Archaeopteryx dromaeosaurids and troodontids: jaws with sharp teeth, three fingers with claws, a long bony tail, hyperextensible second toes ("killing claw"), feathers (which also suggest warm-bloodedness), and various features of the skeleton. These features make "Archaeopteryx" a clear candidate for a transitional fossil between non-avian dinosaurs and birds. Thus, "Archaeopteryx" plays an important role, not only in the study of the origin of birds, but in the study of dinosaurs. It was named from a single feather in 1861. That same year, the first complete specimen of "Archaeopteryx" was announced. Over the years, ten more fossils of "Archaeopteryx" have surfaced. Despite
Specimens of Archaeopteryx ähnlichen Federn bedeckten "" ("skeleton of an animal covered in similar feathers"). In German, this ambiguity is resolved by the term "Schwinge" which does not necessarily mean a wing used for flying. "Urschwinge" was the favored translation of "Archaeopteryx" among German scholars in the late 19th century. In English, "ancient pinion" offers a rough approximation. Hermann von Meyer learned of the discovery of what would later be known as the London Specimen before he published his analysis of the single "Archaeopteryx" feather. In September 1861 he wrote to the "Neues Jahrbuch" about being informed of the discovery by Friedrich Ernst