Archaeopteryx

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Name of Dinosaur

Archaeopteryx

How to say it

AR - keo - TER - ix

What the name means

Ancient wing

Who named it

Herman von Meyer, palaeontologist

When discovered

1860

What period of time

Jurassic period

How long

30 centimetres beak to tail

Wingspan

about half a metre

Diet

meat

Where found

Europe

What it looked like
Archaeopteryx seemed to be part bird and part dinosaur. Unlike modern-day birds, it had teeth, three claws on each wing, and a long, bony tail. Like modern-day birds, it had feathers, and a lightly-built body with hollow bones. It was about the size of a magpie.

 

What it ate
It was probably a meat eater, and lived on insects, lizards and small sea creatures.

 

How it moved around
It may have been able to fly, but not very far and not very well. Some scientists think it could fly, others that it could only glide, and others that it could not fly at all.

 

How it probably behaved
Not much is known about the early birds, because their bones were very light and fragile, so not many of them have been found. The Archaeopteryx was the first of all the birds. It had quite a large brain.


This is a cast of the first Archaeopteryx bones found in limestone rock.


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