Archaeopteryx They were markedly asymmetrical and showed the structure of flight feathers in modern birds, with vanes given stability by a barb-barbule-barbicel arrangement. The tail feathers were less asymmetrical, again in line with the situation in modern birds and also had firm vanes. The thumb did not yet bear a separately movable tuft of stiff feathers. The body plumage of "Archaeopteryx" is less well documented and has only been properly researched in the well-preserved Berlin specimen. Thus, as more than one species seems to be involved, the research into the Berlin specimen's feathers does not necessarily hold true for the rest
Specimens of Archaeopteryx Tischlinger & Unwin (2004), who reclassified it as part of the sternum, albeit minimally ossified (mostly cartilagenous). This supports the idea that the Berlin "Archaeopteryx" was not a full-grown individual at the time of its death, and instead represents an immature animal. The pelvis of the Berlin specimen was considered by Dames to be markedly different from that of the London specimen, which was a major point in favor of his assigning a new species to the Berlin "Archaeopteryx", "siemensii", after its generous donor. Other researchers, however, disputed this difference, claiming it could be entirely accounted for by deformation of