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Showing posts with the label Paleontology

La Brea Tar Pits and the Genesis Flood

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Near Los Angeles (translation: the angels) was an area known as Rancho La Brea  ( la brea  translation: the pitch, or, the tar), and a part of that became Hancock Park. Savvy readers know that it is the location of the famous La Brea Tar Pits. Much research has been done regarding this natural asphalt. The story goes that animals would get trapped by the tar and cry out in distress, attracting predators who would also get trapped. That tale is popular but the reality is quite different. Indeed, there are reasons to doubt current speculations. Mastodon display at La Brea Tar Pits, Flickr / Ingrid Richter ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia Study on it a spell. Thousands of fossils recovered from La Brea, many of large plant eaters and carnivores. If those were trapped and pulled down, wouldn't the bones be together? In fact, most skeletons are disarticulated (spread out). Biblical creationists agree with secular scientists that the area shows massive flooding, but creationis...

Ape Fossils Found in Wrong Places

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It is interesting that Darwin's acolytes on social(ist) media tend to show ignorance of their own belief system, or mayhaps they try to steamroll over creationist opponents with hot air. Some have claimed that there are no fossils out of order — which would be news to secular scientists. There are many fossils and artifacts in what evolutionists would consider wrong places, which has caused them no small amount of embarrassment. Still, they cling to their uniformitarian views because the alternative (special creation) is anathema. Monkey fossils are causing loyal evolutionists consternation. Spider monkeys, Wikimedia Commons / Bernard Spragg ( PD ) Both creationists and evolutionists try to work out biogeography — how did that  get over there ? The monkeys in question were found in South America. Fine, nice weather, plenty of things to climb on and play with. But there are no fossils of their ancestors. They seem to have come from Africa. How, prithee? Although secularists laughed...

Logic Getting Worse in Evolutionism

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As discussed here many times, believers in descent with modifications tend to use horrendous reasoning in their papers. (Lapdog popular science journalists often makes things worse .) Researchers are prone to offering an explanation with insufficient evidence for something observed but excluding other possibilities. Evolution is a given, treated as a fact or even a law . They exclude Intelligent Design and especially biblical creation even though evidence support those explanations. If an organism exists, it must have evolved through atheistic materialism — which strikes this child as begging the question . Not only do materialists get away with using bad logic in their presentations, the problem is getting worse. Nobody cares. Evolution doesn't care (study on those last three words and see what I just did). Consider how the Pauli Exclusion is used as a rescuing device for dinosaur soft tissues , which is...truly bizarre. One recent example of fake science logic involves the coela...

More Dinosaur Tissue Fake Science

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The fact that soft tissues in dinosaur bones has been found is a serious problem for evolutionists, and they know it. Papa Darwin depends on deep time, so the secular science industry presents fake science to take the tear out of Darwin's eye. Desperately devoted evolutionists online show dishonesty, ignorance, or something else when they try to wave off soft tissues (It was a fluke or two? Nope.) There are many examples of soft tissues that are public knowledge. The latest attempt by secularists is to make collagen last millions of years. Triceratops at the Dinosaur Journey Museum , US Dept of Transportation /  aschweigert   (Usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) The disingenuous science here is that researchers did not actually test stuff, but yee haw boy howdy! It sure does look good on paper. Also, review of the work seems to have been a festival of bias confirmation, no contrary views (especially from those yucky creationists) would be considered. That is ind...

New Fossil Bats, Still No Evolution

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In the Southwestern United States, there is a place popular with geologists and paleontologists called the Green River Formation . There are several rivers and tributaries called Green River, and this area is a tributary of the Colorado River. The formation and basins include several states. Since so much research is done in the formation, it is not surprising to get news from there. What may have been surprising to secular scientists is how the new bat fossils they discovered gave no clues to an alleged evolutionary ancestor of bats. Since secularists don't play the hand they're dealt, they reshuffle and deal from the bottom of the deck. In this case, the unevolving bat fossils did not fit their paradigm, so they tacked on two million years to bad origins. Sure, why not? If it helps keep the story going and avoid the fact of recent creation by the God of the Bible, they'll find ways. The Green River Formation is also interesting because of varves (thin layers of sediment)....

