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A stem-based definition is proposed for this taxon, which completes a tradition-based node-stem triplet (Aves, Archaeopterygidae, Ornithurae). Sereno (1998:65) had used a similar definiton for the genus Archaeopteryx (all avians closer to Archaeopteryx lithographica than to Neonrithes), but there are two reasons for providing a definition for the family: some of the specimens previously referred to Archaeopteryx have been placed by some authors in a separate genera (Wellnhoferia; Elzanowski 2001), and a suprageneric definition allows incorporation of future relatives that may be significantly different than Archaeopteryx but still its closest relative. This follows the use of the familial taxon by Elzanowski (2002), who provisionally listed three species for Archaeopteryx (A. lithographica, A. siemensii, A. bavarica) and the second genus Wellnhoferia (W. grandis).
The family has been used most frequently as a redundant taxon for Archaeopteryx alone. Paul (1988), however, also included dromaeosaurids (as a subfamily), although his dendrogram (Paul, 1988:224-225) does not show Archaeopteryigidae conceived in this manner as a clade. This usage has not been followed by later authors, who like Gauthier (1986) have used alternative taxa for any clade that includes dromaeosaurids, Archaeopteryx, and birds.
The nominal author of Archaeopterygidae is Huxley (1871). De Beer (1954) is one of the few to provide bibliographic reference to the taxon, which is in the first edition of T. H. Huxley’s (1871) A Manual of the Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals. The taxon has been frequently attributed to Huxley without a date (e.g. Wellnhofer 1988, 1993) or to Huxley 1872 (e.g. Paul 1988, Elzanowski 2001).
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