Archaeopteryx

See also:  Parachute

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Archaeopteryx

Dossier Archaeopteryx.png

Creature

Groups

Dinosaurs, Birds

Diet

Carnivore

Temperament

Fearful

Release Versions

247.0
Sep 12, 2016

741.1
Sep 16, 2016

501.0
Dec 6, 2016

1.0
May 24, 2018

599.0
Nov 30, 2018

311.74
Jun 11, 2020

678.15
Sep 1, 2021

Variants

 Eerie Archaeopteryx

Spawn Command

cheat summon Archa_Character_BP_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Archaeopteryx/Archa_Character_BP.Archa_Character_BP'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Archaeopteryx (Gauntlet 2)
cheat summon Archa_Character_BP_STA_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Genesis2/Missions/ModularMission/Gauntlet2/STA/Dinos/Archa_Character_BP_STA.Archa_Character_BP_STA'" 500 0 0 35

Domestication

Tameable

Rideable

Breedable

Yes

No²

Yes

² Can be used to glide while carrying.

Torpor Immune

No

Taming Method

 Knockout

Preferred Kibble

 Simple Kibble

Preferred Kibble

 Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)

Preferred Food

 Chitin

Humans Can Carry

Yes

Data

XP for kill

2 XP

Feces Size

 Small

Drag Weight

50

Radiation Immune

No

Carryable By

• Aberrant Megalosaurus
• Argentavis
• Blood Crystal Wyvern
• Ember Crystal Wyvern
• Fire Wyvern
• Forest Wyvern
• Griffin
• Ice Wyvern
• Kaprosuchus
• Karkinos
• Lightning Wyvern
• Mammoth
• Megalosaurus
• Poison Wyvern
• Procoptodon
• Pteranodon
• Quetzal
• Tapejara
• Tek Quetzal
• Tropeognathus
• Tropical Crystal Wyvern
• Tusoteuthis
• X-Argentavis
• X-Tapejara

Immobilized By

• Bola
• Bear Trap
• Plant Species Y Trap
• Net Projectile

Can Damage

 Thatch
 Greenhouse

Reproduction

Egg

 Archaeopteryx Egg

Incubation Range

16 - 20 °C / 61 - 68 °F
 Egg Incubator: 18 °C / 64 °F

Incubation Time

2h 37m 52.927s

Baby Time

1h 32m 35.555s

Juvenile Time

6h 10m 22.222s

Adolescent Time

7h 42m 57.777s

Total Maturation Time

15h 25m 55.555s

Breeding Interval

18h - 2d

Habitat

• The Island
• The Center
• Scorched Earth
• Ragnarok
• Extinction
• Valguero
• Genesis: Part 1
• Crystal Isles
• Lost Island

Common             Rare
  Untameable   Cave

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

Basic Info

Dossier

This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.

“

Species

Archaeopteryx magnamilvum

Time

Late Jurassic

Diet

Carnivore

Temperament

Fearful

Wild

Approximately one meter long, the Archaeopteryx magnamilvum is a primarily tree-dwelling proto-bird. It avoids the ground as much as possible, preferring to stay in the safety of the tree-line, where few predators can reach it. I've not seen an Archaeopteryx outright fly yet, so it's possible that they cannot generate enough lift to do more than glide long distances between perches. I'm not sure how a creature so fearful of the ground can be such a picky eater, but Archaeopteryx only seems to consume certain rare insect matter. The most likely explanation is that it tends to nest in infested trees, stripping them bare of such food sources.

Domesticated

While not large enough to bear the full weight of an adult human, Archaeopteryx still has great utility. Despite the creature's inability to fly, its wings have sufficient strength to dramatically slow the rate of a person's descent, if that person holds onto Archaeopteryx while airborne. Taming Archaeopteryx can be somewhat troublesome, though, as it refuses to eat most common food sources, and glides to prospective safety at the first sign of any interloper.

„

~ Helena

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  Chitin.

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.

Color Scheme and Regions

This section displays the Archaeopteryx's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Archaeopteryx. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Archaeopteryx will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.

This information can be used to alter the Archaeopteryx's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Archaeopteryx's "sides, tail, wings and face" magenta.

Region 0:
Sides, Tail, Wings and Face

8

13

14

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

Region 1 is not used
for this Creature.

Region 2:
Skin

13

14

20

22

24

26

27

33

34

35

Region 3 is not used
for this Creature.

Region 4:
Top & Wing Tips

8

13

14

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

Region 5:
Underside & Accents

8

14

19

21

23

25

26

28

30

32

33

Drops

• Hide
• Raw Meat

Base Stats and Growth

Attribute	Base Value	Level Increase		Taming Bonus
		Wild	Tamed	Additive	Multiplicative
Health	125	+25	+5.4%	0.07
Stamina	150	+15	+10%
Oxygen	150	+15	+10%
Food	900	+90	+10%
Weight	30	+0.6	+4%
Melee Damage	5	+0.25	+1.7%	7%	17.6%
Movement Speed	100%	N/A	+1%
Torpidity	100	+6	N/A	0.5

• For a comparison of the stats of all creatures, see Base Creature Statistics.
• For an explanation of exactly how the levelup calculation works, see Creature Stats Calculation.

Movement [u/s]	Base Speed			Sprinting Speed			Stamina
	Wild	Tamed1	Tamed2	Wild	Tamed1	Tamed2
Walking	150	?	?	588	411.6	411.6	5
Swimming	300	?	?	?	?	?	?

• ¹These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
• ²These are the speeds of the creature tamed and non-imprinted.
• For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.