Hobbit Continues to Trouble Evolutionists

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Actually, Hobbit is a nickname for a clan of vertically impaired humans classified as  Homo floresiensis . Fossils were discovered several years ago and scientists came up with ideas as to why they were so small. There is a range of human height, of course, but to exceed that in either direction involves illnesses or conditions. Of course, secular scientists were looking for an angle to promote their precious evolution. Were they even human ? The evolution connection remains elusive, even to imaginative scientists that infest the secular science industry. Homo floresiensis , Flickr / Ryan Somma ( CC BY 2.0 ), cropped It was thought that  island dwarfism  was an explanation for their small stature. This is where creatures who are forced to live on an island have diminutive offspring. It is actually beneficial. However, it had never been observed in humans. Now it is thought to be the most likely explanation. The fossil Hobbit was about half the height of the average Europ...

Dinosaur-to-Bird Evolution Refuted by Breathing?

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It is considered a fact by many evolutionists that dinosaurs evolved into birds, so that canned chicken in my pantry is actually evolved dinosaur. As baryon-to-bird evolution is dogma in the secular science industry, dissenters are downplayed. The same happens to dinosaur-to-bird evolution deniers. As seen in " Non-Science in Dinosaur-to-Bird Evolution ," there are numerous problems with those stories. Indeed, serious scientific difficulties should have stopped the concept right away. Many scientists believe despite  the evidence. One major problem is that birds and reptiles breathe differently. Confuciusornis , Flickr / paleobear ( CC BY 2.0 ) Reptiles, many animals, humans all breathe with a bellows (draw in, push out) style, although they are not all designed alike. Birds have more of a flow-through system. That means dinosaurs would have had to evolve countless transitions — any of which would have been stopped by natural selection, so evolution could not happen. Lung sy...

Fossil Discoveries Fit Creationist Expectations

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Descent with modifications evolution maintains that, biologically speaking, all life forms go back to a common ancestor. The claims of evolutionists should be verified in living things today as well as through the fossil record; there should be an uncountable number of transitional forms. Biblical creationists reject evolution partly through lack of evidence. While they believe in speciation, diversity, and the biblical kinds (similar to the family level in modern reckoning), they maintain that there are no transitional forms in the fossil record. Aerodactylus scolopaciceps  with soft tissue, Wikimedia Commons /  Steven U. Vidovic, David M. Martill  ( CC BY 2.5 ) What in the wild world of paleontology is a-goin' on here? Some recent examples show why creationists are not surprised because the discoveries fit their expectations. Secular reckoning has sharks as ancient critters, and a small group suddenly appeared in the fossil record. No evolution. A web-spinning spider a...

A New Ankylosaur and the Genesis Flood

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Off the southern edge of England, in the English Channel, lies the Isle of Wight. It is known for landscapes, chalk, and geological features, so the locals were probably not overly surprised to learn that a new ankylosaur was discovered there. Ankylosaurs were herbivores. These critters looked like turtles gone wrong, what with all that armor and all. One curiosity is that they are usually found fossilized on their backs . Also, like other creatures of that time, evolution is assumed but there is no evidence of it. Edmontonia rugosidens, Wikimedia Commons / Mariana Ruiz (PD) The way they were buried in sediment is a curiosity to secular scientists, and they have some ideas that do not pass the sniff test. So many ankylosaurs were clumsy, fell into rivers and floated out to sea where they were buried? This child lacks belief that such an idea is plausible. Indeed, the more reasonable explanation (although streng verboten  among Darwin's acolytes) is the mechanisms of the global Gen...

Nevada Crocodile Fossil and Opposing Models

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When the hand one is dealt is not playing well, cheat. After all, secular scientists seem to be doing that more and more. One example is the definition of archosaur . It has certain physical characteristics and includes crocodilians, dinosaurs, pterosaurs — and birds. Quite a broad category, and includes the tendentious assumption  that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Evidence and logic differ about that last part. A new fossil pseudosuchian (expensive word for crocodile) species was discovered in Nevada. That is counterintuitive, since those critters do not live so far inland. Crocodile, Pixnio /  Steve Hillebrand , USFWS Another species? That's nice. That also fits with biblical creation science models. Of course, like the assumption that birds evolved from dinosaurs and are related to archosaurs, secular scientists assume that crocodiles evolved even though there is no evidence of it. They also have to deal with the location of this one, as well as mixtures of organisms fossi...

