By itself, the Archaeopteryx, an extinct link between dinosaurs and modern birds, probably does not "prove" evolution. Persons who believe literally in biblical creation could still say that God created this strange creature, but that for some reason Noah failed to take it onto the Ark, and it became extinct. To say that, they have to also claim that the Archaeopteryx lived only a few thousand years ago, thus meaning that scientific methods were wrong when they proved Archaeopteryx fossils to be millions of years old, although those same scientific methods are reliable when they are used for all other purposes.

The commonly held view among vertebrate paleontologists is that while Archaeopteryx was a true bird and certainly evolved from dinosaurs, it was probably not the ancestor of modern birds.

Fossil evidence now available shows that some dinosaurs did not have reptilian scales but instead had feathers for warmth and to help them turn their huge bodies in pursuit of nimble prey, readily leading to the use of feathers for flighted descendants like Archeopteryx. It had teeth and a long bony tail, features it inherited from its dinosaur ancestors but lacking in modern birds. Several of the specimens were initially misidentified as dinosaurs, so closely does archeopteryx resemble the dinosaurs from which it evolved. The fossils (there are 11 so far) almost beg the question, "if evolution is false, why are there specimens so highly evocative of the process?"

AnswerArchaeopteryx is a transitional form and clearly a bird, and thus supports the hypothesis that modern birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.

An early specimen of Archaeopteryx had a crushed skull, leading to some wrong conclusions. Now that more specimens have been found and analyzed, scientists generally agree that Archaeopteryx was a bird, and a transitional form for the following reasons:

It had avian feathers fully formed, not at all like scales.
Avian lungs, clearly quite different from reptiles which have bellows-like lungs.
Classical elliptical wings like modern woodland birds.
Large wishbone for attachment of muscle necessary for strong downstroke for flight.
A modern avian brain size, 3 times the size of an equivalent dinosaur, including large optic lobes for data processing during flight.
In most vertebrates, as also in reptiles the lower jaw (mandible) moves, but Archaeopteryx is like birds in that the lower jaw could move as well.
Archaeopteryx had a grasping hallux , or hind toe, which pointed backwards and it had curved claws for perching like birds and unlike dinosaurs.
The premaxilla does not have a keratinized covering, so Archaeopteryx has no bill.
Trunk region vertebra are free. In modern birds the trunk vertebrae are always fused.
Pubic shafts with a plate-like, and slightly angled transverse cross-section, a trait shared with dromaeosaurs but not with other dinosaurs or birds.
Cerebral hemispheres elongate, slender and cerebellum is situated behind the mid-brain and doesn't overlap it from behind or press down on it.
Neck attaches to skull from the rear as in dinosaurs not from below as in modern birds.
Center of cervical vertebrae have simple concave articular facets. This is the same as the archosaur pattern. In modern birds the vertebrae are different, they have a saddle-shaped surface.
Long bony tail with many free vertebrae up to tip. Modern birds have a short tail and the caudal vertebrae are fused to give the pygostyle.
Beak contains teeth.
Ribs slender, without joints or uncinate processes and do not articulate with the sternum. Modern birds have stout ribs with uncinate processes (braces between them) and articulate with the sternum.
Pelvic girdle and femur joint is archosaurian rather than avian (except for the backward pointing pubis).
The Sacrum (the vertebrae developed for the attachment of pelvic girdle) occupies 6 vertebra.
Metacarpals (hand) free (except 3rd metacarpal), wrist hand joint flexible.
Nasal opening far forward, separated from the eye by a large preorbital fenestra.
Deltoid ridge of the humerus faces anteriorly as do the radial and ulnar condyles.
Claws on 3 unfused digits.
The fibula is equal in length to the tibia in the leg.
Metatarsals (foot bones) are free. In modern birds these are fused to form the tarsometatarsus.
Gastralia present. Gastralia are "ventral ribs," elements of dermal bone in the ventral wall of the abdomen. Typical of reptiles, they are absent in modern birds.

Thus the conclusion that Archaeopteryx is intermediate is clear from the evidence. It is a bird and was so regarded by the International Archeopteryx Conference held at Eichstatt in Germany in 1984.
As a side note, Archaeopteryx, is not regarded as a transitional form by Alan Feduccia, himself an evolutionist. He said this:
"[Some] paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound, feathered dinosaur. But it is not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no amount of 'paleobabble' is going to change that."
Source:Feduccia, A.; cited in: V. Morell, Archaeopteryx: Early Bird Catches a Can of Worms, Science 259(5096):764-65, 5 February 1993.

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