Dr. Wellnhofer is the world's authority on the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx and he has
been so for over thirty years. He has published major studies on many specimens of
Archaeopteryx has curated exhibitions about the Urvogel written popular accounts lectured
extensively and participated in media-related interviews. Archaeopteryx is what I like to
describe as a paleontological Mona Lisa. Its priceless fossils - up to now ten skeletal
specimens and a single feather imprint discovered during the last 145 years - have had a
tremendous significance in our understanding of evolution and their impact has gone way beyond
science and into social grounds. Dr. Wellnhofer's book narrates the history of the discoveries
of the individual specimens and the stories behind them - those of the collectors dealers
museum curators and scholars whose lives became entangled with these discoveries. It includes
chapters of the world-famous Solnhofen lithographic limestone covering aspects of its geology
and special fossil preservation and interpretations of the ancient environment inhabited by
Archaeopteryx. The core of the book includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of each
specimen. These and other chapters discuss the different interpretations regarding the size
growth and life history plumage physiology and life style. Because Archaeopteryx has played
a key role in discussions about the origin of birds and of their flight the book also adresses
the rise of birds - highlighting the evidence that supports the evolutionary connection between
birds and the carnivorous theropod dinosaurs - and the controversial issue of the beginning of
avian flight. The text is written for a general audience and is thoroughly supplemented by
photographs drawings diagrams and maps and detailed notes and references. There has never
been a book like this one and no one else could write it today. Dr. Wellnhofer's evenhandedness
assures a fair coverage of the multitude of ideas that have been proposed about the life of
Archaeopteryx and readers will undoubtedly find this book to be a powerful authoritative
treatment of one of the most significant fossils in the history of paleontology. The book will
unquestionably provide a very useful source to professionals but its non-technical approach
will also make it accessible to teachers students and the general public. I can't think of a
timelier book on avian paleontology and a more qualified person to write a comprehensive
analysis of such an important and legendary fossil bird. Dr. Luis M. Chiappe Director The
Dinosaur Institute Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County USA
