Nerd-Science:
Fly to Stay Alive
Birds are essentially similar to Reptiles… These animals may be said to be merely an extremely modified and aberrant Reptilian type — Thomas Henry Huxley
Pokémon is one of my favourite videogame series, even though I’m not a kid anymore. This franchise captured my attention when I was an elementary pupil and I saw my friends playing with FireRed and LeafGreen version. Not long after, I decided to buy Pokémon Emerald, and from that moment, my love for the saga never stopped. Probably the reason for my fascination resides in the genius behind this marvellous world. Game Freak is famous for its attention to details, it put so much thought into the design, and the insight of every Pokémon. This is also enhanced by the well-planned regional geography, in which there are several ecosystems. They allow great biodiversity, place different Pokémon types in the map and produce an immersive scenario for the gamer. Another keystone of the franchise success is the lore of the entire series. Some species are fundamental for in-game progress and they offer some clues about the origin of the Pokémon world. Others play a central role in the mythology of certain regions, they are labelled as legendary and treated like demi-gods because of their enormous power and their balancing role in the ecosystem. Interesting enough, this mystical component coexists with a credible natural history in which certain species of Pokémon lived in the ancient past and then gone extinct. During the adventures in each region, it is possible to find some fossils that can be revived by bringing them to a scientist specialized in their restoration. The technique used in the series is a reference to the Jurassic Park saga, with the only exception of the eighth-generation, in which there is a different restoration process. Indeed, in the Galar region, two different fossils can be combined to produce a weird-looking hybrid, that probably never existed in the past. This bizarre technique is a reference to the artefacts produced by mistake during the early days of palaeontology. A clue about the Easter Egg can be found by looking at the name of the scientist responsible for the reviving process, Cara Liss, a word game that reminds to “careless”. Fossil Pokémon are among my favourites both for inspiration and design. However, the Archen line has a special place in my heart not only for its peculiar design but especially for the paleontological importance of its inspiration.
Archen is a fifth-generation Pokémon resurrected from the Plum Fossil, it’s a rock-flying dual type, and it evolves into Archeops. They are based on Archaeopteryx, a tiny bird-like dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic (around 150 million years ago), and it represents a transitional form between dinosaurs and birds. This important inspiration can be seen in the design of the two Pokémon. Archen is a small birdish creature covered in yellow and blue feathers, it has a scaly beak with teeth, three claws on each wing, and a reptilian tail which ends in a diamond-shaped feather. Archeops maintains the reptilian-avian design of its pre-evolution but pushes it to the limit. It has a featherless head with sharp teeth in its mouth, its body is covered in yellow, blue and green feathers, and it has a reptilian tail which ends with blue feathers. Probably, the species of Archaeopteryx (A. lithographica and A. siemensii) were similar to these Pokémon to some extents. It was a feathered dinosaur with large wings bearing three clawed fingers, a mouth full of teeth, a long tail made of distinct vertebrae, and killing claws on the second toe of each hindlimb, a typical feature of Dromeosaurs (commonly called Raptors). Modern birds don’t have many of these characteristics: they have beaks without teeth, their forelimbs are highly modified and adapted for flight, and their tailbone (pygostyle) is made of fused vertebrae. Scientists were also able to know that Archaeopteryx was mostly black thanks to the X-ray analysis of the fossils. Therefore, it is probable that Game Freak took inspiration from the Mesoamerican legends of the Feathered Serpent for the colour of these Pokémon. This can also be stated by looking at the snake-like head of Archeops, that strongly differs from Archaeopteryx skull. Even though it’s true that the fossil record doesn’t show feathered neck and cranium, their position suggests that feathers went lost during the partial decomposition that happened before burial.
