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Prehistoric Life

How long was Archaeopteryx?

An adult Archaeopteryx had a body length of about 50 cm (1 ft 8 in).

What is measured: adult, body length

Archaeopteryx (50 cm) drawn to scale beside a bowling pin (38.1 cm) and an adult person (1.7 m)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Bowling pin (38.1 cm), Archaeopteryx (50 cm) and Adult person (1.7 m).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • About 1.3× the height of a bowling pin
  • As long as about 6 credit cards end to end
  • About 29% of the height of an adult person
  • About 3.4× the height of a smartphone
  • About 25% of the height of a doorway

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Facts about Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx combined feathers and wings with jaws bearing teeth and a long bony tail.

Source: Natural History Museum, London — Archaeopteryx; Encyclopaedia Britannica — Archaeopteryx

Prehistoric Life

NameSizeCompared with Archaeopteryx
Beelzebufo ampinga40 cm (1 ft 4 in)0.8×
Hyracotherium leporinum40 cm (1 ft 4 in)0.8×
Paradoxides davidis45 cm (1 ft 6 in)0.9×
Archaeopteryx50 cm (1 ft 8 in)this page
Yi qi60 cm (2 ft)1.2×
Thylacinus cynocephalus60 cm (2 ft)1.2×
Leaellynasaura amicagraphica60 cm (2 ft)1.2×
Acanthostega gunnari60 cm (2 ft)1.2×
Meganeura monyi70 cm (2 ft 4 in)1.4×
Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis70 cm (2 ft 4 in)1.4×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Archaeopteryx or Yi qi?

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