Archaeopteryx facts for kids

Meet Archaeopteryx

Its name means ancient wing. In Greek, archaios means ancient and pteryx means wing or feather.

It was a small theropod, about 50 centimetres long.

Bird or dinosaur?

Archaeopteryx had feathers and wings like a bird, but teeth, claws and a bony tail like other dinosaurs. Scientists today count all birds as dinosaurs.

Scientists are not sure whether Archaeopteryx could fully fly, or could only glide.

When and where did it live?

The first Archaeopteryx fossil was found in Germany in 1861. It lived in the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago, on islands in what is now Germany, at the same time and in the same place as Compsognathus.

Archaeopteryx in a nutshell

• Name means: ancient wing
• Lived: about 150 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic
• Ate: probably meat, though scientists are not certain
• Length: about 50 centimetres
• Found in: Germany
• Lived at the same time as: Compsognathus

Quick quiz: Archaeopteryx

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