One week until Spring Break. Just one more week. We’ve got this.
I’ve only got a couple more days before I drive up to Chicago for the Let’s Just Write! Conference. This will be the biggest conference I’ve gone to, and I’m excited and nervous. It will be nice to go back to Chicago for a bit, and yes, I am going the the Field Museum to see the Archaeopteryx. I do have a cast of the Berlin Archaeopteryx in my museum, but it’s going to be that much cooler to see a real one. Fitting, as there is an Archaeopteryx in Melusine’s Endgame.
A lot of research went into that character. I looked up everything from best guesses about appearance to behavior to flight ability. From a distance, an Archaeopteryx could have been mistaken for a raven or large crow, though with a much longer tail. Based on fossilized pigments found in feather impressions, Archaeopteryx was likely either mostly black or completely black, with iridescent flashes. Sadly, the feathers of the head of the specimen in question weren’t preserved, so it can’t be said for certain what the color of the uppermost body was.
Behaviorally, Archaeopteryx would have been active in short spurts through the day and evening. This is based on its eye structure. In that sense, they would act a lot like modern birds, with burst of activity followed by an extended period of chilling out. Most of the activity would be hunting, as this critter was a predator, though a smaller one for its ecosystem. Its home would have been islands and archipelagos, and may have hunted in the shallow, tidal waters. All of the Archaeopteryx specimens have been recovered from what was once watery sediments (which is ideal for preservation).
For flight, Archaeopteryx would have been capable of flying, though it wouldn’t have moved with the ease and grace of most modern birds. Its wing structure, as well as its torso, indicate it would have flown similarly to how a pheasant does. So, capable of powered flight, but a touch on the awkward side. That said, if Archaeopteryx was sticking to the trees and just going from trunk to trunk or branch to branch, it wouldn’t have needed to be super competent, just functional. Now, climbing would have been a different story. A close look at the feet of Archaeopteryx reveals a sickle claw on the second toe similar to that of a dromaeosaur (raptor), revealing that relationship.
I did have to get creative with vocalization. Since that is soft tissue, it doesn’t tend to fossilize (though some mosasaur soft tissue bits have been preserved, and those are pretty wild). I chose to make Petrie the Irate Archaeopteryx capable of vocalizations similar to a parrot, meaning he would use a syrinx. If you watch a parrot ‘talk,’ you will see that they aren’t moving their mouths. They are generating their voice from the syrinx, and organ in the neck. Petrie will ‘talk,’ and though his vocabulary is limited, he is more than capable of communicating his needs. My main character, Natalie, suspects (correctly) that Petrie is male based on his behavior toward other males (aggression) versus females (affectionate).
Luckily, even if Petrie does nail you, he can’t do much damage. He’s two pounds on his best day, and has tiny teeth. The claws on his feet, however…best avoid those.
Hilary