First Bird?

When I was growing up, I was fascinated by all dinosaurs (what kid isn't?) but some were my favorites.

I loved Triceratops, that peaceful, three-horned vegetarian who could apparently fend off the nasty, big meat eaters.

Brontosaurus was another cool plant-eating dino, with that massive body and impossibly long neck and tail. But how did such a relatively defenseless creature get to be THAT GIGANTIC without being chowed down upon by those pesky two-legged dino killers?

Things must have grown awfully fast back then...

And there's Tyrannosaurus Rex, -- the King of the two-legged reptilian monsters -- whose giant head, frightening teeth and teeny-tiny arms were an amazing contradiction.

But let’s not forget little Archaeopteryx, a creature long considered by paleontologists as the “first bird.”

Archaeopteryx. I love that name. It makes you sound smart just to say it.

And it’s a name that would likely defy even the most prepared Spelling Bee contestant.

According to Wikipedia, Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years ago in what is now southern Germany. It was a time when Europe was a collection of islands in a shallow, warm tropical sea.

First discovered in 1861, Archaeopteryx was small by dino standards -- only about a foot and a half in length. But it made up for its small size by its fearsome appearance: jaws with sharp teeth, front fingers with long claws and hyperextensible rear toes with what scientists consider its “killing claws.”

It also had one other thing going for it: broad, feathered wings.

Like a bird.

Archaeopteryx lived in roughly the same time period as the Pterodactyl -- about 150 million years ago -- and also in the same region that is now Bavaria in southern Germany.

But the Pterodactyl -- discovered a bit earlier in 1812 -- was always considered more of a flying reptile than Archaeopteryx, whose feathers suggested a transition to modern-day birds.

But while Archaeopteryx was long thought to be the beginning of the evolutionary tree leading to birds, in recent years fossils of other, apparently earlier feathered creatures have thrown that “first bird” appellation into some doubt.

So was Archaeopteryx REALLY the first bird?

I guess the undeniable truth is still out there, as they used to say on “The X Files.” But for me, Archaeopteryx will always be my first answer to that Jeopardy question: What was the world's first bird?

Say it with me: Ar-kee-op-tur-icks.

I wonder what its sweet song sounded like?

Maybe something like... KWWWWAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWK!!!!!!?