Specimens of Archaeopteryx Specimens of Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen limestone represent the most famous and well-known fossils from this area. They are highly significant to paleontology and avian evolution in that they document the fossil record's oldest-known birds. Over the years, twelve body fossil specimens of "Archaeopteryx" and a feather that may belong to it have been found, though one of these specimens was reassigned to another genus by two researchers in 2017. All of the fossils come from the upper Jurassic lithographic limestone deposits, quarried for centuries, near Solnhofen, Germany. The initial discovery, a single feather, was unearthed
Specimens of Archaeopteryx other "Archaeopteryx" specimens. The left wing preserves the better plumage and shows flight feathers firmly connected to the arms. Though the wings overlap each other enough that assigning feather attachment points to individual bone regions is not possible, it does appear, consistent with other specimens and modern relatives, that the long primary feathers are attached to the second manual digit. The feathers of the right wing are considerably more damaged; so many feathers are missing that only a few can be definitively linked to the ulna, designating them as secondary remiges. One small feather is isolated next to the right