Piltdown Superman

Keep in mind that the word fossil  is often used loosely in paleontology, not always permineralized (turned to stone). Soft tissues and the like have been found for many years, and fossil hunter Mary Anning did paintings with fossilized octopus ink in 1865 . Squid ink was allegedly 165 million years old  and also used for artwork. Believers in an ancient earth were forced to notice soft tissues when Mary Schweitzer announced soft, pliable dinosaur blood vessels in 2004. This could not be ignored. Claiming contamination did not work, so to give Darwin the millions of years he needs his wonders to perform, weird excuses ensued. Dinosaur, RGBStock / Kevin Tuck , modified at Photo Funny In their worldview, secular scientists presuppose that Earth is ancient and that life evolved from minerals. They are continually thwarted by the facts, and have to force what is observed into their presuppositions. It would be in their best interests to question deep time and question evolution, since the

Before the predominance of profanity, people would sternly warn someone not to give them any lip. Basically it meant not to be disrespectful, but could also mean to stop talking, or other things. Or get mouthy. Tyrannosaurus rex has been portrayed as giving lip. It may be literal. Like so many other things in paleontology, further studies result in rethinking how critters looked and sometimes how they acted. After examining bones and teeth, some paleontologists think that T. rex may have had lips. T. rex with lips image generated with AI at Bing I told the AI art generator to give it human lips because reasons and stuff. Lizard lips to go with lizard hips... Interesting that it took decades for people to catch on to the idea of dinosaurs having lips, since lips are useful. It is an interesting development in paleontology, but there's no way of knowing if the idea is right — unless an exceptionally well-preserved fossil or mummified body was found. That may not be such a surprise th

My friend Hammond Suisse was talking to some of the hands from the Darwin Ranch in town, and there were a mite glum because of recent reports on fish lizards (ichthyosaurs). They knew that the narrative about evolving and re-evolving did not hold water. Now this. Despite claims of fundamentalist evolutionists, there are fossils out of sequence. Since there is no reasonable evidence for the evolution of those extinct marine lizards, one owlhoot came up with the idea that they evolved in bursts . Now there is an ichthyosaur fossil in the wrong place. Ichthyosaur, Copyright Expired Science Illustrations /  Heinrich Harder , 1916 Way up yonder, north of Norway, is an island called Spitsbergen. The source of the consternation was found there. No signs of evolution, this monster (some of these wet dinosaur cousins were huge ) was fully formed and in rocks that are dated by secularists as 250 million years old. That is too old for the evolutionary scenario, but right in keeping with the fact

Scelidosaurus was a weird thing, plain and simple. It went on all fours but the front legs were shorter than those in the back. Mayhaps its contemporaries would see it when it was standing still and think it was crouched and ready to spring, but no, it was just built that way. It is known for being mostly complete and several have been found in the British Isles — except for that one that is found way over in Arizona. The first one was found in 1858. Scelidosaurus harrisonii, Wikimedia Commons / 5of7 ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) That premier specimen was sent to Richard Owen (who gave the world the word dinosaur .) He figured it was a land creature, but was washed out to sea and quickly buried. Paleontologists are coming around to that way of thinking, especially because of such excellent fossil preservation They will not accept the Genesis Flood as the most rational explanation. If someone has a plan that consistently fails, does it make sense to continue using it? Not hardly! Secular scientist

Rusty Swingset is working with his masters in the secular science industry to award a prize. It would be a visit to Deception Pass and the Darwin Ranch itself. (This child thinks that Dr. P. Martin Sander wants to win it and do horseback riding, mayhaps see the Winkie Guards and their supervisor, Lisa Myworries.) He did a tremendous favor to science itself by writing about how sauropod dinosaurs evolved, and he made it open access. Be still, my beating heart! We can learn what Darwin's acolytes know. Brontosaurus, Flickr /  Chobist  ( CC BY 2.0 ) What does this boon to the betterment of science actually say? Words related to  evolve  are used excessively and without need. (I reckon it makes the material sound more sciency and all that good stuff.)  Part of my sarcasm is because there is actually no evidence of dinosaur evolution, but a passel of myths . What do we learn from Dr. Sander? Where is the logic, for crying out loud? Does he succeed in making evolutionists feel good? The

