Tue 25 Aug
|Dinosaur Isle Museum
Hop, hop and away! How an evolutionary icon took to the sky.
On Tuesday the 25th of August, the museum will be joined by Dr Neil Gostling, from the University of Southampton, who will be talking about his recent research on how Archaeopteryx – the first bird – took to the skies.
Time & Location
25 Aug 2026, 13:00
Dinosaur Isle Museum, Culver Parade, Sandown PO36 8QA, UK
About the event
On Tuesday the 25th of August, the museum will be joined by Dr Neil Gostling, from the University of Southampton, who will be talking about his recent research on how Archaeopteryx – the first bird – took to the skies.
The Jurassic-aged Archaeopteryx may be the most important fossil ever found. The oldest bird known from the fossil record, its combination of bird and reptile-like traits provided critical evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. However, despite being discovered nearly 150 years ago, many mysteries about Archaeopteryx remain. In particular, how did it get airborne when it lacked some of the key traits seen in modern birds?
In this talk, Dr Gostling – who has also worked extensively on the Isle of Wight’s dinosaurs - will talk about recent research by his team that has cracked the mystery of how Archaeopteryx was able to take to the air. Read more in his recent paper: Hop, hop and away: On the take-off of Archaeopteryx using a multiple leaping mechanism - ScienceDirect
This talk will be held at 1 pm on Tuesday, the 25th of August. It is available to all museum visitors for no additional charge.
Image credits:
Archaeopteryx by Mark Witton (© Witton, 2020)
Archaeopteryx sculptures by Karen Fawcett
Archaeopteryx skeleton reconstruction by Alexander Pritchard (@DinosaurSkeletons)