The first known bird was the Archaeopteryx which lived about 150-155 million years ago in the late Jurassic Period. It was found in 1861, helping fuel the evolution discussion. It lived in what is now Germany and was similar in the size and shape of a medium-sized bird but it could get up to 1.6 feet (um, I have never seen a bird that big!).1 It definitely could fly but to what extent or how well is not exactly known, but it also had sharp teeth and sharp three-fingered claws making it more dinosaur-like than bird-like. Makes you wonder when it became less necessary for those traits or has it? We can still see these same traits in one of the previous birds of the
Cassowary Archive
The bird of the day is the Cassowary. It is a shy, flightless bird and has no problem getting aggressive, if needed. It prefers to live deep in the forest far away from people. And it should stay that way. I read that hand-feeding the cassowary is extremely dangerous to the animal and aiding in its demise, so don’t do it! These birds are very interesting indeed. One of the cassowaries (the Southern) is the 2nd heaviest extant bird in the world after the ostrich and third tallest (after ostrich and emu). It sorta looks like it is in that family of birds, doesn’t it? Interestingly enough the females are both bigger and more brightly colored. This is different than many birds. YAY! WOMAN COLOR