[Pete]

This new dinosaur, which was probably feathered, is closely related to and almost the same age as the oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx

For the author to claim that Archaeopteryx is the oldest bird ignores the existing controversy among experts and betrays his bias. This article discusses the current debate and ends with this paragraph.

So, in the end, what is Archaeopteryx ? Was it a theropod dinosaur or a bird? Could it fly or not? Is it a crucial missing-link or a bizarre offshoot? A legitimate fossil or an artful hoax? The answers to these questions are far from complete but I'll bet that Archaeopteryx will continue to provoke curiosity and debate for a long time to come yet.

[VadeRetro]

The very reason that there's controversy about whether to call Archaeopteryx a bird or a dinosaur is precisely that it's a transitional. Skeletally, it's more reptilian than not, but it has a bird's worth of feathers. It tends to be classed as a bird. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Its closest known relatives are on the dinosaur side of the line, however. I refer to Protoarchaeopteryx and this unclassified dromaeosaur (perhaps a juvenile Sinornithosaurus).