Archaeopteryx the feather having a light-coloured inner vane was not supported, due to the abundance of matte black melanosomes in this region. As in the wings of modern birds, the flight feathers of "Archaeopteryx" were somewhat asymmetrical and the tail feathers were rather broad. This implies that the wings and tail were used for lift generation, but it is unclear whether "Archaeopteryx" was capable of flapping flight or simply a glider. The lack of a bony breastbone suggests that "Archaeopteryx" was not a very strong flier, but flight muscles might have attached to the thick, boomerang-shaped wishbone, the platelike coracoids, or
Specimens of Archaeopteryx "Archaeopteryx" likely indicated it had very little flight ability. The furcula (wishbone) is well-preserved and lies between the scapulae; its boomerang-like shape reveals a 75-degree angle between its branches. De Beer identified a compressed mass of bone as a sternum in the London specimen, but later researchers disputed this as more likely to be a concretion of vertebrae encrusted by calcite. That "Archaeopteryx" lacked a bony sternum is in agreement with the modern consensus that many specimens of "Archaeopteryx", including the London, likely represented immature animals whose sterna were still cartilaginous. The pelvic girdle is separated into its three components