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2026-09-26T03:04:48Z
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https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fossils&diff=487688
Fossils
2008-07-05T16:07:27Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Evolutionist View */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Fossils''' are preserved remains of once-living organisms.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> They are usually formed when mineral-rich water makes its way into the deceased being's body. The minerals within the water aggregate within the spaces within the body and solidify. Once the organism's tissues have dissolved away, all that is left behind is a rock mold of the creature's shape. Despite popular perception, the fossil record is not the main source of evidence for evolution; Darwin didn't even have a chapter about it in ''On the Origin of Species.'' However, they still help give scientists a picture of the history of life on earth.<br />
== Evolutionist View ==<br />
<br />
Scientists often use fossils to evaluate the [[Theory of evolution|theory of evolution]]. They record the [[species]] that they find and compare them to living species in order to create a [[fossil record]] of life of Earth.<ref>Geologic Time: [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html "Radiometric time scale"]</ref><ref>The Virtual [http://www.fossilmuseum.net Fossil Museum"]</ref><br />
<br />
Scientists use a process known as [[radiometric dating]] to determine the age of the fossils. Radiometric dating is a technique in which scientists observe the amount of an elemental [[isotope]] within the fossil, then use the rate at which the isotope is presumed to decay to calculate when the organism died. There are a number of different methods, some of which claim to be able to date a specimen that died up to three billion years ago.<ref>Georgia Perimeter College - Historical Geology: [http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm "Radiometric Dating"]</ref> Since individual radiometric methods are independent they can be cross-check with each other to reduce error, leading to an incredibly accurate dating.<br />
<br />
<br />
In some fossils "organic matter" has been found. This is often used by creationists to claim that fossils are not very old. The "organic matter" is debatable and inconclusive at present. "Red blood cells" found in a T. rex fossil have not been proven to be red blood cells (The below article is from May 2006 and testing was still going on).<br />
<br />
<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;"><br />
Inside the dinosaur vessels are things Schweitzer diplomatically calls “round microstructures” in the journal article, out of an abundance of scientific caution, but they are red and round, and she and other scientists suspect that they are red blood cells.<br />
<br />
<br />
Schweitzer has been testing her dinosaur tissue samples for proteins, which are a bit hardier and more readily distinguished from contaminants. Specifically, she’s been looking for collagen, elastin and hemoglobin.<br />
<ref>http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/may/dinosaur.php?page=3</ref><br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
Creationists often use the argument for rapid fossilization but the requirements for rapid fossilization are very specific and unusual in real life. There are a lack of articles in any of the major scientific journals on the matter. Judging from the large number of fossils from different rock layers and rock types around the world it would be unlikely that they all formed from these very specific conditions.<br />
<br />
== Creation Science View ==<br />
<br />
Many [[Young Earth Creationists]] disagree with the idea that fossils could be millions of years old because they believe the Earth to have been created only several thousand years ago. They point to the fact that some dinosaur bones have been found that still contain organic matter as evidence that these creatures were alive only several thousand years ago rather than 65 million years ago. They also point out that sometimes bones can fossilize very quickly if they are in the right place, so even though scientists predict that the process will usually take a very long time, this is not always the case.<ref>Answers in Genesis: [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i1/dinosaurbones.asp "Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?"]</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
<br />
*[[Dinosaur]] <br />
*[[Fossil fuels]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Fossils]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fossils&diff=487687
Fossils
2008-07-05T16:06:22Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Fossils''' are preserved remains of once-living organisms.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> They are usually formed when mineral-rich water makes its way into the deceased being's body. The minerals within the water aggregate within the spaces within the body and solidify. Once the organism's tissues have dissolved away, all that is left behind is a rock mold of the creature's shape. Despite popular perception, the fossil record is not the main source of evidence for evolution; Darwin didn't even have a chapter about it in ''On the Origin of Species.'' However, they still help give scientists a picture of the history of life on earth.<br />
== Evolutionist View ==<br />
<br />
Scientists often use fossils to evaluate the [[Theory of evolution|theory of evolution]]. They record the [[species]] that they find and compare them to living species in order to create a [[fossil record]] of life of Earth.<ref>Geologic Time: [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html "Radiometric time scale"]</ref><ref>The Virtual [http://www.fossilmuseum.net Fossil Museum"]</ref><br />
<br />
Scientists use a process known as [[radiometric dating]] to determine the age of the fossils. Radiometric dating is a technique in which scientists observe the amount of an elemental [[isotope]] within the fossil, then use the rate at which the isotope is presumed to decay to calculate when the organism died. There are a number of different methods, some of which claim to be able to date a specimen that died up to three billion years ago.<ref>Georgia Perimeter College - Historical Geology: [http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm "Radiometric Dating"]</ref> Since individual radiometric methods are independent they can be cross-check with each other to reduce error.<br />
<br />
<br />
In some fossils "organic matter" has been found. This is often used by creationists to claim that fossils are not very old. The "organic matter" is debatable and inconclusive at present. "Red blood cells" found in a T. rex fossil have not been proven to be red blood cells (The below article is from May 2006 and testing was still going on).<br />
<br />
<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;"><br />
Inside the dinosaur vessels are things Schweitzer diplomatically calls “round microstructures” in the journal article, out of an abundance of scientific caution, but they are red and round, and she and other scientists suspect that they are red blood cells.<br />
<br />
<br />
Schweitzer has been testing her dinosaur tissue samples for proteins, which are a bit hardier and more readily distinguished from contaminants. Specifically, she’s been looking for collagen, elastin and hemoglobin.<br />
<ref>http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/may/dinosaur.php?page=3</ref><br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
Creationists often use the argument for rapid fossilization but the requirements for rapid fossilization are very specific and unusual in real life. There are a lack of articles in any of the major scientific journals on the matter. Judging from the large number of fossils from different rock layers and rock types around the world it would be unlikely that they all formed from these very specific conditions.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
== Creation Science View ==<br />
<br />
Many [[Young Earth Creationists]] disagree with the idea that fossils could be millions of years old because they believe the Earth to have been created only several thousand years ago. They point to the fact that some dinosaur bones have been found that still contain organic matter as evidence that these creatures were alive only several thousand years ago rather than 65 million years ago. They also point out that sometimes bones can fossilize very quickly if they are in the right place, so even though scientists predict that the process will usually take a very long time, this is not always the case.<ref>Answers in Genesis: [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i1/dinosaurbones.asp "Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?"]</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
<br />
*[[Dinosaur]] <br />
*[[Fossil fuels]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Fossils]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Hell&diff=487686
Hell
2008-07-05T16:00:23Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hell.jpg|right|300px|thumb|''Hell'', painted by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], part of ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]''.]]<br />
In the English translation of the [[Bible]]'s [[Old Testament]], the word '''hell''' normally corresponds to the [[Hebrew]] ''sheol'', which was simply the place of the dead. But in the [[Greek]] [[New Testament]] the word used is either ''Gehenna'' (the garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where fires were kept eternally burning to consume the refuse and keep down the stench) or ''Hades'', the [[Greek]]s' dark, gloomy underworld. The modern English word appears to derive most directly from "Holle" or "Hela" or "Hel", goddess of the dead in Germanic/[[Norse mythology]]. When the [[Anglo-Saxons]] later embraced [[Christianity]], the existing word in the language was reused in the new Christian concepts.<br />
<br />
To fundamentalist Christians, hell is a place where the souls of the wicked are punished eternally for all the [[sins]] they perpetrated during their lifetime on Earth. Since all have sinned (Rom 3:23) hell can not be avoided on one's own merits, but through the love gift of [[Jesus]] one can know, love, and serve [[God]] and share eternity with Him in [[heaven]].<br />
<br />
The Christian and [[Muslim]] religious traditions often emphasize the ''Gehenna'' aspect: Hell is extremely hot and filled with fire and [[brimstone]]. Opinion varies on the question of whether, while hell itself is eternal, experience of it purges away the sins of sufferers to the point of eventual redemption. See [[purgatory]]. A minority of Christians do not believe in an eternal hell as punishment, believing instead that the souls of the wicked are annihilated. This view is referred to as [[Annihilationism]]. There is also a question of whether hell has a literal burning fire, or whether it is separation from God and therefore has the same torment as if there was a burning fire. This view has been supported by writers such as [[J.P. Moreland]]. Many Christians, though, have dealt away with the concept of hell entirely as it contradicts the concept of a merciful God.<br />
<br />
Although hell is a focus and a concern in Christian theology, the Bible has an even greater focus. In the [[King James Version]] the word hell is mentioned 54 times, but [[heaven]] is mentioned 551 times.<br />
<br />
* [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 13:41-42 - ''The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.'''<br />
<br />
* Matthew 25:41 - ''Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.''<br />
<br />
* Matthew 25:46 - ''And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.''<br />
<br />
* [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 9:43 - ''And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.''<br />
<br />
* 2 Thes 1:7-8 - ''And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.''<br />
