The fossil is so astounding that one paleontologist called it “a holy relic of the past that has become a powerful symbol of the evolutionary process itself.”7 It’s the most famous fossil in the world: the archaeopteryx, or “ancient wing,” a creature dating back 150 million years. With the wings, feathers, and wishbone of a bird, but with a lizard-like tail and claws on its wings, it was hailed as the missing link between reptiles and modern birds.
