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Aves, in the strictest sense? Probably Vegavis, from Antarctica. Crown-group birds (ratites+neognaths=Neornithes) are the most 'certain' clade to call Aves, and I doubt that they existed more than 75-80 million years ago. There are multiple different definitions
of Aves, and the further back you go, the fuzzier things get. Others will probably be able to answer this question better than me, but for simplicity, I think of just Neornithes, or perhaps Ornithuromorpha or Pygostylia, as the 'bird clade'. There is simply
too much uncertainty about A. lithographica, Anchiornis and other Jurassic taxa and where they belong phylogenetically. What is certain is that this will continue to inspire research for years to come.
Thomas Yazbeck
From: dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu> on behalf of Poekilopleuron <dinosaurtom2015@seznam.cz>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 2:28 AM To: dinosaur-l@usc.edu <dinosaur-l@usc.edu>; tholtz@umd.edu <tholtz@umd.edu> Subject: [dinosaur] What is the earliest known bird Good day!
Using currently most widely accepted phylogeny, what is the earliest known "bird"? Is it
Archaeopteryx lithographica or rather some of the Chinese taxa? Thank you in advance! Tom
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