Transitional fossil: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:34, 30 October 2023

Revision as of 06:05, 26 December 2023

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<blockquote>Had the Solnhofen quarries been commissioned—by august command—to turn out a strange being à la Darwin—it could not have executed the behest more handsomely—than in the ''Archaeopteryx''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=David B. |date=September 2011 |title=Benchmarks: September 30, 1861: Archaeopteryx is discovered and described |url=http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/benchmarks-september-30-1861-archaeopteryx-discovered-and-described |journal=EARTH |issn=1943-345X |access-date=2012-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507072544/http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/benchmarks-september-30-1861-archaeopteryx-discovered-and-described |archive-date=7 May 2012 }}</ref></blockquote>

Thus, transitional fossils like ''Archaeopteryx'' came to be seen as not only corroborating Darwin's theory, but as icons of evolution in their own right.<ref>{{harvnb|Wellnhofer|2009}}</ref> For example, the Swedish [[encyclopedic dictionary]] ''Nordisk familjebok'' of 1904 showed an inaccurate ''Archaeopteryx'' reconstruction (see illustration) of the fossil, "ett af de betydelsefullaste paleontologiska fynd, som någonsin gjorts" ("one of the most significant paleontological discoveries ever made").<ref>{{harvnb|Leche|1904|pp=[httphttps://runeberg.org/nfba/0758.html 1379–1380]}}</ref>

===The rise of plants===