<br />
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 20:10 - ''And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.''<br />
<br />
* Revelation 20:14-15 - ''And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.''<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Image:Devilbar trans.gif|center]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Transitional_form&diff=487622
Transitional form
2008-07-05T03:18:02Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Identification problem */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{merge from|transitional fossil}}<br />
A '''transitional form''' is a [[fossil]] or living [[organism]] that is intermediate between two other organism in an evolutionary sequence.<br />
A transitional form that has not yet been found is colloquially called a '[[missing link]]'.<br />
<br />
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent. However, it has been pointed out that whenever a transitional fossil is found, creationists claim that there are now two missing pieces.<br />
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such scientific rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref><br />
<br />
== Identification problem ==<br />
<br />
A major problem with identifying transitional forms is in determining whether a particular fossil or living thing is truly intermediate between two others, or is merely an unrelated form which has characteristics common to both other forms.<br />
<br />
[[Archaeopteryx]] is a good example of an intermediate form. It has well preserved feathers, but is skeletally identical to a small theropod dinosaur. Some of these similarities include teeth and a long bony tail. It is so similar that one specimen without preserved feathers was mistakenly classified as a compsognathus. Some creationists have said that the fact that its feathers are fully developed casts doubt on evolution; however, while the conditions for fossilization are rare, the conditions needed to preserve feathers are even rarer. Still, many fossils of protofeathers have been found.<br />
<br />
Evolutionists have criticised creationists for claiming that if an intermediate form is discovered, it merely creates two gaps where there was previously one.<br />
This criticism ignores the size of the gaps.<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/4248 Does a ‘transitional form’ replace one gap with two gaps?], ''Journal of Creation'' 14(3):5–6, August 2000.</ref><br />
However, if the gap is still large, this does not validate the claim of the creationist, as fossilization is a rare process and sometimes evolution occurs rapidly, as in the case of humans, who evolved into their modern form in only a few million years.<br />
Rather than simply producing the occasional form which appears to be intermediate between two different forms, evolutionists need to demonstrate what [[Charles Darwin]] called a "finely-graduated organic chain".<ref name="chain" /> It should be noted that the science of evolution has progressed monumentally since Darwin's time.<br />
<br />
Despite many more fossils being discovered since Darwin's time, the continued lack of a series of fossils showing a smooth transition led [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] to propose [[Punctuated Equilibrium]], which says that the change from one form to another took place is short bursts which generally would not leave a fossil trace.<br />
Evolutionists continue to claim that such intermediate forms exist or existed, but have failed to adequately demonstrate any such smooth sequence, as opposed to the occasional form with features common to two other forms.<br />
<br />
== Claims of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
In ''The Origin of Species'' [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that the fossil record (as it was known then) was lacking in transitional forms.<ref name="chain">"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record". Darwin, Charles, ''The Origin of Species'', chapter X.</ref><br />
He predicted, however, that transitional forms would be found.<br />
Nevertheless, 120 years later, David Raup said that the situation had not improved.<ref>"Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species, but the situation hasn't changed much. The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky, and ironically, we have fewer examples of evolutionary transitions than we had in Darwin's time. By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America, have had to be discarded or modified as a result of more detailed information.", Raup, David, "Conflicts between Darwin and paleontology", ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50(1), January 1979, p.25.</ref> It should be noted though, that, as a scientist, Raup is well acquainted with the mountain of evidence for evolution.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, evolutionists continue to make claims of transitional forms. One such set of claims was in the 1st March 2008 issue of ''[[New Scientist]]''<ref>Prothero, Donald, ''What Missing Link?'', ''New Scientist'', 1st March 2008.</ref><br />
The article claimed that the so-called “fishbian” sequence of fossils shows the steps by which fish crawled out of the water and onto the land during the [[Devonian]] period.<br />
''New Scientist'' claims that fossils have been "found spanning the entire transition from the distinctly fish-like ''Eusthenopteron'' to the four-legged amphibian ''Hynerpeton''".<br />
<br />
However, the accompanying "family tree" showing a mere eight fossils in this sequence does not show ''any'' of them as being intermediate to any others, but all being on separate branches.<br />
Furthermore, it has many of the forms in the sequence living contemporaneously with others in the supposed sequence, including some "later" ones living ''earlier'' then their supposed ancestors!<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, ''New Scientist'' claims that the "fossil record of the fish-to-amphibian transition is now among the best documented of all"!<br />
<br />
== Claims of a lack of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
Creationists claim that there there are no transitional forms between the various [[baraminology|created kinds]].<br />
Even leading evolutionists have admitted that transitional forms do not exist as expected:<br />
<br />
The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book:<br />
{{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1984 Gould wrote the following:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
However, in 1994, he wrote,<br />
{{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
*[[Missing link]]<br />
*[[Transitional fossil]]<br />
*[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Origins Debate]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Transitional_form&diff=487621
Transitional form
2008-07-05T03:13:20Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Claims of transitional forms */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{merge from|transitional fossil}}<br />
A '''transitional form''' is a [[fossil]] or living [[organism]] that is intermediate between two other organism in an evolutionary sequence.<br />
A transitional form that has not yet been found is colloquially called a '[[missing link]]'.<br />
<br />
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent. However, it has been pointed out that whenever a transitional fossil is found, creationists claim that there are now two missing pieces.<br />
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such scientific rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref><br />
<br />
== Identification problem ==<br />
<br />
A major problem with identifying transitional forms is in determining whether a particular fossil or living thing is truly intermediate between two others, or is merely an unrelated form which has characteristics common to both other forms.<br />
<br />
[[Archaeopteryx]], for example, has some features in common with both living [[bird]]s and [[reptile]]s, and is often quoted as an intermediate form.<br />
It was not covered with part-[[scale]]s/part-[[feather]]s, but had fully-functioning feathers and [[wing]]s, and was capable of [[flight]].<br />
There is therefore no reason to think that it is not simply a bird with some features in common with reptiles.<br />
<br />
Evolutionists have criticised creationists for claiming that if an intermediate form is discovered, it merely creates two gaps where there was previously one.<br />
This criticism ignores the size of the gaps.<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/4248 Does a ‘transitional form’ replace one gap with two gaps?], ''Journal of Creation'' 14(3):5–6, August 2000.</ref><br />
However, if the gap is still large, this does not validate the claim of the creationist, as fossilization is a rare process and sometimes evolution occurs rapidly, as in the case of humans, who evolved into their modern form in only a few million years.<br />
Rather than simply producing the occasional form which appears to be intermediate between two different forms, evolutionists need to demonstrate what [[Charles Darwin]] called a "finely-graduated organic chain".<ref name="chain" /><br />
<br />
Despite many more fossils being discovered since Darwin's time, the continued lack of a series of fossils showing a smooth transition led [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] to propose [[Punctuated Equilibrium]], which says that the change from one form to another took place is short bursts which generally would not leave a fossil trace.<br />
Evolutionists continue to claim that such intermediate forms exist or existed, but have failed to adequately demonstrate any such smooth sequence, as opposed to the occasional form with features common to two other forms.<br />
<br />
== Claims of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
In ''The Origin of Species'' [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that the fossil record (as it was known then) was lacking in transitional forms.<ref name="chain">"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record". Darwin, Charles, ''The Origin of Species'', chapter X.</ref><br />
He predicted, however, that transitional forms would be found.<br />
Nevertheless, 120 years later, David Raup said that the situation had not improved.<ref>"Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species, but the situation hasn't changed much. The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky, and ironically, we have fewer examples of evolutionary transitions than we had in Darwin's time. By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America, have had to be discarded or modified as a result of more detailed information.", Raup, David, "Conflicts between Darwin and paleontology", ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50(1), January 1979, p.25.</ref> It should be noted though, that, as a scientist, Raup is well acquainted with the mountain of evidence for evolution.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, evolutionists continue to make claims of transitional forms. One such set of claims was in the 1st March 2008 issue of ''[[New Scientist]]''<ref>Prothero, Donald, ''What Missing Link?'', ''New Scientist'', 1st March 2008.</ref><br />
The article claimed that the so-called “fishbian” sequence of fossils shows the steps by which fish crawled out of the water and onto the land during the [[Devonian]] period.<br />
''New Scientist'' claims that fossils have been "found spanning the entire transition from the distinctly fish-like ''Eusthenopteron'' to the four-legged amphibian ''Hynerpeton''".<br />
<br />
However, the accompanying "family tree" showing a mere eight fossils in this sequence does not show ''any'' of them as being intermediate to any others, but all being on separate branches.<br />
Furthermore, it has many of the forms in the sequence living contemporaneously with others in the supposed sequence, including some "later" ones living ''earlier'' then their supposed ancestors!<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, ''New Scientist'' claims that the "fossil record of the fish-to-amphibian transition is now among the best documented of all"!<br />
