Archaeopteryx probably cannot tell us much about the early origins of feathers and flight in true protobirds because Archaeopteryx was, in the modern sense, a bird.

Paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound, feathered dinosaur.
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Bound Dinosaur Earth Feature Paleontologist Tired Turn
Instead of regarding birds as deriving from dinosaurs, Scansoriopteryx reinstates the validity of regarding them as a separate class uniquely avian and non-dinosaurian.
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Avian Bird Derive Dinosaur Regard Reinstake Separate Uniquely Validity
Archaeopteryx probably cannot tell us much about the early origins of feathers and flight in true protobirds because Archaeopteryx was, in the modern sense, a bird.
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Archaeopteryx Bird Early Fight Modern Origin Protobird Sense
I, and many others, do not find any credible evidence that those structures represent protofeathers.
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Credible Evidence Many Other Structure
On the contrary, there is a considerable body of evidence that these fossil traces, known as ‘dino-fuzz’, have nothing to do with bird feathers…
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Bird Body Consider Contrary Evidence Feather Fossil Trace
But it’s not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no amount of ‘paleobabble’ is going to change that.
ALAN FEDUCCIA

Amount Bird Bubble Change Go Pale Perch

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