My prospector friend Stormie Waters and Ruby Slippers wanted a break from working on the upcoming nuptials for Ruby, so they stopped by my spread. We were talking about this and that, when what to our wondering eyes should appear but Rusty Swingset. Rusty is the foreman at the Darwin Ranch, and he even brought his lady friend Jacqueline Hyde (who was not herself again). Like I have said before, creationists and evolutionists can meet up, visit a spell, then shake hands and part friendly. They were in the area, and Rusty wanted some firearms advice. Velociraptor skeletal cast, WikiComm / Jens Lallensack ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) After we talked about that and cleaned his shootin' iron, discussions turned into just chin music. My ears pricked up like a cat's when Jacqueline idly mentioned that Rusty was helping evolutionary scientists give makeovers to dinosaurs. While paleontologists can learn a great deal from fossils and skeletal remains, there are serious limitations. Some fossils ar

Not so long ago, we discussed how secular scientists were baffled by a mass burial site over Nevada way for decades . Their latest effort at explaining what was observed was so bad, it was insulting to thinking people. What about this  Sinornithomimus dongi herd in Inner Mongolia? Some bones were discovered years ago. A team did some excellent detailed work at excavation. The evidence led into the base of a hill, and they retrieved over twenty-five of the critters. They were in the same rock layer, facing the same direction, and were well preserved. Sinornithomimus Scale, Wikimedia Commons / Slate Weasel (PD) Biblical creationists can easily explain what is observed through Genesis Flood models, including how they were trying to escape, the poses of the deceased, the fact that their conditions testifies to rapid burial, and even how this herd was all juveniles. As in other cases, secularists are locked into their worldviews, presupposing naturalism and not even considering the glob

As said before, Question Evolution Day (12 February) is multifaceted. In addition to speech and academic freedoms, it is an encouragement to get people to ride up on the hill to look at the bigger picture — and think . Folks cannot simply accept the assertions of scientists regarding historical science and origins. There should be a passel of red flags dropping when reading explanations about a group of ichthyosaurs that were fossilized. One flag is that secularists have been attempting to explain it for decades. The latest effort is...truly bizarre; that should be a red flag all by itself. Shastasaurus altispinus (ichthyosaur), WikiComm / Dmitry Bogdanov ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) On a quick side note, people group critters like these, mastodons, pterosaurs, and others with dinosaurs. It makes things easier when issuing postage stamps and the Bag-O-Plastic-Toy-Figures. And casual conversation. Ichthyosaurs came in various shapes and sizes, and there are numerous types. Some rivaled (and poss

Those of us with healthy skepticism and some critical thinking skills find Darwinist propaganda a vexation, plain and simple. It is often expressed in various forms of artwork, such as in our alleged apelike ancestors where they have whites in their eyes — which cannot  be known, but it makes them look like they have vestiges of humanity. Dinosaur displays in museums omit modern birds, but they coexisted even according to evolutionary standards. Examples of illustrations based more on imagination than fact are numerous. Natovenator polydontus hunting fish, Nature Communications Biology /   Yusik Choi ( CC BY 4.0 ) Propaganda can be effective in displays, but their impact is drastically increased by crafty wording. Jay Seegert mentioned in a video  that people are impacted by headlines, and perhaps they actually read some of an article. However, they seldom realize that evolutionists are pulling the wool over their eyes, and the "evidence" for evolution is actually nonexist

Flying reptiles of the past have long been a source of amazement to many people, and there is a great deal of mystery surrounding them. As expected, they appear in movies and such. There are about 150 species defined from fossils, and apparently  Pterodactylus was the first kind discovered. A 2005 movie titled Pterodactyl  has some of the critters living in modern times with wing edges like guillotines. Those are also about three times the size of  Pterodactylus from the fossil record. If the movie makers had done a little homework, they should have called it Pteranodon . Better yet, name the flick after the bigger grouping, pterosaurs. I only watched a few minutes of the movie and suggest you skip it. Pterosaur replica, Pixabay / Efraimstochter (mosaic effect added) They are classified as reptiles, but do not have some reptilian traits. There is speculation that they were warm-blooded. One scholar said they have a mosaic of features. Because of an abundance of fossils (some are well