Trilobites Still Trying to Evolutionists

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People who have read material or watched videos about fossils have invariably come across trilobites, since there was a passel of them. They are associated with the Cambrian Explosion , where way down yonder in the Cambrian layer, life forms suddenly appeared — with no signs of evolutionary ancestors. Trilobites are icons of evolution, but they are quite trying to Darwin's disciples. Aside from appearing fully formed, they were intricate. Advances in technology allowed scientists to learn that they had impressive optics , for example. Recent pristine trilobite fossils further trouble evolutionists. Trilobite, US Dept / Interior,  BLM  (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) The fossils were discovered in a Morocco mountain range, which is not exactly the kind of place to seek marine organisms. They were preserved in ash, and even the complex digestive tract was preserved. What has been discovered about trilobites, including this bunch, fits the expectations of bibl...

Makoshika State Park and the Genesis Flood

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If you mount up and ride out Montana way and look near Glendive, you will come across  Makoshika State Park . It takes up an impressive 11,538 acres and does the usual state park things like camping, hiking, hunting, and so on.  Makoshika also has activities that they call educational because it is a part of a massive playground of paleontologists, the Hell Creek Formation. That means dinosaur bones and fossils. There is a wagon trainload of them for study and for secularists to evosplain the demise of dinosaurs. Rock formation in Makoshika State Park, Wikimedia Commons / Larry D. Moore ( CC BY 4.0 ) Storytellers commence chattering about the Chicxulub impact by a big rock from space and how it was responsible for dinosaur extinction. That story is unraveling . Also, dinosaur blood vessel grooves and other things are still in existence, but should not exist in the conventional deep time narrative. If secularists stripped away evolutionary presuppositions, they could exam...

More Evidence Neanderthals were Human

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At one time, Neanderthals were portrayed as stupid brutes in our supposed evolutionary history. Evidence over the years prompted Darwinists to realize that they were not so far removed from humans after all . Still, they try to keep some form of evolutionary link going, plus showing racism against Neanderthals . This makes racist Charles Darwin smile. It should be case closed  that humans and Neanderthals were the same species because our ancestors exchanged DNA. (Indeed, some folks may have allergies because of inheriting DNA from Neanderthals .) New research affirms their humanity. Neanderthal reconstruction, Flickr /  Michael (a.k.a. moik) McCullough  ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) Someone can search for but not find an ape that fashioned jewelry because it had deep personal meaning. Symbolism — which indicates abstract thought, a human trait — is indicated among these "archaic humans." Also, it has been suggested that they are not exactly extinct . They had culture and were inte...

Lone Ranger Dinosaur Makes Tracks

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There are several areas that have fossilized dinosaur tracks, which is quite remarkable if you think on it. Glen Rose, Texas has a significant number of them. They are easy to see at Dinosaur Valley State Park . Sounds like an interesting place to visit. During a time of drought in 2022, even more tracks were exposed. Paleontologists and other folks were excited to see them. One trackway is impressively long, apparently made by  Acrocanthosaurus atokensis . One tell-tale sign is that it has claws on its feet. Acrocanthosaurus atokensis , Wikimedia Commons / Petr Menshikov ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ), modified Hey, Cowboy Bob! How is  A. atokensis on the beach like Christmas? Because of its sandy claws ! Moving on... Secular scientists have some imaginative stories to tell about how they formed, but like so many other attempted explanations by Darwinists, they do not withstand scrutiny. With a proper understanding of sedimentation during the Genesis Flood, forming and fossilization of t...

New Shark Fossil no Surprise to Creationists

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Believers in universal common descent presuppose evolution, so they get excited when a fossil is found that can be manipulated into supporting their paradigm. Facts without the deep time and evolutionary assumptions more readily support recent creation and the Genesis Flood. A fossilized shark was discovered down Arkansas way, and Darwin's disciples are excited about how this new discovery can provide information about evolution. Part of the thrill is that cartilage was involved, and that stuff does not fossilize very often. Shark, Pexels / Marc Derndorff When I say new discovery , I mean that it was found in the 1970s. Recently, it was analyzed with CT-scans and given digital reconstruction. (That technology is impressive.) They assigned it a new genus and species name. However, it's still a shark with no evidence of evolution. Also, others were fossilized with it, indicating the rapid burial characteristic of the Flood. There were some other surprises where sharks have been f...

