Difference between revisions of "Dinosaur"
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They also use [[archeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times. | They also use [[archeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times. | ||
| − | 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 | + | 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 creationist twits point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar". It may have been a giraffe, with the long neck downwards to drink, and mistaken as a tail from a long distance. |
==== Extinction ==== | ==== Extinction ==== | ||
| − | + | There are many theories as to why non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65 mya. They range from the absurd, such as dying of boredom or drowning in dung, to more sensible ones such as volcanic activity. The most famous theory is that a comet threw dust into the air, blocking the sun and killing first the plants, then plant-eaters, then meat-eaters. This is supported by large amounts of iridium at the time, rare on earth but common on asteroids and comets. There is also a large crater off the coast of The Yucatan Penninsula, dated to be 65 mya. | |
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==== Dinosaurs and birds ==== | ==== Dinosaurs and birds ==== | ||
| − | + | Non-avian dinosaurs are extinct. However, birds evolved from dinosaurs, and are now considered to be dinosaurs. While creationist freaks claim that there are no transitional forms, they obviously have never heard of Archaeopteryx. | |
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===Evolutionary Perspective=== | ===Evolutionary Perspective=== | ||
| − | The view of evolutionists and others who accept the | + | The view of evolutionists and others who accept the logical 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. | 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. | ||
Of course this precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. | Of course this precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing. | ||
Revision as of 21:28, April 8, 2007
Dinosaurs were large, reptilian creatures which are now believed to be extinct. The word dinosaur was coined in 1841 by Richard Owen[1], from the Greek word δεινόςσαύρα, meaning "terrible lizard."
Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology
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.
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 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,
- 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.[2]
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.
In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded (endotherms) and fast-moving.[3]
Dinosaur Species
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 genus that the dinosaurs encompassed.[4]
Different Perspectives
Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth.
Christians are often caricatured as believing that God planted the fossils to test their faith, and it's true that some Christians believe that dinosaurs never existed. However, no informed creationists believes this. All viewpoints accept that dinosaurs existed. Young-Earth creationists, however, 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.
Creationary Perspective
Young Earth Creationists believe, based primarily on Biblical sources, that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the creation week[5] approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans. As such, they reject the Theory of Evolution and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.
They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the Garden of Eden) eating only plants[6]; that pairs of each dinosaur kind were taken onto Noah's Ark during the Great Flood and were preserved from drowning[7]; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood[8]; and that some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark still roam the earth today.[9]
They also use archeological, fossil, and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.
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,[10] [11], although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationist twits point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar". It may have been a giraffe, with the long neck downwards to drink, and mistaken as a tail from a long distance.
Extinction
There are many theories as to why non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65 mya. They range from the absurd, such as dying of boredom or drowning in dung, to more sensible ones such as volcanic activity. The most famous theory is that a comet threw dust into the air, blocking the sun and killing first the plants, then plant-eaters, then meat-eaters. This is supported by large amounts of iridium at the time, rare on earth but common on asteroids and comets. There is also a large crater off the coast of The Yucatan Penninsula, dated to be 65 mya.
Dinosaurs and birds
Non-avian dinosaurs are extinct. However, birds evolved from dinosaurs, and are now considered to be dinosaurs. While creationist freaks claim that there are no transitional forms, they obviously have never heard of Archaeopteryx.
Evolutionary Perspective
The view of evolutionists and others who accept the logical 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. Of course this precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing.
Extinction
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.[12] According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.[13] The dust from this impact is supposedly still visible as a line of metal of extraterrestrial origin and is often visible in sediment worldwide, occurring as a result of the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.[14] The crater is also visible.[15]
An Explosion of new species
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.[16]
Dinosaurs and Birds
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.[17]
References
- ↑ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends, Answers in Genesis
- ↑ Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), Variation and Selection, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906
- ↑ Benton, Michael J. (2000), Vertebrate Paleontology p. 217
- ↑ Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say, National Geographic
- ↑ Genesis 1:25
- ↑ Genesis 1:29-30
- ↑ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?, Creation Ministries International
- ↑ Carl Wieland, Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?, Creation, vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54
- ↑ Robert Doolan, Are dinosaurs alive today?, Creation, vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.
- ↑ Allan K. Steel, Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?, Journal of Creation vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.
- ↑ [1], Answers in Creation
- ↑ 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 [2]
- ↑ Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything", National Geographic
- ↑ Ibid
- ↑ "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time, National Geographic
- ↑ Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [3]
- ↑ New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers, National Geographic