Archaeopteryx or "Allosaurus", which had a crocodile-like anatomy of the brain and inner ear. Newer research shows that while the "Archaeopteryx" brain was more complex than that of more primitive theropods, it had a more generalized brain volume among Maniraptora dinosaurs, even smaller than that of other non-avian dinosaurs in several instances, which indicates the neurological development required for flight was already a common trait in the maniraptoran clade. Recent studies of flight feather barb geometry reveal that modern birds possess a larger barb angle in the trailing vane of the feather, whereas "Archaeopteryx" lacks this large barb angle, indicating potentially
Specimens of Archaeopteryx suggest that it had some black colouration which included the coverts (or possibly the secondary remiges). Carney pointed out that this is consistent with what we know of modern flight characteristics, in that black melanosomes have structural properties that strengthen feathers for flight. The preservation of the fossil feather is unusual. In contrast to the feather imprints found on the full skeletons of "Archaeopteryx", the isolated feather is preserved as a dark film, which could be composed either of organic matter (as in most fossil feathers) or as inorganic minerals. Though it is theoretically possible to determine which it is,