Download Taming the T-rex...and other dinosaurs

Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part I
The Questions
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Did God Create T. rex?
• Were carnivorous
animals in the
Garden of Eden?
• Did God create
organisms with a
lifespan?
• Is predation a
necessary evil in
our world today?
Did God Create the
Gigantic Sauropods?
Diplodocus
Why don’t we have living dinosaurs?
What Has Been Found?
• Are the skeletons in the museum just
imaginary?
• Are dinosaurs amalgamations?
• Did the dinosaurs really live?
• Have researchers found whole
skeletons?
• How much can scientists know from
broken bits and pieces?
Part I: Summary
The Christian community has many
questions about the origin and
existence of dinosaurs. While some
may think these questions are foolish,
there is a lack of knowledge among
Christians that needs to be
addressed. This series is a rather
meager attempt to address those
questions, while providing information
that will be beneficial to those who
are more knowledgeable on this topic.
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part II
The Data
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Dinosaur Database
BONES
SKULLS
SKIN IMPRESSIONS
TRACKS & DUNG
EGGS & BABIES
DEATH ASSEMBLAGES
Data: Bones
• Fragments &
Structure
– Skeletal Fragments
– Muscle Attachment
Scars
– Size Comparisons
• DNA?
Data: Bone Fragments
• Jumbled bone beds
• Isolated skeletal
features
– Ankle bone
– Hip structure
Muscle attachment
scars
– Tendons
Data: Skeletons
Chasmosaurus
Nearly Complete Skeletons
– Muscle Attachment Scars
– Size Comparisons
Data: Wide Variety
within Families
Zuniceratops
Triceratops
Data: Large & Small
Hadrosaur
Height ~to a giraffe
Deinonychus
~to a German shepard
Interpretation:
Males vs Females?
Length of chevrons
at base of tail
Interpretation:
Stegosaurus male?
Length of chevrons
at base of tail
Interpretation:
Rhabdodon female?
Data: Structural Comparisons
• Researchers
compare femurs
– From left (not to scale):
– Probactrosaurus
– Chasmosaurus
• Cervical vertebral
features
– Psittacosaurus
– Camarasaurus
DATA: SKULLS
Tarbosaurus bataar Zuniceratops
Lobes of the Brain
– Internal cast of the brain case: sight (optic),
hearing (otic) & sense of smell (olfactory)
Teeth
– Structure suggests diet
Data: Skulls
Allosaurus skull
Muscle Attachment Scars on Jaws
Data: Skin Impressions
• Corythosaurus
• Skin impression
(mold)
– Associated skeleton
• Dinosaur embryo
– Associated bone
fragments
– Skin impression?
– Precipitate?
Animation and color adjustment by E Kennedy with permission
from Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County,
which is not responsible for any interpretation of its
exhibits on this web site
Data: Dinosaur Tracks
• Tracks made
by dinosaurs
• Tracks found
in water-laid
deposits
• Human tracks
not found
with dinosaur
tracks
Data: Dung
• Rock does not
match associated
sediment
• Petrified woody
tissue & burrows
• Dung beetle
burrows?
Data: Montana:
Hadrosaur Baby & Egg
Maiasaura
Arrows indicate large eggshell fragments
Data: Death Assemblages
Coelophysis
Preservation state
Entombing sediments
Part II: Summary
The data base for dinosaurs includes:
1.Skeletons to bone fragments from which
structural information can be surmised.
2.Skin impressions provide information about
appearance.
3.Tracks and possible dung indicate the
animals really lived and moved over the
earth.
4.Eggs and possible nests suggest breeding
activities, and…
5.Death assemblages found worldwide occur
in water-laid deposits.
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part III
The Death
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
What Happened to the
Dinosaurs?
Psittacosaurus
Demise of Dinosaurs
• Volcanism => Climate Change?
– Loss of link in food chain expected but
not documented
• Asteroid Impact?
– Most dinosaurs already dead before K/T
event
• Evolved into Birds?
– Lack of evidence & mechanism
• Destroyed by Water?
