Dinosaur

The word dinosaur was coined in 1841 by Richard Owen, from the Latin for "terrible lizard" (fututor). Dinosaurs were a group of large reptiles that previously lived in abundance on Earth.

The majority opinion among mainstream scientists is that dinosaurs lived from 230 million until 65 million years ago and that they are all currently extinct (however birds are considered by scientists to be descended from early therapod dinosaurs). They claim the fossil evidence supports this theory. Many Creationists dispute this, claiming that the dating methods used to judge the age of the fossils are not always precise and that there are gaps within the fossil record itself. Furthermore, because the Earth was created 6000 years ago (according to James Ussher) it would be impossible for the fossils to be that old. Ken Ham states the very reasonable theory that Dinosaurs were killed during the great flood, buried in mud and then fossilized.

Dinosaurs through Science

What follow are the perspectives on dinosaurs accepted by the vast majority of the scientific community, through use of the scientific method, and taught at the United States' major research universities. Following any of the references in this section will lead to scientific treatment of the issue discussed.

Dinosaur Speciation

Dinosaur species were immensely varied, from herbivores to 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.

Extinction

File:800px-KT boundary 054.jpg

Badlands near Drumheller, Alberta where erosion has exposed the KT boundary.

Close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, and the beginning of what we call the Tertiary period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the K-T Event. This event 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 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, based on strong geological evidence, that the K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably. The dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm. Evidence of the dust that caused this long winter is still visible, though, as a line of metal of extraterrestrial origin 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. The crater is also visible.

Cambrian Life Explosion

The 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. What we now know as 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.

Dinosaurs and Birds

As a number of feathered dinosaur fossils have been discovered, and the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs, scientists contend that modern birds are a descendant of dinosaurs. This is cited as an example of macroevolution.

Dinosaurs and Creation

What follow are religious perspectives on dinosaurs, offered by organizations such as "Answers in Genesis," or "Creation on the Web." Following any of the links associated with this section will lead to a treatment of the issue in line with Biblical literalism.

Humans and Dinosaurs Coexisting

Some claim there are a number of lines of evidence that point to dinosaurs and man coexisting. For example, explorers have reported seeing a live dinosaur. A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today. An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which is claimed to portray dinosaurs and man coexisting.. 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.

An alternate theory for the inclusion of dinosaurs within many cultures is the existence of fossils. Ancient people, unaware that the ancient fossils uncovered by erosion were of extinct animals, attributed the bones to living, magical creatures. This would explain the importance of dragons in Chinese culture - there are a large number of dinosaur and dragon fossils to be found in China.

Dinosaurs and Creationism

Some Christians reject the Theory of Evolution and the current science community consensus of the age of the earth. Of those Christians who reject evolution, the Young Earth Creationists believe, based primarily on Biblical sources, but also drawing on archeological and fossil evidence, that dinosaurs were created on the 6th day of the Creation Week as a final addendum to the wonders God created, approximately 6,000 years ago; that they lived in the Garden of Eden in harmony with other animals, eating only plants; that pairs of various dinosaurs were taken onto Noah's Ark during the Great Flood and were preserved from drowning; that fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood; and that some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark still roam the earth today, even though none of the six billion people currently residing on the planet have seen them. It should be noted that none of these claims have been backed by any serious scientific research, and rely almost wholly either on the infallibility of the Bible, or on human speculations based to a greater or lesser degree upon the Biblical account.

Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the Bible obviously 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, , although some reject this view, saying that behemoth was a hippopotamus and leviathan was a crocodile. There is a problem with this view, however, such as the fact that a hippo doesn't have a "tail like a cedar" and a crocodile does not accurately match the description of leviathan.