What is the name of the first known bird from fossils?

The first known bird from fossils is Archaeopteryx. Its fossils combine bird-like feathers and wings with dinosaur-like teeth, clawed fingers, and a long bony tail.

Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period in what is now southern Germany. The first specimen was a single feather described in 1861, followed that year by the first known skeleton. Its discovery soon became important evidence linking birds with theropod dinosaurs.

The name means “ancient wing,” and the animal is often called the “first bird” in general-audience quizzes. However, paleontologists now recognize several older or near-contemporary feathered animals that may lie closer to the origin of birds, including Anchiornis, Xiaotingia, Aurornis, and Baminornis. That newer research makes the phrase scientifically simplified, but Archaeopteryx remains the standard canonical answer.

Pterodactyl was a flying reptile rather than a bird, while Confuciusornis and Microraptor lived later or represent different branches of bird and dinosaur evolution.