Friday, September 20, 2013

Dinosaurs: Millions of Years or Only Thousands?

To begin is some general questions in brief with the research that talks about that question. Then I have my writing on the topic from the Naturalistic view and the Creation view.


Is this right? Do you evolutionists agree with your position? I tried to write it as you believe it. Do you have any disagreements or concerns or additions?


1.       Dinosaurs

a.       Where are missing links between lizards and dinosaurs?

b.      Where are missing links between dinosaurs and birds?

c.       Many claim that birds have evolved from dinosaurs. Were birds around before and during the time of dinosaurs?

                                                               i.      http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/evolution/


d.      Reptiles and Birds have completely different lung systems.

e.      How did feathers evolve?

f.        Evolution between cold blooded and warm blooded (maybe)?

                                                               i.      http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/did-dinosaurs-turn-into-birds

g.       How do we explain dragon legends and depictions of dinosaurs all over the world before we found fossils of dinosaurs?

                                                               i.      http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v6/n4/dragon-legends

h.      How did they die? Why not other animals?

i.         How do we explain soft tissue being found in Dinosaurs if they died out about 65 million years ago?

                                                               i.      http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v6/n3/soft-tissue http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v7/n4/soft-tissue-in-fossils http://creation.com/schweitzers-dangerous-discovery

j.        For more information: http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers#/topic/dinosaurs




Title:  Dinosaurs by Brian Mariani

 

Introduction:

Everyone today has heard that at one time, long ago, dinosaurs roamed our world. Dinosaurs were some of the largest land animals ever. Thousands of fossils of dinosaurs can be found all throughout the fossil record. Soft Tissue has also been discovered in numerous examples now. Did dinosaurs have feathers? What is the Truth about dinosaurs? What were they like? When did they live?

 

Naturalistic/Evolutionary Answer:

Dinosaurs lived between 230 – 65 Millions years ago.[i] They evolved from smaller reptiles and many dinosaurs evolved into birds.[ii] There are approximately 700 species of dinosaurs, but some estimate that there are more to be found.[iii] Different types of dinosaurs including but not limited to theropods, sauropods, stegosaurs, ankylosaurs and eventually birds lived and evolved during the different periods of history such as the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods. Dinosaurs themselves went extinct probably due to a large meteor strike that changed the earth’s climate enough that there was poor air quality and not enough food for dinosaurs and so they died away. [iv] [v] This great extinction of the dinosaurs began the Cenozoic Era of history, in which we live today.[vi] Dinosaur fossils can be found because the dinosaurs were buried in volcanic ash or buried due to seasonal flooding.

                Because dinosaurs lived so long ago, there is no way that they could have ever lived with humans, and there have never been human fossils found in the same layers with dinosaur fossils. All the species of dinosaurs would not have been able to fit on the ark even if Noah’s ark is true and dinosaurs were still around. They could in no way be mistaken for dragons, because they went extinct a long time ago as shown in the fossil record. Dragons are fantasy and make for good stories.[vii]

Since dinosaurs evolved into birds, there are some dinosaurs in the fossil record, similar to Archeaopteryx, that have feathers. In an article in Nature, Brian Switek reports that “palaeontologists have recognized more than 30 types of feathered dinosaur.” Switek continues to say that some scientists have found evidence of at least protofeathers on many dinosaurs and that they and “feathers seem to be an ancestral dinosaurian trait.” So all dinosaurs may have had either some form of protofeathers or feathers themselves, but “the trick will be finding specimens in the sorts of fine-grained sediments capable of preserving feather fossil.”[viii]

                For the past 10 years, Mary Schweitzer has discovered numerous examples of soft tissue still preserved in dinosaur bones. The soft tissue within rock fossils that has been found shows that those specimens have been highly preserved through possibly some new process. In Barry Yeoman’s article describing Schweitzer’s journey of discovery, he writes “if the soft tissue can last 65 million years, Horner says, ‘there may be a lot of things out there that we’ve missed because of our assumption of how preservation works.’”[ix]

 

Creation Answer:

Dinosaurs are yet another land animal that was created on day 6 before Adam and Eve. They were herbivores like everything was initially in the Garden before sin. Their sharp teeth could have been used to crush coconuts or melons, etc. They were still around at the time of the flood and probably two young, small representatives of each kind went on the ark. Those that did not make it on the ark were buried in the rock layers created by the flood only a little over 4000 years ago.[x]     

