Specimens of Archaeopteryx colouration and patterning of the plumage cannot be drawn with certainty from this study. In 2011, graduate student Ryan Carney and colleagues performed the first colour study on an "Archaeopteryx" specimen with the fossil of this single feather. Using scanning electron microscopy technology and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, the team was able to detect the structure of melanosomes in the fossil. The resultant structure was then compared to that of 87 modern bird species and was determined with a high percentage of likelihood to be black in colour. While the study does not mean that "Archaeopteryx" was entirely black, it does
Specimens of Archaeopteryx Justice in Karlsruhe, which upheld the Superior District Court's decision in 2003, bringing a 14-year lawsuit to a close and earning the sixth "Archaeopteryx" specimen its name of Solnhofen. The Solnhofen specimen represents the largest "Archaeopteryx" individual known. It is represented by a nearly-complete skeleton on a plate sized 39 x 52 cm. There is no counterslab associated with this specimen. The skeleton shows a death posture typical of theropods and especially similar to that of the Eichstätt specimen. The animal's carcass was likely deposited and buried completely articulated. Despite the specimen's skeletal completion, plumage traces are very faint and