Palæont. [f. ARCHÆO- + πτέρυξ wing, bird.] The oldest known fossil bird, having a long vertebrate tail.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., xi. (1878), 302. The wide interval between birds and reptiles … partially bridged over … by the Ostrich and extinct Archeopteryx.
1879. Le Conte, Elem. Geol., 436. The only bird bones found in the Jurassic are those of the Archæopteryx.
