx could take off from the ground using thrust and sustain flight in the air. However, Archaeopteryx lacked both the powerful flight muscles and complex wing movements necessary for ground takeoff. Here we describe a flight simulation model, which suggests that for Archaeopteryx, takeoff from a perch would have been more efficient and cost-effective than from the ground. Archaeopteryx may have made short flights between trees, utilizing a novel method of phugoid gliding.
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Quantified estimates of Archaeopteryx body mass have varied between 200 g and 600 g.
“Quantified estimates of body mass have varied between 200 g and 600 g [39], [40].”
From Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx (2009) · cites this paper as [40]
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Hop, hop and away: On the take-off of Archaeopteryx using a multiple leaping mechanism
Meilak, E. A., Gostling, N. J., Palmer, C., Provini, P., & Heller, M. O. (2026) · Developmental Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.07.018 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Chatterjee, S., & Templin, R. J.
- Affiliations
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chatterjee, Sankar
- ORCID
- Chatterjee, Sankar
- Venue
- Naturwissenschaften
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 27-32
- ISSN
- 0028-1042 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1904
- OpenAlex
- W1633074140
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Die Naturwissenschaften (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Texas Tech University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- Archaeopteryx, flight simulation model, arboreal locomotion, flight muscle
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, Flight, Animal, Models, Biological, Paleontology, Phylogeny
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