Feathered dinosaur hands and feathers, "Archaeopteryx" was quite similar to "Compsognathus". Thus "Archaeopteryx" represents a transitional fossil. In 1868 he published "On the Animals which are most nearly intermediate between Birds and Reptiles", making the case. The first restoration of a feathered dinosaur was Thomas Henry Huxley's depiction in 1876 of a feathered "Compsognathus" to accompany a lecture on the evolution of birds he delivered in New York in which he speculated that the aforementioned dinosaur might have been in possession of feathers. The leading dinosaur expert of the time, Richard Owen, disagreed, claiming "Archaeopteryx" as the first bird outside dinosaur lineage.
Specimens of Archaeopteryx that "Archaeopteryx" could have raised its short second toe in a similar manner to its dromaeosaur cousin "Deinonychus", whose second toe bore an enlarged "sickle claw" for probable use in predation. It remains unclear whether "Archaeopteryx" also used its hyperextended toe-claw in a similar fashion or for some other purpose. Taken together, many of the unique features of the skull, feet and coracoid strengthen a close relationship of archaeopterygids to deinonychosaurian theropods. Well-preserved imprints of wing and tail plumage show details of the barbs, but not barbules, and the shafts of 11 primaries can be counted on the right wing.