Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1896 — The Oldest Known Bird. [ARTICLE]

The Oldest Known Bird.

“The Solenhofen slate of Bavaria, ,r writes Prof. H. G. Seeley in his recent little volume, “The Story of the Earthin Past Ages,” “makes known numerous insects and other forms of terrestrial life of this period, including the oldest known bird. A bird is known by its feathers, though there is no reason why the covering to the skin should not be as variable in the group of animals as among reptiles or mammals. It is, therefore, xemarkable that the oldest known bird, the archaeopteryx, has feathers as well developed as in the existing representatives of the class and similarly arranged. • "The animal is an elegant, slender bird, which is chiefly remarkable for showing teeth in the jaws. About twelve, short and conical, occur on each side of the upper jaw. The bird was larger than the robin in its body and had a tail of which there was a bony core some six inches in length. The wings were quite as well developed as the legs, there are some evidences that the former could be applied to the ground as are the forelegs of quadrupeds, although the feathers show the wings to have been constructed on the same plan as the birds of today. The Solenhofen stone, in which so many of the remains of fishes, reptiles and insects are found, is the same that is used for lithographing purposes, being of exceedingly close texture and of remarkable smoothness when prepared for its work.”