That Bird of Feathers

Worth a whopping 10 Euros!

Almost every discussion this week has had some level of popular culture introduced into it, that is just how darn popular Archaeopteryx is. In all actuality most of the popularity that Archaeopteryx emits is due to that controversy surrounding its very existence. However, There are points in our world where Archaeopteryx has thrust its little feathers and its tiny head that are not so controversial. One such place is in Germany where a coin has been minted to commemorate the Berlin Specimen. The 150th anniversary stamp along the rim of the coin tells you that it was created last year. It's a wonderfully nice gesture for an animal so steeped in controversy that it seems that people lose sight of the fact that all the theories are just theories because we cannot prove one way or another exactly who is right at this point in time. Personally, it doesn't affect me much. I'd love to think of the Archaeopteryx as the first shift from dinosaur to bird, but if it turns out I am wrong I certainly will not lose any sleep over it.

Archaeopteryx has made its way to logos as well (a pretty stylish Archaeopteryx actually for quite expensive clothing), a confusing 1897 French play (It was made into a movie in 1981, but why an Archaeopteryx figures into a play about a cuckolded character as an independent own character I cannot say), and even has an asteroid named after it.