Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel ("original bird" or "first bird"), is the earliest and most primitive bird known. The name is from the Ancient Greek (archaios) meaning "ancient", and (pteryx), meaning "feather" or "wing"; . Archaeopteryx lived in the late Jurassic Period around 150–145Germany during a time when Europe was an archipelago of islands in a shallow warm tropical sea, much closer to the equator than it is now.