<br />
== Claims of a lack of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
Creationists claim that there there are no transitional forms between the various [[baraminology|created kinds]].<br />
Even leading evolutionists have admitted that transitional forms do not exist as expected:<br />
<br />
The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book:<br />
{{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1984 Gould wrote the following:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
However, in 1994, he wrote,<br />
{{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
*[[Missing link]]<br />
*[[Transitional fossil]]<br />
*[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Origins Debate]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Transitional_form&diff=487620
Transitional form
2008-07-05T03:11:57Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Identification problem */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{merge from|transitional fossil}}<br />
A '''transitional form''' is a [[fossil]] or living [[organism]] that is intermediate between two other organism in an evolutionary sequence.<br />
A transitional form that has not yet been found is colloquially called a '[[missing link]]'.<br />
<br />
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent. However, it has been pointed out that whenever a transitional fossil is found, creationists claim that there are now two missing pieces.<br />
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such scientific rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref><br />
<br />
== Identification problem ==<br />
<br />
A major problem with identifying transitional forms is in determining whether a particular fossil or living thing is truly intermediate between two others, or is merely an unrelated form which has characteristics common to both other forms.<br />
<br />
[[Archaeopteryx]], for example, has some features in common with both living [[bird]]s and [[reptile]]s, and is often quoted as an intermediate form.<br />
It was not covered with part-[[scale]]s/part-[[feather]]s, but had fully-functioning feathers and [[wing]]s, and was capable of [[flight]].<br />
There is therefore no reason to think that it is not simply a bird with some features in common with reptiles.<br />
<br />
Evolutionists have criticised creationists for claiming that if an intermediate form is discovered, it merely creates two gaps where there was previously one.<br />
This criticism ignores the size of the gaps.<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/4248 Does a ‘transitional form’ replace one gap with two gaps?], ''Journal of Creation'' 14(3):5–6, August 2000.</ref><br />
However, if the gap is still large, this does not validate the claim of the creationist, as fossilization is a rare process and sometimes evolution occurs rapidly, as in the case of humans, who evolved into their modern form in only a few million years.<br />
Rather than simply producing the occasional form which appears to be intermediate between two different forms, evolutionists need to demonstrate what [[Charles Darwin]] called a "finely-graduated organic chain".<ref name="chain" /><br />
<br />
Despite many more fossils being discovered since Darwin's time, the continued lack of a series of fossils showing a smooth transition led [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] to propose [[Punctuated Equilibrium]], which says that the change from one form to another took place is short bursts which generally would not leave a fossil trace.<br />
Evolutionists continue to claim that such intermediate forms exist or existed, but have failed to adequately demonstrate any such smooth sequence, as opposed to the occasional form with features common to two other forms.<br />
<br />
== Claims of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
In ''The Origin of Species'' [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that the fossil record (as it was known then) was lacking in transitional forms.<ref name="chain">"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record". Darwin, Charles, ''The Origin of Species'', chapter X.</ref><br />
He predicted, however, that transitional forms would be found.<br />
Nevertheless, 120 years later, David Raup said that the situation had not improved.<ref>"Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species, but the situation hasn't changed much. The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky, and ironically, we have fewer examples of evolutionary transitions than we had in Darwin's time. By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America, have had to be discarded or modified as a result of more detailed information.", Raup, David, "Conflicts between Darwin and paleontology", ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50(1), January 1979, p.25.</ref><br />
<br />
Nevertheless, evolutionists continue to make claims of transitional forms. One such set of claims was in the 1st March 2008 issue of ''[[New Scientist]]''<ref>Prothero, Donald, ''What Missing Link?'', ''New Scientist'', 1st March 2008.</ref><br />
The article claimed that the so-called “fishbian” sequence of fossils shows the steps by which fish crawled out of the water and onto the land during the [[Devonian]] period.<br />
''New Scientist'' claims that fossils have been "found spanning the entire transition from the distinctly fish-like ''Eusthenopteron'' to the four-legged amphibian ''Hynerpeton''".<br />
<br />
However, the accompanying "family tree" showing a mere eight fossils in this sequence does not show ''any'' of them as being intermediate to any others, but all being on separate branches.<br />
Furthermore, it has many of the forms in the sequence living contemporaneously with others in the supposed sequence, including some "later" ones living ''earlier'' then their supposed ancestors!<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, ''New Scientist'' claims that the "fossil record of the fish-to-amphibian transition is now among the best documented of all"!<br />
<br />
== Claims of a lack of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
Creationists claim that there there are no transitional forms between the various [[baraminology|created kinds]].<br />
Even leading evolutionists have admitted that transitional forms do not exist as expected:<br />
<br />
The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book:<br />
{{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1984 Gould wrote the following:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
However, in 1994, he wrote,<br />
{{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
*[[Missing link]]<br />
*[[Transitional fossil]]<br />
*[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Origins Debate]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Transitional_form&diff=487618
Transitional form
2008-07-05T03:09:52Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{merge from|transitional fossil}}<br />
A '''transitional form''' is a [[fossil]] or living [[organism]] that is intermediate between two other organism in an evolutionary sequence.<br />
A transitional form that has not yet been found is colloquially called a '[[missing link]]'.<br />
<br />
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent. However, it has been pointed out that whenever a transitional fossil is found, creationists claim that there are now two missing pieces.<br />
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such scientific rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref><br />
<br />
== Identification problem ==<br />
<br />
A major problem with identifying transitional forms is in determining whether a particular fossil or living thing is truly intermediate between two others, or is merely an unrelated form which has characteristics common to both other forms.<br />
<br />
[[Archaeopteryx]], for example, has some features in common with both living [[bird]]s and [[reptile]]s, and is often quoted as an intermediate form.<br />
It was not covered with part-[[scale]]s/part-[[feather]]s, but had fully-functioning feathers and [[wing]]s, and was capable of [[flight]].<br />
There is therefore no reason to think that it is not simply a bird with some features in common with reptiles.<br />
<br />
Evolutionists have criticised creationists for claiming that if an intermediate form is discovered, it merely creates two gaps where there was previously one.<br />
This criticism ignores the size of the gaps.<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/4248 Does a ‘transitional form’ replace one gap with two gaps?], ''Journal of Creation'' 14(3):5–6, August 2000.</ref><br />
If the remaining two gaps are large, then the creationist claim is justified.<br />
Rather than simply producing the occasional form which appears to be intermediate between two different forms, evolutionists need to demonstrate what [[Charles Darwin]] called a "finely-graduated organic chain".<ref name="chain" /><br />
<br />
Despite many more fossils being discovered since Darwin's time, the continued lack of a series of fossils showing a smooth transition led [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] to propose [[Punctuated Equilibrium]], which says that the change from one form to another took place is short bursts which generally would not leave a fossil trace.<br />
Evolutionists continue to claim that such intermediate forms exist or existed, but have failed to adequately demonstrate any such smooth sequence, as opposed to the occasional form with features common to two other forms.<br />
<br />
== Claims of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
In ''The Origin of Species'' [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that the fossil record (as it was known then) was lacking in transitional forms.<ref name="chain">"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record". Darwin, Charles, ''The Origin of Species'', chapter X.</ref><br />
He predicted, however, that transitional forms would be found.<br />
Nevertheless, 120 years later, David Raup said that the situation had not improved.<ref>"Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species, but the situation hasn't changed much. The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky, and ironically, we have fewer examples of evolutionary transitions than we had in Darwin's time. By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America, have had to be discarded or modified as a result of more detailed information.", Raup, David, "Conflicts between Darwin and paleontology", ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50(1), January 1979, p.25.</ref><br />
<br />
Nevertheless, evolutionists continue to make claims of transitional forms. One such set of claims was in the 1st March 2008 issue of ''[[New Scientist]]''<ref>Prothero, Donald, ''What Missing Link?'', ''New Scientist'', 1st March 2008.</ref><br />
The article claimed that the so-called “fishbian” sequence of fossils shows the steps by which fish crawled out of the water and onto the land during the [[Devonian]] period.<br />
''New Scientist'' claims that fossils have been "found spanning the entire transition from the distinctly fish-like ''Eusthenopteron'' to the four-legged amphibian ''Hynerpeton''".<br />
<br />
However, the accompanying "family tree" showing a mere eight fossils in this sequence does not show ''any'' of them as being intermediate to any others, but all being on separate branches.<br />
Furthermore, it has many of the forms in the sequence living contemporaneously with others in the supposed sequence, including some "later" ones living ''earlier'' then their supposed ancestors!<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, ''New Scientist'' claims that the "fossil record of the fish-to-amphibian transition is now among the best documented of all"!<br />
<br />
== Claims of a lack of transitional forms ==<br />
<br />
Creationists claim that there there are no transitional forms between the various [[baraminology|created kinds]].<br />
