Archaeopteryx
Shoulder Pet · 17 maps
Overview
The Archaeopteryx is a small, tamable shoulder pet. It provides significant weight reduction for harvested resources when carried by flying or swimming mounts. This makes it ideal for long-distance resource gathering trips where inventory load is a concern.
It can be airlifted by Argentavis, Desmodus, Griffin, Karkinos, Megalosaurus, Kaprosuchus, Procoptodon, Quetzal, or Tusoteuthis for fast deployment across the map.
Spawn Locations
17 mapsArchaeopteryx spawns commonly in city and desert biomes. It appears across 17 ARK maps, making it widely accessible to survivors exploring different regions.
Each shape is a real spawn volume. Click for exact chance and zone info.
Tame the Archaeopteryx using a knockout method. Use a Bola, Bear Trap, or Plant Species Y to immobilize it first. Then sedate it with Tranq Arrows from a Bow, Crossbow, or Compound Bow, or use a Tek Bow for higher efficiency.
Feed it Simple Kibble for the fastest taming. Chitin also works but is significantly slower. The process takes about 8 minutes and requires around 25 Narcotics at level 150 on official settings. Use the calculator below for your settings.
| Food | Qty | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
 Simple KibbleBest | 3 | 8:00 | 74 Lvl (224) |
 Chitin | 20 | 11:07 | 66 Lvl (216) |
Drops & Harvest Resources
Killing an Archaeopteryx yields Hide and Raw Meat. The Hatchet yields the most Hide, while the Pick favors Raw Meat.
Estimates based on game-extracted data (weights, quantities, harvest multipliers, damage type chains). Each harvest event independently rolls each resource - higher weight = higher drop chance. Actual yields vary with RNG.
Gathering Abilities
While mounted, the Archaeopteryx gathers resources using its melee attack. It harvests Berries, Seeds, Mushrooms, Rare Flowers, Rare Mushrooms, Stimberries, Narcoberry, Mejoberry, Plant Species X Seed, Plant Species Y Seed, Cactus Sap, Fiber, and Wood. Each of these resources receives a 10× multiplier, making it extremely efficient for plant-based gathering. Wood is gathered at a 10× rate, while Cactus Sap and Fiber are gathered at 8×.
Damage Resistances
Archaeopteryx has a +120% weakness to Instant HurtDinos damage, making it extremely vulnerable to Tek-tier weapons and certain environmental hazards. It resists Mining Drill Harvest damage completely, taking -100% damage from drills. It also has a +55% weakness to Melee DmgMetal RaidDino attacks and a +50% weakness to Explosions. Avoid using it in combat zones with heavy raid mechanics.
Kill XP
Wild Kill (1.25×)0.5 base × 15.9 level × 4 × 1.25× wild kill × 1× server
Server Settings(Game.ini)
Official servers use non-1× defaults; the values above already reflect official rates.
| Stat | Base (Lv.1) | Wild +/Lv | Tamed +/Lv |
|---|---|---|---|
 Health | 125.0 | +25.00 | +4.00% |
 Stamina | 150.0 | +15.00 | +2.00% |
 Torpidity | 0.0 | +0.00 | +0.00% |
 Oxygen | 150.0 | +15.00 | +2.00% |
 Food | 900.0 | +90.00 | +2.00% |
 Weight | 30.0 | +0.60 | +0.80% |
 Melee Damage Multiplier | 100.0% | +5.00% | +10.00% |
 Speed Multiplier | 100.0% | +0.00% | +1.00% |
Hitbox Multipliers
The head has a damage multiplier of 3x, making headshots highly effective for faster knockout. Target the head when sedating to reduce taming time.
Can Damage
Can break Thatch. Build at least in Wood.
Thatch
Wood
Stone
Metal
Tek| Attack | Base | Thatch | Wood | Stone | Metal | Tek |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MeleeHerbivore Small | 5 | 27.5 | — | — | — | — |
Numbers reflect base melee at level 1, 100% TE, no imprint. The damage calculator lets you scale by melee %, server multipliers, and pick a specific structure for exact hit counts.
Tools & Guides
Archaeopteryx Tips & Tricks
The Archaeopteryx reduces weight by 80% for most plant-based resources, including Berries, Fiber, and Wood.
It can be carried by Argentavis, allowing for aerial transport while maintaining its weight reduction.
Its melee attack gathers Mejoberry, Narcoberry, and Stimberry at a 10× rate, making it ideal for narcotic farming.
It is highly vulnerable to explosion damage, taking +50% more, so avoid using it near turrets or demolition charges.
It cannot gather metal, stone, or crystal, despite high efficiency in plant resource collection.
It has no resistances to taming damage, making it easy to knock out with standard tranq methods.
This page details the Archaeopteryx's stats, taming requirements, breeding mechanics, harvest output, and combat traits. For precise planning, refer to the taming calculator, breeding calculator, and spawn map located on this page.
