The London Archaeopteryx

Thanks to my work and trips to Germany I’ve been able to cover a great many of the known Archaeopteryx specimens on here. One obvious omission however is the London specimen, despite its likely soon-to-be holotype status for the genus. Although I’ve seen the original and a number of casts, this is the first time I’ve been in a position to show this off. These photos are from a very nice cast on display at the IVPP and while there is never anything quite like the original of something, this is an excellent copy.

I should of course add for those who don’t know, that the various Archaeopteryx specimens are informally named for the location of the institute that houses them, hence the London, Berlin, Munich Haarlem specimens. The London specimen does hot hail from any quarry in the UK!