Archaeopteryx dates from the Late Jurassic (150 million years ago) of Bavaria, southwestern Germany. The oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx is a classic transitional form, popularly known as a “missing link”, demonstrating an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and modern birds. It retains the primitive reptilian characteristics of a long tail, large hands with unfused fingers and long claws, sharp teeth in beakless jaws and unfused hip bones. It also has, however, the advanced avian features of functional wings and flight feathers. Discovered in 1861, only 2 years after the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”, it provides strong support for the common descent of species. The cast exhibited here (left) is of the famous “Eichstatt specimen”. The free-mount model is a composite of casts made from each of the known specimens.