The Pokédex classifies Archen and Archeops as “first bird Pokémon” because at first, they seemed the ancestors of all avian creatures in the fictional world. In the seventh generation, this hypothesis was disproven by further researches. This categorization reflects the reality of phylogenetic analysis on Archaeopteryx. Even though there are no doubts about its relationship with dinosaurs and birds, the scientific community debates on its position on the tree of life. Some analysis suggests that Archaeopteryx was more related to Dromeosaurs, while others place it at the base of the bird branch. The discussion is still in course, and every discovery changes the equilibrium between the two hypotheses. Anyway, these uncertainties further underline that birds are modern dinosaurs, and so it’s difficult to define a clear boundary between the two taxonomical groups.
Archen is a flightless Pokémon; it lived in ancient jungles and moved from one branch to another by gliding. Archeops, instead, is capable of active flight even though it has a weak musculature and it’s more suited for terrestrial lifestyle. It compensates its lacks by taking flight through a running start. In the past, this species hunted in flocks, and they outsmarted preys by using their high intelligence. Their Pokédex entries are full of clues regarding the paleobiology and paleoecology of Archaeopteryx. Archen entries fit with the “trees down” hypothesis, which states that birds evolved from gliding animals able to climb trees. On the other hand, Archeops lifestyle reminds to the “ground up” hypothesis, suggesting that birds evolved from ancestors that took advance of their plumage to increase the aerodynamic of their running. Recent researches concluded that Archaeopteryx was capable of active flight, although in a way different than modern birds. The analysis of bones, feathers, and wing structure demonstrated that it was able to soar for short distances, similarly to modern pheasant. Probably, the “feather trousers” found on its legs provided an extra lift. Archaeopteryx lived in the Solnhofen lagoon, an environment dominated by shrubs in which trees were scarce. Probably, it was a generalist specialized neither for a terrestrial nor for an arboreal lifestyle. Moreover, the information regarding the gregarious behaviour and high intelligence could point to a Dromaeosaurid inspiration of Archeops. In fact, a famous hypothesis postulates that some dinosaurs of this family hunted in coordinated packs. Even though there are some clues in the fossil record, scientists didn’t reach a consensus regarding this predatory strategy.
The process of evolution in Pokémon is completely different from the Darwinian one, that is the cornerstone of modern biology. In the fictional universe created by Game Freak, it’s a transformation process that resembles real-life metamorphosis. Sometimes it reminds the passage from one developmental stage to the next, while occasionally it has nothing to do with reality. Anyway, in Pokémon, the term evolution is a misnomer chosen mainly because it’s engaging and suggests change, development, and improvement. On the other hand, the theory of evolution that applies in the real-life was proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859, with his book “On the Origin of Species”. It states that the individuals of every species compete for survival and reproduction, exploiting the variability of certain features. The environment exerts selective pressure on every organism, and only the individuals with favourable characteristics can survive and reproduce. This principle is called natural selection, it acts as a sieve by allowing only the favourable features to accumulate for various generations, and by doing so it shapes the evolution of every species. DNA was still unknown at the time, so Darwin couldn’t know that variation of features is caused by random mutations of this macromolecule. In other words, Pokémon “evolution” doesn’t match with the Darwinian one because it’s a rapid transformation that affects the individual, and not a long process of ongoing change that affects species.