Evolution and the Rescuing Device of Stasis

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In " Dishonest Darwinists Dodge Living Fossils ," the concept of stasis  was mentioned. To oversimplify,  living fossils are organisms that remain essentially unchanged from fossils to their living counterparts. Some fossils have millions of years assigned to them. Organisms did not evolve because they did not need to: stasis. Darwin's disciples glom onto the stasis rescuing device because living fossils are a serious impediment for evolution. Living fossils also indicate that the earth is not as ancient as evolution requires. Spotted Gar, Wikimedia Commons, USFWS / Brian Montague (public domain, usage does not imply endorsement) Know why gars live in mostly freshwater or brackish environments? Because if they lived in the oceans, they'd be sea-gars! Not funny, Cowboy Bob. Gars have been described as cigar-shaped, and some can grow rather large. Evolutionists say that their slow rate of evolution affects their low rate of speciation. Also, DNA repair mechanisms could ...

Dishonest Darwinists Dodge Living Fossils

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There are creatures in the fossil record that show no appreciable difference between supposed millions of years to their modern descendants. Charles Darwin was displeased with this additional evidence against his conjectures. He called them living fossils . If a handful of them existed, they might be waved away as odd quirks. But there are many living fossils. Evolutionists change mystical hats, trading the one where evolution is an undeniable force with the other where stasis occurred. That is, they did not have to evolve. These owlhoots get downright dishonest as well. Horseshoe crab (which is not really a crab) is a living fossil, MorgueFile / xpistwv Unfortunately, people are  not taught  critical thinking, and they seldom display healthy skepticism. The Bearded Buddha taught that things evolved from a common ancestor, branching out on the Tree of Life, gradually turning into something else. Right? People know this, but when dishonest evolutionists change the definitions ...

Dinosaurs and Fish Lizards Keep Getting Bigger

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Is it just my imagination, or are paleontologists finding more extremely large dinosaurs and such? There was a time that Brontosaurus  was impressive, even having the name that means thunder lizard . Probably because you could hear it walking. Now it is dwarfed by other sauropods. Indeed, scientists had to come up with impressive names to tack onto their discoveries, such as titanosaurs. Several more of these have been discovered. Curious, the impressive name game does not seem to happen to plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, but a candidate for the largest of the latter has been presented. Ichthyotitan severnensis , Wikimedia Commons / Ansh Saxena 7163 (PD), modified at PhotoFunia Darwin's disciples are having a great time evosplaining the critters through the fiction of convergent evolution , a cheap rescuing device. After all, there is no evidence for dinosaur origins or ancestors — it is like they were created, not evolved. Rapid speciation was also mentioned, but that has nothing t...

Tyrannosaurus rex — not so bright after all

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Portrayals of Tyrannosaurus rex  and other carnivorous dinosaurs originally made them out to be nearly machines, attack and eat. Over time, their image evolved, showing them as rather intelligent creatures. Studies show — yeah, my study can beat up your study. One study claims that they were alarmingly intelligent, comparable to primates. Since most secular scientists assume the story that dinosaurs evolved into birds is true, the study used modern bird brains for references. Another study kicks up their intelligence a notch. However... T. rex college professor made at Bing AI * Another study pulls on the reins and hollers, "Whoa!" There are no fossilized dinosaur brains available to study. Also, the size of the cranium and the size of the brain inside — as compared to modern crocodiles — are two different things. (This child wonders why researchers didn't learn from the debunked "Brain size shows intelligence in humans" myth .) Did they notice that they study i...

Rescuing Device: Protein Molecules in Dinosaur Eggs

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Original biological materials from fossils have been found for many years, but the 1997 discovery of soft tissues in a dinosaur bone  by Dr. Mary Schweitzer and company really took the rag off the bush . Things get worse for them because biomolecules are also found in dinosaur material. Despite numerous reports of dinosaur soft tissue discoveries reported in peer-reviewed journals, some jaspers still refuse to believe that they exist. Others admit they exist and come up with rescuing devices. The reason is that these things make Papa Darwin sad. Fossil dinosaur eggs, Flickr / Gary Todd (PD) As discussed before, worldviews strongly influence how people interpret evidence. A paleontologist evidence-denier wanted to be the smartest one on the bus, so he tried to refute claims of original biomolecules. It did not go well. Instead, he indulged in circular reasoning: Assume that dinosaur eggs are millions of years old, then prove biomolecules last for millions of years! Yeah, peopl...