Archaeopteryx

The Archaeopteryx (Ar-KAY-op-ter-ix ) or Archa is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Behavior
Due to the hostile environment in which it lives, Archaeopteryx often flees at the first sign of conflict. It can be found both wandering around the forest floor and high up in Redwood trees. Tamed animals retain their timid nature and lack any sort of attacking ability, even when set on aggressive, and will only eat.

Appearance
The Archaeopteryx has a unique blend of avian (birdlike) and reptilian features. Like a bird, its body is covered in feathers starting at the neck. Its arms have much longer feathers, creating a set of primitive wings; its tail also features longer plumage, which it uses as an aid for balance. However, the similarities to birds end there. The face is scaly and more elongated, like a reptile, with needle-sharp teeth in its mouth to shred apart insects. Additionally, unlike modern birds, the wings of Archaeopteryx end in sharp claws. These are used for scaling tall trees.

KO Strategy
Occasionally, Archaeopteryx can be found wandering around on the forest floor. If one manages to spot an Archaeopteryx without scaring it away, the animal can be temporarily immobilized with a Bola. It would be best to use darts to knock one out, as a Bow or Crossbow could easily kill it. If you miss or scare it away before you can react, you might be able to follow it and see which tree they climb. The Archaeopteryx will only climb to a certain height, so you can try to throw a Bola at it or scare it from the tree to come down again. Once tamed, the Archaeopteryx will only eat Chitin, albeit at a slow pace as they give plenty of food.

Encountering
This section describes how to react in an encounter with the Archaeopteryx.

General
Archaeopteryx have a small amount of health, no attacks, and flee when approached, often to fly up to redwood/joshua trees. The Archaeopteryx drops no useful resources, and is best tamed for its visible (albeit niche) use, or simply ignored.

Strategy
Any means of ambush will scare the Archaeopteryx, so only ranged weaponry is viable for taming without using a bola.

Weaponry
Because the Archaeopteryx is quick to flee from any fight, it is best to use ranged weapons such as the Crossbow or Longneck Rifle. Due to precautions for the similar appearance of the deadly, one should always carry a pike and decent armor while exploring the redwoods.

Dangers
There is no danger from the Archaeopteryx itself. However, the environment in which it resides has plenty of other predators to worry about... alongside the aforementioned microraptor.

Weakness
Archaeopteryx can not truly fly, and will reach a height limit when up a tree. Good hunters can use this as a time for taming, or an identification to show that it is not a microraptor.

Roles

 * Aerial Lifejacket: Sometimes while flying, players will accidentally hit the dismount button which is a frequently fatal mistake. Much like the, an Archaeopteryx held while flying will slow a falling survivor's descent. However, unlike the Parachute, the Archaeopteryx's gliding ability is so slow that players often are still in range of their flying mounts long enough to be able to remount while in mid-air. in addition the player cannot use Weapons or Tools while gliding making it impossible to scout out high level dinos with a Spyglass
 * Escape Artist: Players can make a quick getaway from danger by gliding away with an Archaeopteryx. Jumping from even the slightest difference in terrain can cause a player to soar considerable distances.
 * Portable Hang-Glider: With better maneuverability and slower fall speed than the Parachute, it's more appropriate to call Archaeopteryx a hang-glider. It allows players to jump considerable gaps and can allow for safe (albeit, slow at first) descents to safety. You are able to deactivate and reactivate this ability by pressing your Reload hotkey.
 * Large-Mount Safe Dismounter: Freely dismount your tall animals without worrying about damage. Safely jump off, execute a carefully-timed double-tap of the reload key to set you desired descent speed, and softly touch down moments later.
 * Aerial Refueling: With your flying mount set to follow, you can dismount while in flight and simply glide forward while your mount rejuvenates its stamina, then glide toward it and remount. All without the risks of landing.
 * Tree Sap Collector: When set on wander, it will slowly gather from Redwood and Joshua Trees. It collects around 1-2 Sap every 5–10 minutes (Values differ from the number of trees it visits). You should put a  on your Archaeopteryx if you plan to use them for sap collection, as it is very easy to lose them.
 * They are not very useful for this role as they do not gather sap while in Stasis, and often wander out of render distance... not to mention their low health pool. While dino leashed to one redwood tree, Archaeopteryx will gather sap at a pace that is comparable to 1/7th of a tree sap tap essentially a low-budget version.
 * Traversing the Tek Cave: It turns out that the Tek Cave on The Island can be passed through by using an Archaeopteryx to glide over all the danger to the end of the cave without ever touching the ground. Though it takes some skills to avoid flying enemies like the, beating the cave this way to arrive at the is relatively easy, though it will not help you actually beat the Overseer itself, just make way to it.
 * Pet: Like all creatures that can be carried or sat on the shoulder of a survivor, the Archaeopteryx is considered one of the 'pets'. Though the Archa cannot wear a hat or helmet and be put on the shoulder like other pets, they still have value to breeders, exotic pet collecters, and for survivors who want a goofy, feathered companion to accompany them on their daily routines and adventures.

Notes/Trivia

 * Dossier revealed on January 4, 2016
 * Despite being a winged creature, it can be carried by other (rideable) flying creatures.
 * On Scorched Earth, Archaeopteryx can be found wandering the cactus forests.
 * On Scorched Earth, there is a humorous glitch that can happen on rare occasions regarding Archaeopteryx. They can be seen flying vertically into the sky for seemingly an endless amount of time, soaring higher and higher on a slow, 90-degree climb towards the top of the map's skybox. This might be a glitch if an Archaeopteryx has trouble latching onto a Joshua tree, as Archaeopteryx can also be found humorously flying circles around a single tree while calling repetitively.
 * Falling with an Archaeopteryx can still sometimes be dangerous; the game uses vectors to determine your flight paths, which means that a large amount of speed down vertically can take time to correct horizontally.
 * Though the Archaeopteryx has often been shown as an example of a missing link between dinosaurs and birds, it is incorrect to assume that the Archaeopteryx was an ancestor to birds. Instead, it was a part of the early radiation of Avialae (animals more closely related to a modern bird, like the chicken, than to other memebers of the Paraves, like the Deinonychus) which included the ancestor of Aves(modern birds) in the Late Jurassic.
 * Humorously, ever since v279.22, or TLC Phase 2, came to PC, and the got the pounce ability, there has been a slight glitch. When a survivor gets pounced while holding an Archaeopteryx, ocassionally it too will display the animation as if it were being pouced on its own but still being held. Being pounced just one time while holding the Archa can also tweak the angle at which it faces, meaning while you glide with it in one direction, the Archa will appear to be flying at an angle. This is fixed when the Archa is dropped and picked up again.
 * Real world Archaeopteryx were carnivores that ate small animals and insects, however Ark's Archaeopteryx have adapted to only eating chitin.
 * It does seem though that according to the dossier, that the Archaeopteryx was originally intended to be tamed with a rare insect but was changed to just taming it with Chitin for simplicity sake. They will still only eat Chitin after being tamed.
 * The Archaeopteryx has a curious and stark resemblance to the, the only significant difference between the two being the Microraptor's head crest and incredible speed.
 * Strangely enough on the Ocean Biome in Genesis, Archaeopteryx does not run away from the survivors even if they are touching it.