Colouration
In 2011, graduate student Ryan Carney and colleagues performed the first colour study on an Archaeopteryx specimen. Using scanning electron microscopy technology and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, the team was able to detect the structure of melanosomes in the single-feather specimen described in 1861. The resultant structure was then compared to that of 87 modern bird species and was determined with a high percentage of likelihood to be black in colour. The feather studied was most probably a single covert, which would have partly covered the primary feathers on the wings. While the study does not mean that Archaeopteryx was entirely black, it does suggest that it had some black colouration which included the coverts. Carney pointed out that this is consistent with what we know of modern flight characteristics, in that black melanosomes have structural properties that strengthen feathers for flight.
Read more about this topic: Archeopterix, Paleobiology, Plumage