archaeopteryx

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ar·chae·op·ter·yx

(är′kē-ŏp′tər-ĭks)

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.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

archaeopteryx

(ˌɑːkɪˈɒptərɪks)

1. (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 feathers

2. (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]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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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 birds

Archaeopteryx lithographica, archeopteryx

bird - warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings

genus Archaeopteryx, genus Archeopteryx - a genus of fossil birds

Translations

археоптерикс

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References in periodicals archive ?

"The oldest bird is still Archaeopteryx first found in the Late Jurassic of southern Germany in 1861, although some species from China are a little older," said Professor Mike Benton, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

Feathers came before birds, finds study

The findings, published in PLOS Computational Biology, provide new insights into the origin of avian flight, which has been a point of debate since the 1861 discovery of Archaeopteryx. While a gliding type of flight appears to have matured earlier in evolutionary history, increasing evidence suggests that active flapping flight may have arisen without an intermediate gliding phase.

Dinos Flapped 'Proto-Wings' and Ran?

The lecture is 'Archaeopteryx: the story of an iconic fossil'.

EVENTS DIARY

During a field trip to the natural history museum, Kimmy is thrilled to share what she knows about the Stegosaurus and the Archaeopteryx and even the ginormous Titanosaurus.

The Dinosaur Expert

Paleontologists in China have discovered a new species of fossil bird that they say reveals a pivotal point in the evolution of flight, when birds had lost the long bony tail seen in dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and the early bird Archaeopteryx, but before they had developed the fan of feathers on a shortened tail seen in flying birds today, National Geographic reports.

'Messy' new species of dinosaur-era bird discovered

While on her way to save her brother, Scotch, for example, watches in horror as Spot attacks an archaeopteryx. Faced with a wounded animal, Scotch calls on Baba Yaga to help save the injured creature.

"Sticky" Identities: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Nalo Hopkinson's The Chaos

Among the examples he used is the "Archaeopteryx," a fossil that many evolution theorists claimed represents a "missing link" or a "transitional fossil" --such fossils should be everywhere if evolution is true--between birds and reptiles.

International Scientific Conference Deems EVOLUTION A HOAX: An international conference in Turkey sought to show that the theory of evolution was a sham and that the best evidence makes clear that everything was created by a Creator

"It is extremely similar to some early birds such as Archaeopteryx," said paleontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, referring to the earliest-known bird, which lived 150 million years ago.

Chinese 'rainbow dinosaur' had iridescent feathers like hummingbirds

In the poem "Pristine Wing," Larrosa writes of the Archaeopteryx, "the oldest bird known to man," which "lived 150 million years ago" and, she asserts, still exists for us "in the armpits, in the big trees of the avenues, in the fine, caged homes, in the neighborhoods with ammunition in the gut ...

"One-single-thing": infrarealism and the art of everyday life

He pointed out that there is no record of this character state in the majority of modern birds, in fossil species, in Archaeopteryx, in Crocodylia, or in Coelurosauria.

Osteologia craneal comparativa en el genero Sclerurus (Passeriformes: Furnariidae)

My latest piece made especially for the Bangor exhibition is a large wall mounted Archaeopteryx (first bird) made entirely from 69 steel food cans.