Even leading evolutionists have admitted that transitional forms do not exist as expected:<br />
<br />
The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book:<br />
{{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}}<br />
<br />
In 1984 Gould wrote the following:<br />
{{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
However, in 1994, he wrote,<br />
{{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}}<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
*[[Missing link]]<br />
*[[Transitional fossil]]<br />
*[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Origins Debate]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fossils&diff=487617
Fossils
2008-07-05T03:08:05Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Oldest fossil */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Fossils''' are preserved remains of once-living organisms.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> They are usually formed when mineral-rich water makes its way into the deceased being's body. The minerals within the water aggregate within the spaces within the body and solidify. Once the organism's tissues have dissolved away, all that is left behind is a rock mold of the creature's shape. Sometimes, however, the mineralization process occurs quickly enough that soft tissue is preserved perfectly, lasting for millions of years.<br />
<br />
== Scientific View ==<br />
<br />
Scientists often use fossils to evaluate the [[Theory of evolution|theory of evolution]]. They record the [[species]] that they find and compare them to living species in order to create a [[fossil record]] of life of Earth.<ref>Geologic Time: [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html "Radiometric time scale"]</ref><ref>The Virtual [http://www.fossilmuseum.net Fossil Museum"]</ref><br />
<br />
Scientists use a process known as [[radiometric dating]] to determine the age of the fossils. Radiometric dating is a technique in which scientists observe the amount of an elemental [[isotope]] within the fossil, then use the rate at which the isotope is presumed to decay to calculate when the organism died. There are a number of different methods, some of which claim to be able to date a specimen that died up to three billion years ago.<ref>Georgia Perimeter College - Historical Geology: [http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm "Radiometric Dating"]</ref> Since individual radiometric methods are independent they can be cross-check with each other to reduce error.<br />
<br />
<br />
In some fossils "organic matter" has been found. This is often used by creationists to claim that fossils are not very old. The "organic matter" is debatable and inconclusive at present. "Red blood cells" found in a T. rex fossil have not been proven to be red blood cells (The below article is from May 2006 and testing was still going on).<br />
<br />
<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;"><br />
Inside the dinosaur vessels are things Schweitzer diplomatically calls “round microstructures” in the journal article, out of an abundance of scientific caution, but they are red and round, and she and other scientists suspect that they are red blood cells.<br />
<br />
<br />
Schweitzer has been testing her dinosaur tissue samples for proteins, which are a bit hardier and more readily distinguished from contaminants. Specifically, she’s been looking for collagen, elastin and hemoglobin.<br />
<ref>http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/may/dinosaur.php?page=3</ref><br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
Creationists often use the argument for rapid fossilization but the requirements for rapid fossilization are very specific and unusual in real life. There are a lack of articles in any of the major scientific journals on the matter. Judging from the large number of fossils from different rock layers and rock types around the world it would be unlikely that they all formed from these very specific conditions.<br />
<br />
== Oldest fossil ==<br />
<br />
The oldest fossil ever discovered that scientists agree on is that of prokaryotes of approximately 2.5 billion years old found in the Gunflint Chert of Western Ontario. There are some debated fossils from the Apex Chert in Australia that are about 3.4 billion years old. These fossils already show well-developed organisms, suggesting that life had already existed for a while. <br />
<br />
The oldest eukaryotes are red alga fossils that are dated to about 1.2 billion years.<br />
<br />
The oldest animals are the Ediacran fauna (Australia) which are dated to the Precambrian of about 575 million years ago.<br />
<br />
The oldest hominid fossils varies depending on the definition of hominid, but the first hominids appear between 5-7 million years ago.<br />
<br />
The oldest ''Homo sapiens'' are about 200,000 years old.<br />
<br />
== Creationist View ==<br />
<br />
Many [[Young Earth Creationists]] disagree with the idea that fossils could be millions of years old because they believe the Earth to have been created only several thousand years ago. They point to the fact that some dinosaur bones have been found that still contain organic matter as evidence that these creatures were alive only several thousand years ago rather than 65 million years ago. They also point out that sometimes bones can fossilize very quickly if they are in the right place, so even though scientists predict that the process will usually take a very long time, this is not always the case.<ref>Answers in Genesis: [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i1/dinosaurbones.asp "Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?"]</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
<br />
*[[Dinosaur]] <br />
*[[Fossil fuels]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Fossils]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fossils&diff=487616
Fossils
2008-07-05T03:05:56Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Fossils''' are preserved remains of once-living organisms.<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> They are usually formed when mineral-rich water makes its way into the deceased being's body. The minerals within the water aggregate within the spaces within the body and solidify. Once the organism's tissues have dissolved away, all that is left behind is a rock mold of the creature's shape. Sometimes, however, the mineralization process occurs quickly enough that soft tissue is preserved perfectly, lasting for millions of years.<br />
<br />
== Scientific View ==<br />
<br />
Scientists often use fossils to evaluate the [[Theory of evolution|theory of evolution]]. They record the [[species]] that they find and compare them to living species in order to create a [[fossil record]] of life of Earth.<ref>Geologic Time: [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/radiometric.html "Radiometric time scale"]</ref><ref>The Virtual [http://www.fossilmuseum.net Fossil Museum"]</ref><br />
<br />
Scientists use a process known as [[radiometric dating]] to determine the age of the fossils. Radiometric dating is a technique in which scientists observe the amount of an elemental [[isotope]] within the fossil, then use the rate at which the isotope is presumed to decay to calculate when the organism died. There are a number of different methods, some of which claim to be able to date a specimen that died up to three billion years ago.<ref>Georgia Perimeter College - Historical Geology: [http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/radio.htm "Radiometric Dating"]</ref> Since individual radiometric methods are independent they can be cross-check with each other to reduce error.<br />
<br />
<br />
In some fossils "organic matter" has been found. This is often used by creationists to claim that fossils are not very old. The "organic matter" is debatable and inconclusive at present. "Red blood cells" found in a T. rex fossil have not been proven to be red blood cells (The below article is from May 2006 and testing was still going on).<br />
<br />
<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;"><br />
Inside the dinosaur vessels are things Schweitzer diplomatically calls “round microstructures” in the journal article, out of an abundance of scientific caution, but they are red and round, and she and other scientists suspect that they are red blood cells.<br />
<br />
<br />
Schweitzer has been testing her dinosaur tissue samples for proteins, which are a bit hardier and more readily distinguished from contaminants. Specifically, she’s been looking for collagen, elastin and hemoglobin.<br />
<ref>http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2006/may/dinosaur.php?page=3</ref><br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
Creationists often use the argument for rapid fossilization but the requirements for rapid fossilization are very specific and unusual in real life. There are a lack of articles in any of the major scientific journals on the matter. Judging from the large number of fossils from different rock layers and rock types around the world it would be unlikely that they all formed from these very specific conditions.<br />
<br />
== Oldest fossil ==<br />
<br />
The oldest fossil ever discovered that scientists agree on is that of prokaryotes of approximately 2.5 billion years old found in the Gunflint Chert of Western Ontario. There are some debated fossils from the Apex Chert in Australia that are about 3.4 billion years old. <br />
<br />
The oldest eukaryotes are red alga fossils that are dated to about 1.2 billion years.<br />
<br />
The oldest animals are the Ediacran fauna (Australia) which are dated to the Precambrian of about 575 million years ago.<br />
<br />
The oldest hominid fossils varies depending on the definition of hominid, but the first hominids appear between 5-7 million years ago.<br />
<br />
The oldest ''Homo sapiens'' are about 200,000 years old.<br />
<br />
== Creationist View ==<br />
<br />
Many [[Young Earth Creationists]] disagree with the idea that fossils could be millions of years old because they believe the Earth to have been created only several thousand years ago. They point to the fact that some dinosaur bones have been found that still contain organic matter as evidence that these creatures were alive only several thousand years ago rather than 65 million years ago. They also point out that sometimes bones can fossilize very quickly if they are in the right place, so even though scientists predict that the process will usually take a very long time, this is not always the case.<ref>Answers in Genesis: [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i1/dinosaurbones.asp "Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?"]</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
<br />
*[[Dinosaur]] <br />
*[[Fossil fuels]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
[[Category:Fossils]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Missing_link&diff=487615
Missing link
2008-07-05T03:04:24Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''"Missing link"''' is the term used to indicate a hypothesized missing stage in the [[Theory of evolution|evolution]] of a species. The theory of gradualism suggests that each species has evolved from another in a step-by-step manner. However, punctuated equilibrium says that species go for long periods of time with little change and evolve rapidly when a change in the environment occurs. According to both approaches, however, fossils of these links will tend to be rare because of the difficulty and rarity of fossilization. Where such a transitional form is absent, it is referred to colloquially as a "missing link".<br />
<br />
Many evolutionists consider the challenge to find missing links to be a Catch-22. This is because each missing link that is found creates two more new missing links. Thus the challenge can never be satisfied. <br />
<br />
