Protoavis are well preserved, and they are astonishingly non-avian. The distal carpals, while long, are in no way similar to those observed in the urvogel or other archaic birds. There is no semilunate element, and the structure of the radiale and ulnare would have limited the flexibility of the wrist joint. The manus is not tridactyl, and metacarpal V is present. In even the most basal avialian, "Archaeopteryx", there is no vestige of the fifth metacarpal and its presence in "Protoavis" seems incongruous with the claim that it is a bird, let alone one more derived than "Archaeopteryx". Chatterjee claims that
Archaeopteryx 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 favoured translation of "Archaeopteryx" among German scholars in the late nineteenth century. In English, "ancient pinion" offers a rough approximation. Since then twelve specimens have been recovered: The Berlin Specimen (HMN 1880/81) was discovered in 1874 or 1875 on the Blumenberg near Eichstätt, Germany, by farmer Jakob Niemeyer. He sold this precious fossil for the money to buy a cow in 1876, to innkeeper Johann Dörr, who again sold it to Ernst Otto Häberlein,