When Did Archaeopteryx Live And What Was It Like?

The term Archaeopteryx is a term used for a bird that was in existence in the Jurassic period. Though Jurassic Period started approximately 650 million years ago, the traces of this bird can be found only lately around 150 -155 million years ago.

Till date there are approximately ten specimens of this ancient bird had been found with the first one in the year 1860. It was found in a deposit of limestone near Solnhofen in Germany and with the passage of time other specimens were found but all of them were found at that very site or a site very close to it.

The size of the bird is around two feet and has broad rounded wings with long tail. In some features it can be compared with the modern birds but it has some unique features also; it has sharp teeth, long bony tail and three fingers that end in a curved claws.

It means that it is a 150 years old bird

It lived in the late jurassic period

The most ancient Archaeopteryx fossils found dates from about 150 million years ago. It is thought to be the evolutionary link between birds and their ancestors, which were reptiles. Archaeopteryx must have looked a little bit like a modern bird but there are some differences. It had sharp teeth in its jaws instead of having a beak. It also had claws on its wings and a long, bony tail.

Some eminent fossils scientists have argued that Archaeopteryx may have had feathers but it could not fly. Some have suggested that this ancient bird was a ground dwelling animal. Archaeopteryx may have spent most of its time on the ground, running on its hind legs and using its feathers wings to flap about to trap flying insects.
The wings may have been used to make short excursions into the air. It may be that birds that could fly higher survived better and so flight became an evolutionary advantage that was selected for.