Often the term missing link refers to the long-sought fossil that would show a species intermediate between humans and apes. However, this is a misnomer as humans, are, in fact, a species of great ape. Many candidates have been proposed, such as [[Piltdown Man]] (since shown to be a fake) and [[Lucy]]. All serious scientists believe that Lucy (a fossil found in East Africa) was an ape-like human ancestor called an australopithecus three million years ago. A huge number of fossils have been found of various species of extinct hominids, and genetic studies have been used to accurately find the relationships between these, humans, and other great apes.<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*[[Transitional form]]<br />
<br />
*[[Transitional fossil]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:Paleontology]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Wolf&diff=487614
Wolf
2008-07-05T02:57:25Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:480px-Canis lupus laying.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]<br />
'''Wolves''' are canids who belong in the genus canis, along with coyotes. There are several subspecies of wolf, including domestic dogs, dingoes, and the mexican wolf. They usually hunt in packs. As a sign of submissiveness, a wolf will expose his neck to another wolf, who (instead of taking advantage of this vulnerability) will assume a dominant role toward him.<br />
<br />
Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests, in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. The Canadian government also made plans to exterminate wolves (see [[Farley Mowat]]). Thankfully, this effort was unsuccesful as wolves still survive in both countries. <br />
<br />
The last wolf in [[England]] was bagged on the fringes of Hounslow Heath, Middlesex, in 1756.<br />
<br />
The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the ancestor of the domestic [[dog]]. Since even in the evolutionary view this is considered to have occurred in a relatively short time frame (as little as 15,000 years ago) this is one area where the views of [[YEC|Young earth creationists]] and evolutionists generally overlap.<br />
<br />
Wolves mate for life. <br />
<br />
== Perceptions of Wolves ==<br />
<br />
Wolves are thought by many to be dangerous. However, the only cases of a wolf attacking a human are cases where the wolf was either infected with rabies or desperate. The truth is that wolves are very careful to stay away from humans.<br />
<br />
== Wolves in the Bible ==<br />
<br />
Wolves are mentioned several times in the [[Bible]], where they are typically used as examplars of savagery, which is ironic as wolves are now known to be highly intelligent and social animals with complex social hierarchies. When Jesus sends out the [[Apostles]], he says,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.'' [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 10:16 ([[KJV]])<br />
</blockquote><br />
and Isaiah prophesies the New Earth,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.'' [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] 65:25 (KJV)<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[[Never Cry Wolf]] - drama about a scientist who proved that wolves can live on rodents<br />
*[http://mfile.akamai.com/27176/wmv/nationalpark.download.akamai.com/27176/prod/yell/photosmultimedia/video/insideyell/wmvs/256/0042a_coyote_or_wolf_256.asx Coyote or Wolf?], Videos © 2008 Yellowstone Association <br />
<br />
[[Category:Canines]]<br />
[[Category:Biblical Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Dangerous Animals]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487613
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:51:31Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
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|kingdom= Animalia<br />
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|phylum=Chordata<br />
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|superclass=<br />
|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
|infraorder=<br />
|superfamily=<br />
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}}<br />
'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class [[Dinosauria]]. They were known for their large size, although some species weighed just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. Modern [[birds]] belong to this group.<br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-confirmed<ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html</ref> idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** Some people claim that the description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /> However, the thunder bird is described as a bird, which pterosaurs had little resemblance to.<br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread. Some have said that these descriptions fit those of dinosaurs; however, usually dinosaurs are described as large reptilian animals not particularly like a dinosaur.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* Some have said that the fact that non-avian dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times. Usually, though, they are ignoring that 65 million years separate the K-T boundary and the present.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] (whose doctorate is in chemistry, not biology) wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /> This ignores the fact that dinosaurs and humans are separated by more than 60 million years.<br />
<br />
Scienists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument. This, however, requires the claimant to reject a large body of nuclear physics that describes with incredible accuracy the decay of different isotopes.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487611
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:46:55Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Dinosaurs and birds */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
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|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
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'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class [[Dinosauria]]. They were known for their large size, although some species weighed just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. Modern [[birds]] belong to this group.<br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-confirmed<ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html</ref> idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** Some people claim that the description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /> However, the thunder bird is described as a bird, which pterosaurs had little resemblance to.<br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread. Some have said that these descriptions fit those of dinosaurs; however, usually dinosaurs are described as large reptilian animals not particularly like a dinosaur.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* Some have said that the fact that non-avian dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times. Usually, though, they are ignoring that 65 million years separate the K-T boundary and the present.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] (whose doctorate is in chemistry, not biology) wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487603
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:41:02Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
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|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
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'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class [[Dinosauria]]. They were known for being large, although some species weighed just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. Modern [[birds]] belong to this group.<br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-confirmed<ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html</ref> idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** Some people claim that the description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /> However, the thunder bird is described as a bird, which pterosaurs had little resemblance to.<br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread. Some have said that these descriptions fit those of dinosaurs; however, usually dinosaurs are described as large reptilian animals not particularly like a dinosaur.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* Some have said that the fact that non-avian dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times. Usually, though, they are ignoring that 65 million years separate the K-T boundary and the present.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487601
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:34:21Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Different Perspectives */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
|name=Dinosaur<br />
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|kingdom= Animalia<br />
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|phylum=Chordata<br />
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|superclass=<br />
|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
|infraorder=<br />
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}}<br />
'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class [[Dinosauria]]. They were known for being large, although some species weighed just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. Modern [[birds]] belong to this group.<br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-confirmed<ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html</ref> idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** The description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /><br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread and match descriptions of dinosaurs, suggesting that dragons were real creatures and were actually dinosaurs.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* That dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref><br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487599
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:29:46Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Saurischia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
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|phylum=Chordata<br />
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|superclass=<br />
|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
|infraorder=<br />
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}}<br />
'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class Dinosauria. They were known for being large, though some species weigh just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. Modern [[birds]] belong to this group.<br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-popular idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** The description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /><br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread and match descriptions of dinosaurs, suggesting that dragons were real creatures and were actually dinosaurs.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* That dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref><br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487598
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:28:51Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Ornithischia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
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|class=Sauropsida<br />
|subclass=Diapsida<br />
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha<br />
|superorder=Dinosauria<br />
|order=Ornithischia; Saurischia <br />
|suborder=<br />
