Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

A few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, the scientific world was set aflutter by an amazing discovery: a fossil skeleton exquisitely preserved even to the impressions of individual feathers on its wings had been found in the Bavarian region of Germany. Researchers determined that the unique coupling of its avian feathers and reptilian toothy skull offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Hailed as First Bird, Archaeopteryx became a celebrity among fossils, the subject of heated debates that have escalated over the past 130 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? What does it mean to fly? Shipman's story unfolds through the braided tales of the evolutionary process and the scientists who have so painstakingly pieced it together.

The Tangled Wing is a brilliant piece of scientific detective work in its own right, deftly exploring how thinking about the mysteries of flight developed up to the present day. Less