Transitional fossil that share a more recent common ancestor with one another than they do with other groups. There are a few exceptional cases, such as some marine plankton microfossils, where the fossil record is complete enough to suggest with confidence that certain fossils represent a population that was actually ancestral to a later population of a different species. But, in general, transitional fossils are considered to have features that illustrate the transitional anatomical features of actual common ancestors of different taxa, rather than to "be" actual ancestors. "Archaeopteryx" is a genus of theropod dinosaur closely related to the birds. Since the
Specimens of Archaeopteryx than flight. Pennaceous feathers thus represent an exaptation and were only later adapted for aerodynamic capabilities, a function that was apparently convergent among different groups within Avialae. In February 2014, the existence of a twelfth specimen was announced from an Altmannstein quarry near the Schamhaupten district of Bavaria. This specimen was unearthed by a private collector in 2010.. Based on a new diagnosis for the genus Archaeopteryx, by the German paleontologist Oliver Rauhut c.s., the Berlin, Eichstätt, Solnhofen, Munich, Daiting, Thermopolis, 11th, and 12th specimens can be referred to this genus with high certainty. Specimens of Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx fossils from