Specimens of Archaeopteryx Specimens of Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen limestone represent the most famous and well-known fossils from this area. They are highly significant to paleontology and avian evolution in that they document the fossil record's oldest-known birds. Over the years, twelve body fossil specimens of "Archaeopteryx" and a feather that may belong to it have been found, though one of these specimens was reassigned to another genus by two researchers in 2017. All of the fossils come from the upper Jurassic lithographic limestone deposits, quarried for centuries, near Solnhofen, Germany. The initial discovery, a single feather, was unearthed
Specimens of Archaeopteryx suggest that it had some black colouration which included the coverts (or possibly the secondary remiges). Carney pointed out that this is consistent with what we know of modern flight characteristics, in that black melanosomes have structural properties that strengthen feathers for flight. The preservation of the fossil feather is unusual. In contrast to the feather imprints found on the full skeletons of "Archaeopteryx", the isolated feather is preserved as a dark film, which could be composed either of organic matter (as in most fossil feathers) or as inorganic minerals. Though it is theoretically possible to determine which it is,