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'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class Dinosauria. They were known for being large, though some species weigh just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. <br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Many species had beaks, which leads many people to refer to them as beaked dinosaurs. Despite their name, which means "bird-hipped," Ornithischians were not the ancestors of modern birds.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-popular idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** The description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /><br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread and match descriptions of dinosaurs, suggesting that dragons were real creatures and were actually dinosaurs.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* That dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref><br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&diff=487597
Dinosaur
2008-07-05T02:26:54Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy<br />
|name=Dinosaur<br />
|image=Fdt566e4.jpg<br />
|caption=<br />
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'''Dinosaurs''' ([[Greek]]: δεινός (IPA: /dɛinos/) and σαύρος (/sauɾos/); ''terrible lizard'') are animals belonging to the class Dinosauria. They were known for being large, though some species weigh just a few ounces. All dinosaurs, except for birds, are extinct. The word ''dinosaur'' was coined in 1841 by [[Richard Owen]]<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation''<br />
14(3):10–14, June 1992</ref>, from the Greek words for "terrible lizard", and reflected the creatures' large size and fearsome appearance to the early paleontologists.<br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
Dinosaurs are classified into two orders based upon differences in pelvic structure: ''Saurischia'' ("lizard-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed forward and down; and ''Ornithischia'' ("bird-hipped"), in which the ''pubis'' is pointed towards the rear.<br />
<br />
===''Saurischia''===<br />
Herbivorous species were almost all quadrupedal. They carried peg-like teeth which cut, rather than chewed, plant material; grinding of food was aided by gastroliths. Carnivorous species were exclusively bipedal. <br />
*Sauropoda<br />
::Species of this infraorder are characterized by long necks and tails, barrel-shaped bodies, and column-like legs. In three families (notably Diplodocidae, Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauroidea) there are species which are of extreme size, in excess of 125 feet in length and 100 tons, making them the largest animals to have walked the earth.<br />
:::''[[Apatosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Brachiosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ultrasaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Seismosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Argentinosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Diplodocus]]'' <br />
<br />
*Theropoda<br />
::Exclusively bipedal; forearms meant for grasping or holding. Fossil evidence for several species indicate pack hunting. <br />
:::''[[Coelophysis]]'' <br />
:::''[[Ornithomimus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Allosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Deinonychus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Velociraptor]]'' <br />
:::''[[Giganotosaurus]]''<br />
<br />
===''Ornithischia''===<br />
Species of this group were all herbivorous; most were quadrupedal. Front teeth were lacking, while a predentary bone was present in the front of the lower jaw. Several species (mainly within ''Ceratopsia'') had a distinctive parrot-like beak.<br />
*Ceratopsia<br />
::Species of this infraorder carried one or more horns on their heads, as well as a shield-like frill to protect the neck.<br />
:::''[[Triceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Torosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Protoceratops]]'' <br />
:::''[[Styracosaurus]]'' <br />
*Stegosauria<br />
::Large dinosaurs with a row of bony plates on top of their backs, and several spikes used as a defensive weapon at the end of their tails.<br />
:::''[[Stegosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Huayangosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Kentrosaurus]]''<br />
*Ankylosauria<br />
::Heavily-armored dinosaurs, some with a row of spikes along each side, and possessing a bony tail club.<br />
:::''[[Ankylosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Euoplocephalus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Edmontonia]]'' <br />
*Ornithopods<br />
::Large, herd-dwelling dinosaurs that could run bipedaly. Several species had a "boss" of bone on their heads (Pachycephalosaurs) which may have been used for head-butting similar to bighorn sheep; others a crest of bone (hadrosaurs) which may have been sound resonators. <br />
:::''[[Camptosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Iguanodon]]''<br />
:::''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' <br />
:::''[[Parasaurolophus]]''<br />
:::''[[Edmontosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Bactrosaurus]]''<br />
:::''[[Maiasaura]]''<br />
<br />
==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==<br />
[[Image:Osborn.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]<br />
In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.<br />
<br />
Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in [[Theory of evolution|evolution]], which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,<br />
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref><br />
<br />
[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.<br />
<br />
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur Species==<br />
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref><br />
<br />
== Different Perspectives == <br />
<br />
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. Creationists also reject the now-popular idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds. <br />
<br />
===Creationary Perspective===<br />
[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''The [[Great Flood|Flood]]'', by [[Michaelangelo]], detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]<br />
[[Young earth creationists]] believe, from the biblical account, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.<br />
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.<br />
<br />
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref> <br />
<br />
They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.<br />
<br />
Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the [[behemoth]] in [[Job]] and the [[leviathan]] in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".<br />
<br />
==== Extinction ====<br />
<br />
Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref><br />
<br />
Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaur-like creatures in history and modern sightings====<br />
<br />
Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.<br />
[[Image:AZ_RockArtDino1a.jpg|right|150|thumb|right|Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting]]<br />
* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.<br />
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-mbembe''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from the [[University of Chicago]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" /><br />
** Dinosaur-like creatures have been seen by several people in two different parts of [[Papua New Guinea]] since 1990.<ref>Anon., [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/381 A living dinosaur?], ''Creation'' 23(1):56, December 2000.<br />Irwin, Brian, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5847 Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?] 1st July, 2008 (Creation Ministries International).</ref><br />
* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.<br />
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.<br />
** The [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]], a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref><br />
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref><br />
* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.<br />
** The description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" /><br />
<br />
* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread and match descriptions of dinosaurs, suggesting that dragons were real creatures and were actually dinosaurs.<br />
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" /><br />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.<br />
[[Image:Palestrina1.jpg|right|thumb|A portion of the artwork the [[Nile Mosaic of Palestrina]]]] <br />
* That dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Cretaceous]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times.<br />
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.<br />
<br />
* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref><br />
<br />
<!-- The Coelacanth are from a group that had previously been thought to have rudimentary limbs and so be the ancestor of land creatures, but this idea was dropped when living Coelacanths were discovered.<ref>[http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/coelacanth.html Coelacanth: the world’s oldest fish?]</ref> Biologists see this as merely a minor adjustment to the story of evolution. --><br />
<br />
==== Dinosaurs and birds ====<br />
Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.<br />
<br />
In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:<br />
{{cquote|“The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also cite the evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]] [[Ernst Mayr]]<ref>Matthews, Michael, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp 99 and still fighting God], 8th December, 2003 (Answers in Genesis).</ref> who stated the following:<br />
{{cquote|“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:<br />
{{cquote|Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>}}<br />
<br />
Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref><br />
<br />
===Evolutionary/Old Earth Perspective===<br />
<br />
The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.<br />
This precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. <br />
<br />
====Extinction====<br />
<br />
According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> A layer of rock containing high concentrations<!-- "High", or just "higher than normal"? --> of [[Iridium]], a metal that is extremely rare on earth but common in asteroids, is said to be due to the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref>The evidence of a large impact crater can be found in rocks of the [[Yucatán]] Peninsula of the supposed age of this layer.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref> <ref>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html</ref><br />
Creationists assert that the assumptions underpinning the methods used by modern geologists are incorrect, and even though the validity of a large impact is accepted, this does not consitute proof that the impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs&mdash;although the abundance of dinosaur fossils in rocks found higher in the rock layers than the impact is drastically less than their abundance in rocks lower down.{{fact}}<br />
<br />
====An Explosion of new species ====<br />
<br />
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref><br />
<br />
====Dinosaurs and Birds====<br />
<br />
As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref><br />
<br />
==Dinosaur fossils and Human Fossils and Geological Strata ==<br />
It is sometimes asserted that if human bones aren’t found with dinosaur bones, then dinosaurs and man didn’t live together.<ref name="HaD">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/humans-and-dinosaurs If humans and dinosaurs lived together, why don’t we find human fossils with dinosaur fossils?] ''Answers'' 1(1):52, May 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH710.html Claim CH710] (The TalkOrigins Archive)</ref><br />
Creation scientists point out that this is a false assumption; if human bones aren’t found buried with dinosaur bones, it simply means they weren't buried together.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
Evolutionists point out that [[radiometric dating]] of rocks containing dinosaur bones shows them to have formed between 65 million years ago and 250 million years ago, whereas rocks with human bones in them are dated as being much newer (less than 5 million years old). Young Earth Creationists believe that these methods of dating rocks provide false results, and therefore reject this argument.<br />
