The
known history of birds starts in the late Jurassic. Presumably this ancient
bird must have lived earlier than this period. Efforts to unravel earlier
phases have failed in providing reliable evidence, since the first Archaeopteryx
was found over one hundred years ago. But within the last few years, two
sets of fossils have been suggested to substantiate the record of birds
before the Late Jurassic: Protoavis (nickname) From the late Triassic of
Texas and an ensemble of traces from the Triassic-Jurassic of Africa and
North America. Not only do they have a fragmented history of birds, they
have fragmented evidence (eg. bones) to support this history.