Scientists uncover new secrets of rare feathered fossil showing early bird evolution

Scientists uncover new secrets of rare feathered fossil showing early bird evolution

Study using UV light and CT scans shows the 150 million-year-old specimen had specialized flight feathers

A fossil of the Jurassic bird Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Germany, is pictured under UV light to show soft tissues alongside the skeleton in the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago in an undated photograph. (Delaney Drummond/Field Museum/Handout via Reuters)

A life reconstruction of the Jurassic bird Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Germany, in an undated image released by the Field Museum in Chicago. (Michael Rothman/Handout via Reuters)

An Archaeopteryx fossil discovered in Germany. (Humboldt Museum für Naturkunde Berlin)

The Field Museum in Chicago (Google Maps)