<br />
Creationists note that the fossil record contains mainly marine organisms and that a small sliver of the fossil record contains vertebrates and thus assert that we shouldn't expect to find many human fossils at all.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
Moreover, as the biblical [[Great Flood|Flood]] would be a marine catastrophe, it would be expected that marine fossils would dominate the fossil record. This is in fact what we find.<ref name="NAB">Hodge, Bodie, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-267.pdf Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?] (chapter 13 of the New Answers Book), 2006.</ref><br />
<br />
Approximately 70% of the Earth is covered in salt water which would also explain the dominance of marine fossils. In addition, creation scientists assert there may have been a small pre-flood human population and that massive amounts of flood sediment are why we haven’t found human fossils in pre-biblical flood sediments.<ref name="NAB" /><br />
Also, creation scientists point out that we don't find human bones buried with [[coelacanth]]s yet humans and coelacanths coexist today.<ref name="HaD" /><br />
<br />
==References== <br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Crocodile&diff=487595
Crocodile
2008-07-05T02:22:52Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:Americancrocodile.jpg|thumb|right|An American crocodile.]]<br />
<br />
'''Crocodiles''' and their close relations [[alligator]]s, [[caiman]]s and [[gavial]]s, are a family of predatory, aquatic [[reptile]]s. Crocodiles are found throughout the warm parts of the world - in sub-Saharan Africa, India and South-East Asia, Indonesia and Australia, and throughout tropical America. Until recently Nile crocodiles were also found throughout North Africa, and in Palestine <ref>http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Palestine#Fauna</ref>. The largest Nile and Estuarine crocodiles may grow to 25 or even 30 feet in length, but this is not normal. Crocodiles emerged in the late triassic period from early archosauromorphs, at the same time as dinosaurs and true mammals. The have changed relatively little since then.<br />
<br />
=== Species of crocodile ===<br />
<br />
*Nile crocodile (Africa)<br />
*American crocodile ([[Caribbean Sea]], including the southern [[United States]])<br />
*Morelet's crocodile (Central America)<br />
*Cuban crocodile (Cuba)<br />
*Mugger crocodile (India)<br />
*Estuarine crocodile (Australia and South-East Asia)<br />
*Johnstone's crocodile (Australia)<br />
*Siamese crocodile (South-East Asia)<br />
*Philippine crocodile (Philippines)<br />
and several others.<br />
<br />
== Habits ==<br />
<br />
Crocodiles generally capture their prey, often large [[mammal]]s such as [[antelope]]s, by drifting close to them, motionless, pretending to be a floating log, then lunging and dragging their victim underwater, where it is drowned, then left to rot and soften up for later consumption.<br />
<br />
Crocodiles typically lay their eggs in a mound of rotting vegetation; the mother will guard the nest from marauding [[iguana]]s and other egg-thieves, and solicitously adjust the depth to which the eggs are buried. When the baby crocodiles hatch, she will carry them to the water in her mouth.<br />
<br />
Many crocodiles [[aestivation|aestivate]] during summer.<br />
<br />
== Uses of crocodiles ==<br />
<br />
Crocodiles are commercially farmed in many places, for their leather, which is made into expensive shoes and handbags, and recently, in Australia, for their meat, supposed to taste like chicken. Unlike [[alligator]]s, they are not used for wrestling.<br />
<br />
== Man-eating crocodiles ==<br />
<br />
Most crocodiles are good-natured unless provoked, but three species, the Nile crocodile of Africa, the Mugger crocodile of India (for whom [[mugging|muggers]] are named) and the Estuarine crocodile of Australia and South-East Asia, have a long history of attacking humans.<br />
<br />
== Crocodiles in the Bible ==<br />
<br />
Some Biblical scholars have suggested that [[Leviathan]] may have been a crocodile, though others dispute this. [http://www.creationists.org/patrickyoung/article01.html]<br />
<br />
== Crocodile trivia ==<br />
<br />
*They are said to shed ''Crocodile tears'', an insincere show of grief, in order to lure their victims into range.<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Reptiles]]<br />
[[Category:Dangerous Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Livestock]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Wolf&diff=487594
Wolf
2008-07-05T02:19:40Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:480px-Canis lupus laying.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]<br />
'''Wolves''' are canids who belong in the genus canis, along with coyotes. There are several subspecies of wolf, including domestic dogs, dingoes, and the mexican wolf. They usually hunt in packs. As a sign of submissiveness, a wolf will expose his neck to another wolf, who (instead of taking advantage of this vulnerability) will assume a dominant role toward him.<br />
<br />
Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests, in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. The Canadian government also made plans to exterminate wolves (see [[Farley Mowat]]). Thankfully, this effort was unsuccesful as wolves still survive in both countries. <br />
<br />
The last wolf in [[England]] was bagged on the fringes of Hounslow Heath, Middlesex, in 1756.<br />
<br />
The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the ancestor of the domestic [[dog]]. Since even in the evolutionary view this is considered to have occurred in a relatively short time frame (as little as 15,000 years ago) this is one area where the views of [[YEC|Young earth creationists]] and evolutionists generally overlap.<br />
<br />
Wolves mate for life. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Wolves in the Bible ==<br />
<br />
Wolves are mentioned several times in the [[Bible]], where they are typically used as examplars of savagery, which is ironic as wolves are now known to be highly intelligent and social animals with complex social hierarchies. When Jesus sends out the [[Apostles]], he says,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.'' [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 10:16 ([[KJV]])<br />
</blockquote><br />
and Isaiah prophesies the New Earth,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.'' [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] 65:25 (KJV)<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[[Never Cry Wolf]] - drama about a scientist who proved that wolves can live on rodents<br />
*[http://mfile.akamai.com/27176/wmv/nationalpark.download.akamai.com/27176/prod/yell/photosmultimedia/video/insideyell/wmvs/256/0042a_coyote_or_wolf_256.asx Coyote or Wolf?], Videos © 2008 Yellowstone Association <br />
<br />
[[Category:Canines]]<br />
[[Category:Biblical Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Dangerous Animals]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dog&diff=487592
Dog
2008-07-05T02:16:23Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy|image = akitadog.jpg|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Chordata|subphylum = Vertebrata|class = Mammalia|order = Carnivora|suborder = Caniformia |family = Canidae|genus = Canis|species = lupus|sub = C. l. familiaris (Domesticated dog)}}<br />
<br />
'''Dogs''' are one of the most well-known domesticated species, with archaeological and historical records showing that they have lived in a mutually beneficial relationship with humans for tens of thousands of years.<br />
<br />
Male dogs are referred to as a ''dog'', while a female is called a ''bitch''. Offspring are called ''pups'' (or ''puppies'') until around a year old. The collective noun for a group of offspring is ''litter''. <br />
<br />
Research has shown that it is probable that the first settlers respectively of the [[America]]s and [[Australia]] brought dogs of some sort with them. <br />
<br />
== Scientific details ==<br />
<br />
Dogs (scientific name ''Canis lupus familiaris'') are a subspecies of [[wolf|wolves]], divided into a multitude of different breeds all in principle capable of interbreeding (though in some cases, physical relations between representatives of two breeds are unlikely or problematic - Chihuahuas and Great Danes, for example).<br />
<br />
Fossils of canine skulls smaller than those of wolves have been found with human artefacts, with dates based on evolutionary assumptions estimated to betwen 130,000 and 190,000 years ago.<ref name="DK">Kingsley, Danny, [http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s513072.htm Humans live a dog's life]</ref> whilst DNA evidence has been used to suggest that dogs diverged from wolves between 100,000 and 135,000 years ago.<ref name="DK" /><br />
<ref>Vila, Carles; Carles Vila, Peter Savolainen, Jesus E. Maldonado, Isabel R. Amorim, John E. Rice, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Keith A. Crandall, Joakim Lundeberg, Wayne, Robert F. (1997-01-30; accepted 1997-04-14). [http://www.mnh.si.edu/GeneticsLab/StaffPage/MaldonadoJ/PublicationsCV/Science_Dog_Paper.pdf Multiple and ancient origins of the domestic dog], ''Science'' 276: 1687-1689. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.</ref><br />
Archaeology has placed the earliest known domestication at potentially 12,000 BC-10,000 BC and with certainty at 7,000 BC. <ref>Scott, John Paul (1965), Dog behavior: The genetic basis, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-74338-1.</ref><br />
<br />
Dogs are also viewed as being the single most genetically diverse species on Earth - largely thanks to human-imposed selective breeding, the vast array of dog breeds surpasses any other creature on the planet. Due to selective breeding by man, however, many breeds of dog have significant [[gene|genetic]] disorders. These include hip dysplasia (common with German Shepherds), and respiratory problems caused by shortening of the face, as seen with Boxer dogs and the Bulldog's lip.<br />
<br />
== Bites ==<br />
[[Image:Dog - Jay Paul - The New York Times.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Dog in a kennel with the animal said to be on hold due to court case]]<br />
Despite being colloquially known as "man's best friend", every 40 seconds, someone in the [[United States of America|United States]] seeks medical help for a dog bite, with approximately 800,000 such bites per year requiring medical attention.<ref>http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/statistics.html</ref><br />
Due to the high cost of dog bite liability claims, some [[insurance]] companies have blacklisted certain breeds and refuse to provide homeowners insurance to those who own these dog breeds. <ref>http://www.dogbitelegalcenter.com/resources/common-dogs.html</ref><br />
<br />
== Uses ==<br />
<br />
Dogs are used for many purposes:<br />
<br />
*Guarding property and livestock.<br />
*Herding [[sheep]] and [[cow|cattle]].<br />
*Tracking by scent, carrying messages, and mountain rescue.<br />
*Pursuing, flushing and retrieving game, and killing [[vermin]].<br />
*Providing assistance to blind and deaf people.<br />
*Military and police duties including guarding, tracking and attacking. In [[World War II]], the [[Soviet Union]] attempted to train dogs to place explosive charges under German [[tank]]s.<br />
*To detect illegal drugs (German Shepherds are commonly trained to do so by police)<br />
*As a beast of burden, or for drawing sledges and dogcarts.<br />
* As a performing animal. [[Circus]] dogs have been trained to dance, ride bicycles and walk the tightrope. <br />
* For fighting, now illegal in most places, e.g. everywhere in USA.<br />
*As food. Dog is still considered a delicacy in [[China]], [[Korea]] and parts of [[Africa]] today.<br />
<br />