So Dinosaurs and man lived together for a long time. Although they are highly disputed, the Paluxy river tracks show human footprints inside or next to dinosaur footprints and if they are authentic, they are one piece of evidence of the two living together. We can assume that not much evidence may be found, because 1) humans would probably not live near/with dinosaurs…that could be a dangerous living situation, and 2) “fossilization is a rare event” and 3) humans were probably more mobile or able to swim or float for some time before perishing in the flood.[xi]

                The Bible records descriptions of what it calls Behemoth and Leviathon, which may be a land dwelling dinosaur and a water dwelling dinosaur respectively based on the descriptions. There are countless Dragon Legends from cultures all over the world that might fit the description of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were probably hunted to extinction, as we hear of by the brave knights of old. There are also legends of flying dinosaurs in the Americas including those called Thunderbirds in the American Southwest. There are also reports that other cultures today still claim to have seen dinosaurs, such as Australian Aborigines, natives of Papa New Guinea, African people of the Congo, and even visitors of Loch Ness among other people around the world.[xii]

                Did birds evolve from dinosaurs? God specifically explained how birds were created on day 5 and then land animals on day 6. Archaeoraptor was one exciting new find of a feathered dinosaur that National Geographic reported on that they later had to retract as a composite of two fossils and therefore a hoax.[xiii] Archaeopteryx and Xiaotingia zhengi were two supposed missing links between dinosaurs and birds, yet the evidence is shaky and becoming less in support of evolution. [xiv]Is there enough evidence of dinosaurs with feathers?

Soft tissue from dinosaur bones is better understood as being younger in age rather than the assumed 65 million years old. One would be hard pressed to try to explain the process that would preserve the soft tissue for many millions of years.[xv]

 

What the Bible Says: Gen 1, Job 40-41, Psalm 74:13-14, Psalm 104:26, Is 27:1



[i] USGS. “When did the dinosaurs first appear on earth?” Ronald J. Litwin, Robert E Weems, and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Last Modified May 17, 2001. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/when.html. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[ii] Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History. “Dinosaurs, Everything you wanted to know: Anatomy & Evolution.” http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/info/everything/evo_1.html. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[iii] USGS. “How many types of dinosaurs are known?” Ronald J. Litwin, Robert E Weems, and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Last Modified May 17, 2001. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/types.html. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[iv] USGS. “Dinosaurs: Facts and Fiction” Ronald J. Litwin, Robert E Weems, and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Last Modified August 6, 2007. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[v] PBS. “What Killed the Dinosaurs?” 2001. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/extinction/dinosaurs/. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[vi] Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History. “Dinosaurs, Everything you wanted to know: What Is a Dinosaur?” http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/info/everything/what_4.html. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[vii] USGS. “Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time?” Last Modified May 17, 2001. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/people.html. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[viii] Switek, Brian. “Rise of the feathered dinosaurs.” July 2, 2012. http://www.nature.com/news/rise-of-the-feathered-dinosaurs-1.10933. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[ix] Yeoman, Barry. “Schweitzer’s Dangerous Discovery.” Discover Magazine. Published online April 27, 2006. http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/dinosaur-dna. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[x] Ham, Ken. “Dinosaurs and the Bible.” Answers in Genesis. November 5, 1999. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/1999/11/05/dinosaurs-and-the-bible. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[xi] Hodge, Bodie. “Why Don’t We Find Human and Dinosaur Fossils Together?” Answers in Genesis. November 1, 2007. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/human-and-dino-fossils-together. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[xii] Answers in Genesis. http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers#/topic/dinosaurs. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[xiii] “Archaeoraptor Hoax Update – National Geographic Recants!” Answers in Genesis. March 2, 2000. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2000/03/02/archeoraptor-hoax. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[xiv] “Archaeopteryx Has Flown the Coop.” Answers Magazine. December 23, 2011. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v7/n1/flown-the-coop. Accessed November 4, 2012.
[xv] Menton, David. “#3 Soft Tissues in Fossils.” Answers Magazine. September 11, 2012. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v7/n4/soft-tissue-in-fossils. Accessed November 4, 2012.

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