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Description
An Archaeopteryx sits patiently on top of his nest, working very hard brooding an egg-shaped rock; his mate has even started to collect prey for the chick when the rock hatches. Unfortunately, the rock is not a real egg and therefore will never hatch under any circumstances. The Archaeopteryx will turn to stone before the stone ever turns into an Archaeopteryx.

This is really too bad because the chick would have everything going for it, secluded nest site, friendly pterodactyl neighbours, great view of the Tethys Sea from their doorstep, walking distance from the rocks where those colourful lizards congregate, and being far from the toxic inland salt lagoons.

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Mid Tithonian (150 MYA), Southern Germany

Archaeopteryx lithographica (lithographic ancient wing/feather)- a species of maniraptoran dinosaur known from the Tithonian of southern Germany, which at the time was an archipelago in the midst of a shallow sea that cut up most of Europe. A relatively small theropod, reaching about the size of a modern raven, Archaeopteryx would have likely have been an active predator of insects and small animals, probably hunting from the ground as its ability to fly would have been poor compared to most modern birds. Its morphology suggests it would have been more or less equally comfortable in trees as on the ground, although the environment in which it lived was relatively dry and didn't have dense forests with many tall trees. Only a handful of other dinosaur species are known from the Solnhofen Limestone, the primitive coelurosaur Compsognathus longipes and the fellow avialan Ostromia crassipes (previously considered a specimen of Archaeopteryx in fact), among the few. Studies on a covert feather assumed to belong to Archaeopteryx suggest that at least part of the wing would have been a dull black colour; colour on other parts of the body are still unknown.

Ardeosaurus brevipes (short-footed burning(?) lizard)- a species of squamate known from the Late Kimmeridgian to Tithonian of southern Germany, where it probably existed primarily as a small predator of insects and other invertebrates. In life Ardeosaurus would have looked something like a primitive gecko, such as the leopard gecko (which it was a similar size to) as it is thought to be distantly related to geckos. Based on its fossil morphology, it was probably capable of climbing well and may have been nocturnal, having large eyes (in hindsight, no pun intended, it might not have actually been so colourful as depicted here for that possibility). A smaller relative of Ardeosaurus is known from the Solnhofen Limestone, Eichstaettisaurus schroederi, which was less than half the size. Not really much else to say that wouldn't be very technical, I mean, it was just a regular lizard.

Pterodactylus antiquus (old/ancient wing finger)- a species of pterosaur known from the Tithonian of southern Germany, although tentative remains assigned to the genus are known from other locations. A relatively small pterosaur, with a wingspan of just over a metre, pterodactyls probably filled a niche similar to modern seabirds, hunting small marine animals such as fish and cephalopods with long beak-like jaws and numerous pin-like teeth. Unlike modern birds however, Pterodactylus grew slowly over its life (rather than a stage of fast growth followed by a much longer stage of very slow growth), and breeding seasonally, resulted in distinct age groups that would exist together at any one time. Numerous species of pterosaurs are known from the Solnhofen, although that number has been whittled down as some supposed species turned out to be juveniles of other species; Pterodactylus likely foraged during the day, while other species like Rhamphorhynchus muensteri were nocturnal, and so they avoided competition by niche partitioning. Life many other pterosaurs, Pterodactylus had a crest in life, although its exact shape is disputed because it was mostly soft-tissue. The genus was one of the earliest fossil animals ever discovered and as a result of this unfortunate burden was something of a wastebasket taxon for decades and once seen as both a flippered marine amphibian and a bat-like winged mammal.

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Plan B is stealing someone else's egg.

Description
An Archaeopteryx sits patiently on top of his nest, working very hard brooding an egg-shaped rock; his mate has even started to collect prey for the chick when the rock hatches. Unfortunately, the rock is not a real egg and therefore will never hatch under any circumstances. The Archaeopteryx will turn to stone before the stone ever turns into an Archaeopteryx.

This is really too bad because the chick would have everything going for it, secluded nest site, friendly pterodactyl neighbours, great view of the Tethys Sea from their doorstep, walking distance from the rocks where those colourful lizards congregate, and being far from the toxic inland salt lagoons.

---

Mid Tithonian (150 MYA), Southern Germany

Archaeopteryx lithographica (lithographic ancient wing/feather)- a species of maniraptoran dinosaur known from the Tithonian of southern Germany, which at the time was an archipelago in the midst of a shallow sea that cut up most of Europe. A relatively small theropod, reaching about the size of a modern raven, Archaeopteryx would have likely have been an active predator of insects and small animals, probably hunting from the ground as its ability to fly would have been poor compared to most modern birds. Its morphology suggests it would have been more or less equally comfortable in trees as on the ground, although the environment in which it lived was relatively dry and didn't have dense forests with many tall trees. Only a handful of other dinosaur species are known from the Solnhofen Limestone, the primitive coelurosaur Compsognathus longipes and the fellow avialan Ostromia crassipes (previously considered a specimen of Archaeopteryx in fact), among the few. Studies on a covert feather assumed to belong to Archaeopteryx suggest that at least part of the wing would have been a dull black colour; colour on other parts of the body are still unknown.

Ardeosaurus brevipes (short-footed burning(?) lizard)- a species of squamate known from the Late Kimmeridgian to Tithonian of southern Germany, where it probably existed primarily as a small predator of insects and other invertebrates. In life Ardeosaurus would have looked something like a primitive gecko, such as the leopard gecko (which it was a similar size to) as it is thought to be distantly related to geckos. Based on its fossil morphology, it was probably capable of climbing well and may have been nocturnal, having large eyes (in hindsight, no pun intended, it might not have actually been so colourful as depicted here for that possibility). A smaller relative of Ardeosaurus is known from the Solnhofen Limestone, Eichstaettisaurus schroederi, which was less than half the size. Not really much else to say that wouldn't be very technical, I mean, it was just a regular lizard.

Pterodactylus antiquus (old/ancient wing finger)- a species of pterosaur known from the Tithonian of southern Germany, although tentative remains assigned to the genus are known from other locations. A relatively small pterosaur, with a wingspan of just over a metre, pterodactyls probably filled a niche similar to modern seabirds, hunting small marine animals such as fish and cephalopods with long beak-like jaws and numerous pin-like teeth. Unlike modern birds however, Pterodactylus grew slowly over its life (rather than a stage of fast growth followed by a much longer stage of very slow growth), and breeding seasonally, resulted in distinct age groups that would exist together at any one time. Numerous species of pterosaurs are known from the Solnhofen, although that number has been whittled down as some supposed species turned out to be juveniles of other species; Pterodactylus likely foraged during the day, while other species like Rhamphorhynchus muensteri were nocturnal, and so they avoided competition by niche partitioning. Life many other pterosaurs, Pterodactylus had a crest in life, although its exact shape is disputed because it was mostly soft-tissue. The genus was one of the earliest fossil animals ever discovered and as a result of this unfortunate burden was something of a wastebasket taxon for decades and once seen as both a flippered marine amphibian and a bat-like winged mammal.

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Plan B is stealing someone else's egg.