Something other biblical creationists and I emphasize is the importance of definitions. Despite our efforts, the corral gate is occasionally left open, a pony wanders through, and clarification is needed. Some of the difficulty is because of assumptions by readers. For example, I was using the phrase special creation  and assuming that the definition was clear to everyone. Since I had that wrong, I wrote an article specifying which meaning I use . The concern about wording this time involves reports of soft tissues and fossils. Aerodactylus scolopaciceps with soft tissue, Wikimedia Commons / Steven U. Vidovic, David M. Martill ( CC BY 2.5 ) This is not the same as complaining about someone referring to pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs as dinosaurs (even though they were contemporaries and their names ended in -saur). Such brabbling can be waved off. The problem occurs when reports and other things refer to soft tissues . Those words make creationists prick up our ears like a Scottish terr

Things get interesting when scientists do sciency stuff and we hear about technology that made detailed research possible, but they spoil things by pretending to have evolutionary offerings presentable to the Bearded Buddha. A fossil from 1907 was analyzed and out popped an alleged pterosaur ancestor. You know, those winged lizards that lived at the time of dinosaurs. To quote Smudge the Cat from a previous post, " Show me the science ." The boring fossil was debated all along, but interesting new technology let researchers find bones hidden inside the rock. The pterosaur ancestor is seen through a passel of imagination and more of that evolutionary faith. Cast of Scleromochlus taylori , Flickr / Tim Evanson ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Reports have a wagon train-load of weasel words to build up the Just-So Story. Many assumptions stated instead of evidence, Darwinspeak presupposing evolution, and more. Russel Watchtower of the Ministry of Truth at the Darwin Ranch (over by Deception Pa

While the prevailing view is that a big rock from space smashed into Earth, causing dinosaur extinction and the rise of the mammals, it was never accepted by all secular scientists in those fields. There are reasons to doubt that it happened . For a spell there, volcanoes were thought to play a big part in dinosaur extinction. It was suggested that an asteroid hit and then volcanic activity took over. Volcanoes were put on the back burner (heh!), but now someone wants to bring them back. Yucatán asteroid impact illustration, WikiComm / Donald E. Davis (NASA, public domain) Evolutionists have not been honest about the facts. Even in their scheme, dinosaurs coexisted with birds and mammals — which causes serious problems for them to promptly ignore. (Also, the possibility of one or more asteroid strikes at the time of the Genesis Flood has been proposed by some biblical creationists, and volcanic activity is also involved!) Secular scientists thought that the impact caused the volcanism

Those dinosaur footprints way down around the Paluxy River, at  Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas (where people can not only see but also put their own feet in them) are back in the news. Secular scientists have been talking about them for a long time, as have biblical creationists (see " The Paluxy River Mystery " from 1986 for one instance). The 2022 drought has brought more of them to light, and they are reminders that the debate is not settled. Dinosaur track at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX, Flickr / mcdlttx ( CC BY 2.0 ) These tracks are mysteries wrapped in flour enigma shells and lovingly smothered with riddle sauce. How do footprints form in the first place? Why are the Paluxy tracks only of dinosaurs and no other animals? Fossil bonebeds, with their jumbles of critters from disparate environments, should seriously disrupt evolutionary ideas by themselves. Paluxy only has dinosaur tracks. Secularists can tell stories all they want, but it

If you have a close relationship with a bird, maybe even have it perch on your finger, notice that the feet have scales. The hands at the Darwin Ranch, up yonder near Deception Pass, are joining in with other evolutionists to claim that this is evidence that dinosaurs evolved into birds. Unfortunately, too may people are unwilling or unable to use critical thinking. They go along with what "scientists say," and accept evolutionary indoctrination. A search of this site and others by biblical creationists show numerous reasons why dino-to-bird evolution is ridiculous despite recent media portrayals. Rooster feet, RGBStock / Kevin Tuck Birds' feet have scales ( even on ducks ), dinosaurs had scales, therefore, evolution. No, that is absurd, using the fallacies of affirming the consequent as well as insufficient evidence . (Some mammals have scales, but nobody seems to be claiming that they evolved from dinosaurs.) To use expensive words, the  integumentary system involves

