World's first bird shows Archaeopteryx wasn't just winging it PALAEONTOLOGISTS say the discovery of the world's first bird puts paid to a theory that flight evolved twice. The skeleton of the Aurornis, a metre-long creature with teeth and feathered legs, was found by a farmer in north-eastern China. The previously unknown genus, which lived about 160 million years ago, was identified after a Laoning museum bought the remains last year.