archaeopteryx

ar·chae·op·ter·yx

A0404000 (är′kē-ŏp′tər-ĭks)n. A small extinct vertebrate of the genus Archaeopteryx of the Jurassic Period, having feathered wings with claws and a long toothed snout. It has been classified variously as a prehistoric bird and as a theropod dinosaur.

[New Latin Archaeopteryx, genus name : archaeo- + Greek pterux, wing; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

archaeopteryx

(ˌɑːkɪˈɒptərɪks) n1. (Animals) any of several extinct primitive birds constituting the genus Archaeopteryx, esp A. lithographica, which occurred in Jurassic times and had teeth, a long tail, well-developed wings, and a body covering of feathers2. (Palaeontology) any of several extinct primitive birds constituting the genus Archaeopteryx, esp A. lithographica, which occurred in Jurassic times and had teeth, a long tail, well-developed wings, and a body covering of feathers[C19: from archaeo- + Greek pterux winged creature]

ar•chae•op•ter•yx

(ˌɑr kiˈɒp tə rɪks)

n. a reptilelike feathered fossil bird of the genus Archaeopteryx, from the late Jurassic Period, having teeth and a long tail. [1855–60; < New Latin < Greek archaio- archaeo- + ptéryx wing]

ar·chae·op·ter·yx

(är′kē-ŏp′tər-ĭks) An extinct primitive bird of the Jurassic Period, having characteristics of both birds and dinosaurs. Like dinosaurs, it had a long, bony tail, claws at the end of its fingers, and teeth. Like birds it had wings and feathers. Many scientists regard it as evidence that birds evolved from small meat-eating dinosaurs. See Note at bird.

Thesaurus

Noun

archaeopteryx - extinct primitive toothed bird of the Jurassic period having a long feathered tail and hollow bones; usually considered the most primitive of all birdsArchaeopteryx lithographica, archeopteryxbird - warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wingsgenus Archaeopteryx, genus Archeopteryx - a genus of fossil birds

Translations

археоптерикс

archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx

(är'kēŏp`tərĭks) [Gr.,=primitive wing], a 150 million-year-old fossil animal first discovered in 1860 in the late Jurassic limestone of Solnhofen, Bavaria, and described the following year. All eight known fossils of Archaeopteryx, discovered between 1860 and 1992, were found in a 516 sq-mi (1,336 sq-km) area of the Solnhofen quarries. First classified as a birdbird,
warm-blooded, egg-laying, vertebrate animal having its body covered with feathers and its forelimbs modified into wings, which are used by most birds for flight. Birds compose the class Aves (see Chordata). There are an estimated 9,000 living species.
..... Click the link for more information. because of the presence of feathers and the structure of the legs and wings, it nevertheless has many characteristics now found only in reptiles or in bird embryos. It was long regarded as the most primitive known bird, but more recent discoveries of fossils that have feathers and other birdlike features while also retaining strong dinosaurlike characteristics has led some to argue that Archaeopteryx is in fact a feathered dinosaurdinosaur
[Gr., = terrible lizard], extinct land reptile of the Mesozoic era. The dinosaurs, which were egg-laying animals, ranged in length from 2 1-2 ft (91 cm) to about 127 ft (39 m).
..... Click the link for more information. that should be grouped with the theropods. It is still debated whether Archaeopteryx, which was about the size of a pigeon or magpie, was arboreal or a swiftly running terrestrial animal and poor flyer. Its feathers appear to have been too weakly constructed to be useful for active flight, but a study of its wing bones found that they resemble those of birds that fly short distances or in short bursts. Some claimed that a fossil discovered in West Texas in 1983 and dubbed Protoavis represents a primitive bird that predated Archaeopteryx by some 75 million years, but many experts also have questioned whether Protoavis is in fact a bird or even an correctly reconstructed animal.

Bibliography

See L. M. Witmer, The Search for the Origin of Birds (1995); A. Feduccia, The Origin and Evolution of Birds (1996); S. Chatterjee, The Rise of Birds (1997); P. Shipman, Taking Flight: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight (1998).

Archaeopteryx

[‚ärk·ē′äp·tə·riks] (paleontology) The earliest known bird; a genus of fossil birds in the order Archaeopterygiformes characterized by flight feathers like those of modern birds.

archaeopteryx

any of several extinct primitive birds constituting the genus Archaeopteryx, esp A. lithographica, which occurred in Jurassic times and had teeth, a long tail, well-developed wings, and a body covering of feathers

archaeopteryx

ar·chae·op·ter·yx

archaeopteryx

ar•chae•op•ter•yx

ar·chae·op·ter·yx

archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx

Bibliography

Archaeopteryx

archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx

archaeopteryx

Synonyms for archaeopteryx

noun extinct primitive toothed bird of the Jurassic period having a long feathered tail and hollow bones

Synonyms

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