Attack Values

Melee		Stamina Cost	Attack Range			Description
			Base	Minimum	Activation	The Archa attacks the target.
		0	110	0	0
Attack Type		Damage	Projectile Values			Torpor Values		Status Effect: Stamina			Status Effect: Torpidity
			Life	Impulse	Radius	Base	Mult	Duration	Damage Mult	Amount	Duration	Damage Mult	Amount
Melee		5

Wild Stats Level-up

Type in values of a wild creature to see on which stats it's emphasized. Green values on a high-level creature are very good for breeding. If you have already tamed your creature you can try to recover the breeding stats with an external tool.

Archaeopteryx

The stat-calculator does not work in the mobile-view, see here for alternatives: Apps

Note that after the creature is tamed it gets bonuses on some stats depending on the taming effectiveness. This makes it hard to retrieve the levels on a tamed creature, so this tool is only for wild ones, but gives a first impression, how well the stats are distributed.

Taming

For general info about domesticating a wild creature see Taming.

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.

• Base
• Mobile

Level 1					Time
Simple Kibble	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
Chitin	3	0	0	0	0:01:41
KO: × 10; × 5; × 2; × 1; × 1; × 1
Torpidity-depletion: 0.84 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:02:00

Level 30					Time
Simple Kibble	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
Chitin	6	1	1	1	0:03:21
KO: × 28; × 12; × 4; × 2; × 2; × 1
Torpidity-depletion: 1.39 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:03:17

Level 60					Time
Simple Kibble	2	0	0	0	0:00:34
Chitin	10	12	3	2	0:05:34
KO: × 46; × 19; × 6; × 3; × 3; × 2
Torpidity-depletion: 1.81 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:04:11

Level 90					Time
Simple Kibble	2	0	0	0	0:00:34
Chitin	13	23	6	3	0:07:14
KO: × 64; × 26; × 8; × 5; × 3; × 2
Torpidity-depletion: 2.19 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:04:50

Level 120					Time
Simple Kibble	2	0	0	0	0:00:34
Chitin	16	36	9	5	0:08:54
KO: × 82; × 34; × 10; × 6; × 4; × 2
Torpidity-depletion: 2.54 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:05:20

Level 150					Time
Simple Kibble	3	0	0	0	0:00:51
Chitin	20	58	15	8	0:11:07
KO: × 100; × 41; × 12; × 7; × 5; × 3
Torpidity-depletion: 2.88 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:05:45

	Level 1					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	3	0	0	0	0:01:41
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 10; × 5; × 2; × 1; × 1; × 1; × 1; × 1
Torpidity-depletion: 0.84 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:02:00

	Level 30					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	7	5	1	1	0:03:54
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	3	0	0	0	0:01:41
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 28; × 12; × 4; × 2; × 2; × 2; × 2; × 1
Torpidity-depletion: 1.39 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:03:17

	Level 75					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	2	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Chitin	13	25	6	3	0:07:14
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	5	0	0	0	0:02:47
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 55; × 23; × 7; × 4; × 4; × 3; × 3; × 2
Torpidity-depletion: 2 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:04:32

	Level 150					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	3	0	0	0	0:00:51
	Chitin	23	76	20	10	0:12:47
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	8	0	0	0	0:04:27
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 100; × 41; × 12; × 7; × 6; × 5; × 5; × 3
Torpidity-depletion: 2.88 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:05:45

	Level 300					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	6	0	0	0	0:01:41
	Chitin	42	207	57	29	0:23:21
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	2	0	0	0	0:00:34
	Chitin	14	8	3	2	0:07:47
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	2	0	0	0	0:01:07
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 190; × 78; × 22; × 13; × 11; × 8; × 9; × 5
Torpidity-depletion: 4.4 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:07:10

	Level 450					Time
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	8	0	0	0	0:02:14
	Chitin	61	361	104	52	0:33:54
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	3	0	0	0	0:00:51
	Chitin	21	51	15	8	0:11:41
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	3	0	0	0	0:01:41
	Kibble (Pelagornis Egg)	1	0	0	0	0:00:17
	Chitin	1	0	0	0	0:00:34
KO: × 280; × 115; × 32; × 18; × 16; × 12; × 13; × 7
Torpidity-depletion: 5.78 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:08:04

Note that the values are for optimal cases, always bring extra supplies!
For a level-dependent count of resources needed, try an external taming calculator.

Preferred Food

• Chitin
• Simple Kibble

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  Microraptor, 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.

Utility

Roles

• Aerial Lifejacket: Sometimes while flying, players will accidentally hit the dismount button (E, , ) which is a frequently fatal mistake. Much like the  Parachute, 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 (R, , ).
• 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.
• Element Conservation: In combination with a  Tek Chestpiece and  Tek Leggings the Archa can be used to conserve fuel increasing Distance and reducing Element Usage.
• Tree Sap Collector: When set on wander, it will slowly gather  Sap 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  Transponder Node 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  Onyc, beating the cave this way to arrive at the  Overseer 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

For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Archaeopteryx, see the relevant Wikipedia article.

• 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  Raptor 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  Microraptor, 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.

Changelog

Patch	Changes
247.0	Archaeopteryx is added to the game.
247.21	Fixed Archaeopteryx spawning on The Center
247.3	Increased Archaeopteryx spawning on The Island; they are now common in the redwoods
247.4	Added Archaeopteryx to Scorched Earth; they are found hanging in and around Joshua trees
247.7	Fixed Archaeopteryx latching on Joshua trees

Gallery

• 
• 

  A player holding the Archaeopteryx

• 

  An Archaeopteryx pair

• 

  Model Comparison between a Microraptor