Genes mutate, individuals are selected, and species evolve — David Hull
Nonetheless, Archen and Archeops are perfect embodiments of real-life evolution. First off, they are the Pokémon counterpart of a transitional fossil, the remains of an organism that has traits common to both the ancestral and descendent group. The fossil is not necessarily a direct ancestor of the living group, but it is taken as an anatomical model. Moreover, these two Pokémon are based on one of the most important discoveries in the history of Palaeontology. When the first fossilized skeleton of Archaeopteryx (the London Specimen) was unearthed in 1861, the Academic World was discussing the Darwinian theory of evolution. Thomas Henry Huxley, also known as “Darwin’s Bulldog”, was one of the first scientists to understand the meaning of this finding. Since then, he studied Archaeopteryx extensively and concluded that it was a transitional form between dinosaurs and birds. This allowed the grandfather of Aldous Huxley (the writer of “Brave New World”) to bring another proof in favour of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Another important point that links Archen and Archeops to evolution is their soaring method. As I already mentioned, these two stages represent the main hypothesis of flight evolution in birds. However, Archaeopteryx and its Pokémon analogues are already adapted to soar but what about their ancestors, the non-avian dinosaurs? Why they evolved feathers and wings if they couldn’t fly? These questions can be answered by introducing the evolutionary process called exaptation. Some features that serve specific functions nowadays weren’t always originated to do it in the first place. Often, some structures with a certain role (or without any function at all) are co-opted to perform another task and evolve in that direction. This evolutionary shift of function is known as exaptation, a term proposed by S. J. Gould and E. Vrba to substitute the unsuitable word “pre-adaptation”. The evolution of feathers and avian wings are perfect examples of exaptation. Feathers have a fundamental role in avian flight, therefore they are mainly seen as an adaptation for this purpose. However, these complex integumentary structures have many important functions apart from it. In modern birds, plumage provides waterproofness and thermal insulation; furthermore, its colouration is used for mimicry, aposematism, display, and communication. So, it’s highly probable that the first feathers were selected because they allowed dinosaurs to control their body temperature and survive in several environments. So, they probably originated as thermoregulatory adaptations, and eventually were co-opted for other functions. It’s also possible that the enlargement of hand feathers was an exaptation for catching preys effectively. This hypothesis comes from the observation of Black heron (Egretta ardesiaca) canopy feeding. The African bird hunt in water by using its wings like an umbrella, in order to form a shadow that attracts fish. Maybe a similar behaviour was applied in non-avian dinosaurs and could have promoted the evolution of proto-wings. Subsequently, these structures were co-opted for glide and then for flight through another exaptation process. Since then, wings and feathers have continued to evolve, and they were adapted to different situations, flying styles, and other functions. This hypothesis is not the only one, other scientists suggest that sexual selection, egg nursing and miniaturization of some species also promoted the evolution of proto-wings. There is still debate on this point but clearly, wings didn’t originate through a series of adaptation toward flight. It’s more likely that the history of these structures was marked by many evolutionary shifts followed by secondary adaptations.
Current utility carries no automatic implication about historical origin — S. J. Gould and E. Vrba
In conclusion, Pokémon took countless inspiration from the natural world, and Darwinian evolution isn’t an exception. Even though the developmental process of Pocket Monsters doesn’t fit with evolution by natural selection, there are no possibilities to leave this phenomenon behind. Fossil Pokémon not only introduced Palaeontology in the Pokémon world, but they also added the concepts of evolution and extinction. In this regard, Archen and Archeops are exceptional because they represent transition. They incorporate the passage from flightless dinosaurs to birds, and in the meantime, they recall a key step in the development of human comprehension of evolution. The historical significance of this Pokémon is as strong as the importance of its inspiration for palaeontology and evolutionary biology.
References:
Literature:
- DK London, The Science Book, Big Ideas Series.
- Gould S.J., 1991, Bully for Brontosaurus, Ch.9 “Not Necessarily a Wing”.
- Gould S.J., 1980, Panda’s Thumb, Ch. 1,2,3.
- Hickman C. P., Roberts, L. S., & Larson, A.,1997, Integrated principles of zoology, Ch. 26, 27.
- Vrba E.S., Gould S.J.,1982, Exaptation-A Missing Term in the Science of Form, Paleobiology, Vol. 8, №1, pp. 4–15.
Websites:
- https://www.biopills.net/il-volo-di-archaeopteryx-le-ultime-rivelazioni/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromaeosauridae
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather
- https://www.audubon.org/news/11-terrifying-dinosaurs-rocked-feathers-better-birds#3
- http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/fossil-pokemon-and-their-extinct-inspirations/
- https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Archen_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
- https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Archeops_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
Credits:
- Game Freak and the Pokemon Company for the official artworks of Archen and Archeops made by Ken Sugimori.
- Matteo Bondini for the amazing paleoart of Archaeopteryx.
- Pixabay for the stock photo of the Berlin Specimen of Archaeopteryx.
