Archaeopteryx suggested that "Archaeopteryx" was a dinosaur that was no more closely related to birds than were other dinosaur groups. Kurzanov (1987) suggested that "Avimimus" was more likely to be the ancestor of all birds than "Archaeopteryx". Barsbold (1983) and Zweers and Van den Berge (1997) noted that many maniraptoran lineages are extremely birdlike, and they suggested that different groups of birds may have descended from different dinosaur ancestors. The discovery of the closely related "Xiaotingia" in 2011 led to new phylogenetic analyses that suggested that "Archaeopteryx" is a deinonychosaur rather than an avialan, and therefore, not a "bird" under most
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