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Archaeopteryx (ar-key-op-ter-icks)
You may
think that since it has a long name it is really big, but it is actually pretty
small! It was only 50 centimeters from wingtip to wingtip, and weighed about 325
grams. But for a bird that size, it has a big brain! I guess you could
call the Archaeopteryx a big and small It was named Archaeopteryx for "ancient wing", and is believed to be the "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds! You are probably wondering if the first bird could fly. Well some scientists think that it could probably glide for a short time after jumping off a tree branch. Archeologists have found fossils of the archaeopteryx, like the one shown. Citations Canadian Museum of
Nature. "Archaeopteryx" at NetPets Inc. "Archaeopteryx: The Bird that Rocked the World" at <www.netpets.com/birds/reference/fun/archaeopteryx3.html> (1995-2003). Images All images on this page from "ArtToday.com" <http://members.clipart.com/en/index> (2003). |
Isn't this a weird name? I
think it is! Some people say it is the "link" between dinosaurs and
birds, and it lived in the Jurassic period about 140 million years
ago! It lived in southern Germany and no one really knows what it ate, only
that they were carnivores. 
kinda' bird!