Today most dogs in western countries are kept for [[pet|companionship]] only. Stray and feral dogs cause many problems, spreading diseases such as [[rabies]], and attacking people and [[livestock]].<br />
<br />
Dogs are also the most frequently used animal in the immoral act of [[bestiality]].<br />
<br />
== Further reading ==<br />
* [http://www.mastiffexperts.com Mastiff Experts]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<div class="references-small"><div class="references-2column"><references /></div></div><br />
<br />
[[Category:Canines]]<br />
[[Category:Biblical Animals]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Wolf&diff=487591
Wolf
2008-07-05T02:15:31Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Wolves in the Bible */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:480px-Canis lupus laying.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]<br />
'''Wolves''' are dog-like animals. They usually hunt in packs. As a sign of submissiveness, a wolf will expose his neck to another wolf, who (instead of taking advantage of this vulnerability) will assume a dominant role toward him.<br />
<br />
Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests, in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. The Canadian government also made plans to exterminate wolves (see [[Farley Mowat]]). Thankfully, this effort was unsuccesful as wolves still survive in both countries. <br />
<br />
The last wolf in [[England]] was bagged on the fringes of Hounslow Heath, Middlesex, in 1756.<br />
<br />
The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the ancestor of the domestic [[dog]]. Since even in the evolutionary view this is considered to have occurred in a relatively short time frame (as little as 15,000 years ago) this is one area where the views of [[YEC|Young earth creationists]] and evolutionists generally overlap.<br />
<br />
Wolves mate for life. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Wolves in the Bible ==<br />
<br />
Wolves are mentioned several times in the [[Bible]], where they are typically used as examplars of savagery, which is ironic as wolves are now known to be highly intelligent and social animals with complex social hierarchies. When Jesus sends out the [[Apostles]], he says,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.'' [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 10:16 ([[KJV]])<br />
</blockquote><br />
and Isaiah prophesies the New Earth,<br />
<blockquote><br />
''The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.'' [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] 65:25 (KJV)<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[[Never Cry Wolf]] - drama about a scientist who proved that wolves can live on rodents<br />
*[http://mfile.akamai.com/27176/wmv/nationalpark.download.akamai.com/27176/prod/yell/photosmultimedia/video/insideyell/wmvs/256/0042a_coyote_or_wolf_256.asx Coyote or Wolf?], Videos © 2008 Yellowstone Association <br />
<br />
[[Category:Canines]]<br />
[[Category:Biblical Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Dangerous Animals]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dog&diff=487588
Dog
2008-07-05T02:11:53Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: /* Scientific details */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Taxonomy|image = akitadog.jpg|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Chordata|subphylum = Vertebrata|class = Mammalia|order = Carnivora|suborder = Caniformia |family = Canidae|genus = Canis|species = lupus|sub = C. l. familiaris (Domesticated dog)}}<br />
<br />
'''Dogs''' are one of the most well-known domesticated species, with archaeological and historical records showing that they have lived in a mutually beneficial relationship with humans for thousands of years.<br />
<br />
Male dogs are referred to as a ''dog'', while a female is called a ''bitch''. Offspring are called ''pups'' (or ''puppies'') until around a year old. The collective noun for a group of offspring is ''litter''. <br />
<br />
Research has shown that it is probable that the first settlers respectively of the [[America]]s and [[Australia]] brought dogs of some sort with them. <br />
<br />
== Scientific details ==<br />
<br />
Dogs (scientific name ''Canis lupus familiaris'') are a subspecies of [[wolf|wolves]], divided into a multitude of different breeds all in principle capable of interbreeding (though in some cases, physical relations between representatives of two breeds are unlikely or problematic - Chihuahuas and Great Danes, for example).<br />
<br />
Fossils of canine skulls smaller than those of wolves have been found with human artefacts, with dates based on evolutionary assumptions estimated to betwen 130,000 and 190,000 years ago.<ref name="DK">Kingsley, Danny, [http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s513072.htm Humans live a dog's life]</ref> whilst DNA evidence has been used to suggest that dogs diverged from wolves between 100,000 and 135,000 years ago.<ref name="DK" /><br />
<ref>Vila, Carles; Carles Vila, Peter Savolainen, Jesus E. Maldonado, Isabel R. Amorim, John E. Rice, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Keith A. Crandall, Joakim Lundeberg, Wayne, Robert F. (1997-01-30; accepted 1997-04-14). [http://www.mnh.si.edu/GeneticsLab/StaffPage/MaldonadoJ/PublicationsCV/Science_Dog_Paper.pdf Multiple and ancient origins of the domestic dog], ''Science'' 276: 1687-1689. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.</ref><br />
Archaeology has placed the earliest known domestication at potentially 12,000 BC-10,000 BC and with certainty at 7,000 BC. <ref>Scott, John Paul (1965), Dog behavior: The genetic basis, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-74338-1.</ref><br />
<br />
Dogs are also viewed as being the single most genetically diverse species on Earth - largely thanks to human-imposed selective breeding, the vast array of dog breeds surpasses any other creature on the planet. Due to selective breeding by man, however, many breeds of dog have significant [[gene|genetic]] disorders. These include hip dysplasia (common with German Shepherds), and respiratory problems caused by shortening of the face, as seen with Boxer dogs and the Bulldog's lip.<br />
<br />
== Bites ==<br />
[[Image:Dog - Jay Paul - The New York Times.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Dog in a kennel with the animal said to be on hold due to court case]]<br />
Despite being colloquially known as "man's best friend", every 40 seconds, someone in the [[United States of America|United States]] seeks medical help for a dog bite, with approximately 800,000 such bites per year requiring medical attention.<ref>http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/statistics.html</ref><br />
Due to the high cost of dog bite liability claims, some [[insurance]] companies have blacklisted certain breeds and refuse to provide homeowners insurance to those who own these dog breeds. <ref>http://www.dogbitelegalcenter.com/resources/common-dogs.html</ref><br />
<br />
== Uses ==<br />
<br />
Dogs are used for many purposes:<br />
<br />
*Guarding property and livestock.<br />
*Herding [[sheep]] and [[cow|cattle]].<br />
*Tracking by scent, carrying messages, and mountain rescue.<br />
*Pursuing, flushing and retrieving game, and killing [[vermin]].<br />
*Providing assistance to blind and deaf people.<br />
*Military and police duties including guarding, tracking and attacking. In [[World War II]], the [[Soviet Union]] attempted to train dogs to place explosive charges under German [[tank]]s.<br />
*To detect illegal drugs (German Shepherds are commonly trained to do so by police)<br />
*As a beast of burden, or for drawing sledges and dogcarts.<br />
* As a performing animal. [[Circus]] dogs have been trained to dance, ride bicycles and walk the tightrope. <br />
* For fighting, now illegal in most places, e.g. everywhere in USA.<br />
*As food. Dog is still considered a delicacy in [[China]], [[Korea]] and parts of [[Africa]] today.<br />
<br />
Today most dogs in western countries are kept for [[pet|companionship]] only. Stray and feral dogs cause many problems, spreading diseases such as [[rabies]], and attacking people and [[livestock]].<br />
<br />
Dogs are also the most frequently used animal in the immoral act of [[bestiality]].<br />
<br />
== Further reading ==<br />
* [http://www.mastiffexperts.com Mastiff Experts]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<div class="references-small"><div class="references-2column"><references /></div></div><br />
<br />
[[Category:Canines]]<br />
[[Category:Biblical Animals]]</div>
Tomgkpaine
https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Hell&diff=487587
Hell
2008-07-05T02:05:04Z
<p>Tomgkpaine: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hell.jpg|right|300px|thumb|''Hell'', painted by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], part of ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]''.]]<br />
In the English translation of the [[Bible]]'s [[Old Testament]], the word '''hell''' normally corresponds to the [[Hebrew]] ''sheol'', which was simply the place of the dead. But in the [[Greek]] [[New Testament]] the word used is either ''Gehenna'' (the garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where fires were kept eternally burning to consume the refuse and keep down the stench) or ''Hades'', the [[Greek]]s' dark, gloomy underworld. The modern English word appears to derive most directly from "Holle" or "Hela" or "Hel", goddess of the dead in Germanic/[[Norse mythology]]. When the [[Anglo-Saxons]] later embraced [[Christianity]], the existing word in the language was reused in the new Christian concepts.<br />
<br />
To Christians, hell is a place where the souls of the wicked are punished eternally for all the [[sins]] they perpetrated during their lifetime on Earth. Since all have sinned (Rom 3:23) hell can not be avoided on one's own merits, but through the love gift of [[Jesus]] one can know, love, and serve [[God]] and share eternity with Him in [[heaven]].<br />
<br />
The Christian and [[Muslim]] religious traditions often emphasize the ''Gehenna'' aspect: Hell is extremely hot and filled with fire and [[brimstone]]. Opinion varies on the question of whether, while hell itself is eternal, experience of it purges away the sins of sufferers to the point of eventual redemption. See [[purgatory]]. A large number, perhaps close to a majority, of progressive Christians have dealt away with the concept of hell completely, as eternal and infinite punishment for necessarily finite sins does not fit in with the concept of a merciful God. A minority of Christians do not believe in an eternal hell as punishment, believing instead that the souls of the wicked are annihilated. This view is referred to as [[Annihilationism]]. There is also a question of whether hell has a literal burning fire, or whether it is separation from God and therefore has the same torment as if there was a burning fire. This view has been supported by writers such as [[J.P. Moreland]].<br />
<br />
Although hell is a focus and a concern in Christian theology, the Bible has an even greater focus. In the [[King James Version]] the word hell is mentioned 54 times, but [[heaven]] is mentioned 551 times.<br />
<br />
* [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 13:41-42 - ''The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.'''<br />
<br />
* Matthew 25:41 - ''Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.''<br />
<br />
* Matthew 25:46 - ''And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.''<br />
<br />
* [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 9:43 - ''And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.''<br />
<br />
* 2 Thes 1:7-8 - ''And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.''<br />
<br />
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 20:10 - ''And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.''<br />
<br />
* Revelation 20:14-15 - ''And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.''<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Image:Devilbar trans.gif|center]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]</div>
Tomgkpaine