Transitional fossils are important because they are visualevidence of one type of animal evolving into another type ofanimal. A transitional fossil always contains features of one typeand features of another.For example, Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil that is across between a dinosaur and a bird. It has a bony tail, teeth, andclaws like a dinosaur, but it has feathers and is able to fly likea bird. It is an important link in the evolution from dinosaurs tobirds.