Gizmodo has a story about a new study which proposes a new species of Archaeopteryx. The 8th specimen, discovered in 2009, is described as Archaeopterxy albersdoerferi, separate from the other two Archaeopteryx species - Archaeopteryx lithographica or Archaeopteryx siemensii. The study was published in Historical Biology.
Archaeopteryx is one of the most intriguing dinosaurs in the paleontological record. Discovered back in the 1860s, this Jurassic-era dinosaur was celebrated as being a conspicuous demonstration of evolution in action. Not quite lizard and not quite bird, it seemed to show, almost literally, lizards evolving into birds. Archaeopteryx was thus branded a “transitionary” species—a so-called missing link between extinct dinosaurs and modern birds.
Over the years, however, paleontologists have struggled to place Archaeopteryx in the family tree that leads to modern birds. The discovery of other dinosaur-era bird-like creatures, with sizes and characteristics more in keeping with the appearance of modern birds, led some scientists to conclude that Archaeopteryx was an evolutionary dead end, and that modern birds have a different common ancestor. Archaeopteryx was dubbed a “convergently bird-like non-avialan theropod,” which means a non-avian feathered dinosaur that acquired bird-like characteristics through the processes of convergent evolution.
