Wellnhoferia

Wellnhoferia; Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 150 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	The type specimen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Avialae
Family:	†Archaeopterygidae
Genus:	†Wellnhoferia; Elżanowski, 2001
Species
	†W. grandis Elżanowski, 2001 (type);

Wellnhoferia (named after Peter Wellnhofer) is a genus of early prehistoric bird-like theropod dinosaur closely related to Archaeopteryx. It lived in what is now Germany, during the Late Jurassic. While Wellnhoferia was similar to Archaeopteryx, it had a shorter tail and its fourth toe was shorter than in Archaeopteryx. Andrzej Elżanowski (2001) of the Institute of Zoology of the University of Wrocław, Poland, determined the differences resulted from a "phylogenetic reduction rather than individual variation."^[1]

*Wellnhoferia* (orange) and seven specimens of *Archaeopteryx* compared to a human in scale

The type specimen is the Solnhofen Specimen of Archaeopteryx (BSP 1999). Discovered in the 1960s near Eichstätt, Germany and described in 1988 by Wellnhofer (as a specimen of Archaeopteryx),^[2] it is currently located at the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum in Solnhofen. It was originally classified as a Compsognathus by an amateur collector.

Although Elżanowski found significant differences between Wellnhoferia and Archaeopteryx, a 2007 study by Mayr et al. ^[3] found Wellnhoferia was a specimen of Archaeopteryx lithographica. Senter and Robins (2003), however, supported Elżanowski's naming of a new genus.^[4]

References

^ Elżanowski, Andrzej (2001). "A new genus and species for the largest specimen of Archaeopteryx" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 46 (4): 519–532.
^ Wellnhofer, Peter (1988). "A New Specimen of Archaeopteryx". Science. 240 (4860): 1790. Bibcode:1988Sci...240.1790W. doi:10.1126/science.240.4860.1790. PMID 17842432. S2CID 32015255.
^ Mayr, Gerald; Pohl, Burkhard; Hartman, Scott; Peters, D. Stefan (2007). "The tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 149 (1): 97–116. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00245.x.^{[dead link‍]}
^ Senter, Phil; Robins, James H. (2003). "Taxonomic status of the specimens of". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (4): 961–965. doi:10.1671/22. S2CID 85067334.

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[Elżanowski2001-1] Elżanowski, Andrzej (2001). "A new genus and species for the largest specimen of Archaeopteryx" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 46 (4): 519–532.

[Wellnhofer1988-2] Wellnhofer, Peter (1988). "A New Specimen of Archaeopteryx". Science. 240 (4860): 1790. Bibcode:1988Sci...240.1790W. doi:10.1126/science.240.4860.1790. PMID 17842432. S2CID 32015255.

[Mayretal2007-3] Mayr, Gerald; Pohl, Burkhard; Hartman, Scott; Peters, D. Stefan (2007). "The tenth skeletal specimen of Archaeopteryx" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 149 (1): 97–116. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00245.x.^{[dead link‍]}

[Senter&Robins2003-4] Senter, Phil; Robins, James H. (2003). "Taxonomic status of the specimens of". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (4): 961–965. doi:10.1671/22. S2CID 85067334.

[1]