People who do merchandising in a retail environment are probably familiar with something called a planogram . (You may have seen sheets of paper with markings taped to shelving units, that is probably a planogram.) Essentially, they are maps for the placement of merchandise in big chain stores. Those are made at corporate headquarters, and some of them are very strange and out of touch with reality, frustrating customers and store employees alike. Something similar happened with the discovery of a dinosaur called Jakapil kaniukura . Well, a few scattered parts. Jakapil kaniukura , WikiComm / F. J. Riguetti, S. Apesteguía & X. Pereda-Suberbiola ( CC BY 4.0 ) It was classified with stegosaurs, but has very little in common with them. Still, corporate demanded its placement according to the planogram — I mean, the cladistics methodology in the evolutionary narrative. J. kaniukura would be far better classified with other dinosaurs, but that ain't happenin', Zeke. (At least n

Scientists decided to cut sign for dinosaurs up yonder at Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, and found what may be the best-preserved dinosaur yet. They say it was a juvenile hadrosaur, but not which kind of hadrosaur. Mayhaps because most of it is still encased? The researchers had a fanciful story with deep time and how lucky they were to be around when this dinosaur, buried for supposedly seventy-six million years, was becoming visible. Blinded eyes cannot see the light that the tissues could not have lasted that long. Magnapaulia laticaudus (hadrosaur), WikiComm / Dmitry Bogdanov ( CC BY 3.0 ) There are other speculations made that raise questions as well. In fact, some additional recent dinosaur news could prompt questions like, "Why is there a boneyard of assorted dinosaurs if Lethosaurs were supposed to be in a group for safety?" Once again, the evidence points to the global Genesis Flood, which would have provided the necessary rapid burial for such excep

 This post needs a different approach than usual, since the article featured below makes two points that are interlaced. It was a mite difficult for me until I caught on to where the author was going with it. First, Darwinists have their own lingo that helps them sound like real scientists. They can baffle and even impress the public with it, and bewildered people accept what scientists say because they're scientists. Evolutionists also hide their appeals to Darwinian magic in their word salad. Sauropod dinosaur, Unsplash /  Vaibhav Pixels This befuddlement is used in discussions of dinosaur size. If you've ever seen movies like  Them!  about giant ants, educated people have to suspend their disbelief with a vengeance. Why? Laws of gravity, physics, and that sort of thing limit the size a creature can reach. Giant ants (or a fifty-foot woman, for that matter) could not attack anything  because they could not move . Our Creator has set growth limits in organisms to they cannot b

Plesiosaurs have been getting attention lately, and we have two complementary articles to examine. Those critters are a tricky bunch, and paleontologists get a mite confused. There is a prairie schooner-full of genera because...things change. Some were never official, others dropped because they are no longer considered plesiosaurs. Here is a list of 196 genera , at this writing. Over yonder in Morocco on the border with Algeria is the Kem Kem region, with a geological group of the same name. Numerous dinosaur fossils have been found there. This is where plesiosaurs caused confusion. Leptocleidus by Nobumichi Tamura at Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) There were some interesting observations in the research, including what they ate. There is also a disparate group of other creatures fossilized there, including a mix of freshwater and marine organisms. Can you add hocs? There were several ad hoc  solutions to the problems presented, and assumptions as well. (One assumption is that i

 As we have seen, the secular science industry likes to promote evolutionary myths using dinosaurs. (This post is related to a recent one on that subject .) Also, one may be forgiven for wondering if paleontologists are making much out of little. Its name is  Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus , but because of his scissor hands, perhaps they call it Edward for short. Very little is known. Only three bones were found, but imaginative feather-bearing reconstructions exist. They were partially based on similar dinosaurs. Paralitherizinosaurus  size comparison, Wikimedia Commons / SlvrHwk ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Although the remains had been known for some time, recently scientists realized that this dinosaur was another vegetarian. Those scythe-like claws were probably used for slashing plants. As with other organisms buried in the Genesis Flood, this one was found in marine sediments but it was not a sea dweller. Jurassic Word: Dominion  took huge liberties that defy both evolutionary and creatio