– Dinosaur remains found in water-laid
deposits worldwide
Data: T. rex
• Large muscle
attachment scars on
jaws and arms
• Enlarged optic &
olfactory lobes,
serrated teeth
• 14 nearly complete
skeletons
• Juveniles
Data: Hadrosaur Maiasaura
• Self-sharpening
and nipping
teeth
• Juveniles
• Eggs
• Nests?
Distribution of death
Dinosaurs suddenly
appear on four
continents in the
upper Triassic!
Dinosaurs go extinct
in the upper
Cretaceous!
Sedimentary Deposits
• Flood deposits in Canada
• Lake, river, flood plain, coastal,
lowland deposits in the United States
• River deposits in South America
• Debris flow deposits in Mongolia
• Flood deposits in China
• Marsh, island, delta, coastal deposits
in Europe
Part III: Summary
The destruction and preservation
of dinosaurs in water-laid
deposits worldwide has provided
an extensive database for study.
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part IV
The Biblical Questions +
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Does the Bible
Talk About
Dinosaurs?
Job 41:8,15, 29, 31
• If you lay a hand on him [leviathan],
you will remember the struggle….
• His back has rows of shields tightly sealed
together….
• A club seems to him like a piece of straw;
he laughs at the rattling of the lance….
• He makes the depths churn…
and stirs up the sea….
NIV
Job 40:15, 17, 21
• Look at the behemoth…
which feeds on grass like an ox.
• His tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.
• Under the lotus plant he lies,
hidden among the reeds of the marsh.
NIV
Were
Humans & Dinosaurs
Living Together?
What Are Some of The
Questions Christians have
about Dinosaurs?
Weren’t Dinosaurs too Big for the
Ark?
One Christian author says:
Soon after the flood the race began to rapidly
decrease in size, and in length of years. There was a
class of very large animals which perished at the flood.
God knew that the strength of man would decrease,
and these mammoth animals could not be controlled by
feeble man.
EGW: 4A SG 121
Weren’t Dinosaurs too Big for the
Ark?
As we have seen, ½ the families of dinosaurs
were smaller than an adult giraffe. So there
is no reason to think that they might not be
on the Ark.
Perhaps the author is talking about the large
mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, etc.
that went extinct during the Flood.
The extinction of large animals seems to be a
consistent trend in the fossil record.
Were Dinosaurs
Amalgamations?
One Christian author says:
Every species of animals which God
had created was preserved in the ark.
The confused species which God did not create,
which were the result of amalgamation,
were destroyed by the flood.
EGW: 1SP 78
Were Dinosaurs Amalgamations?
This author specifies that amalgamated
species were considered “confused
species.” There is nothing confusing
about dinosaurs. Their bone structure
is distinctive, their skeletal features
are distinctive and when the data is
studied, dinosaurs are a clearly defined
group of animals.
Part IV: Summary
• What does the Bible say about dinosaurs?
– Job 40 (large herbivore, probably low to
the ground, probably not a dinosaur)
– Job 41 (marine creature, not a dinosaur)
• What are some of the other questions
about dinosaurs?
– 4A SG 121 (large animals, not just
dinosaurs)
– 1 SP 78 (amalgamated, probably not
dinosaurs)
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part V
The Nests
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Problematic Issues I:
Dinosaur Eggs
• Are the dinosaur egg sites really
nests?
• Are there multiple levels of
dinosaur nests and eggs?
• Are these sites pre-Flood, Flood
or post-Flood deposits?
Data: Oviraptor Eggs
Mongolia
Possible Overbank Deposition
Some Nests Promising
Data: Maiasaur Eggs
“Nest in Camp” Montana
Eggs & fragments indicate transport
Sediments indicate no nest here
Data: Troodon? Eggs
Egg Mountain
Two layers found here
Limited documentation
Possible Nest
Six eggs encased in plaster
Note: “Rim”
Carbonate rock
Data: Eggs in Patagonia
Multiple levels of eggs
Fragment orientations & distributions
Cross-bedded sandstones
Data: Sauropod Eggs Lerida
Egg Site
Sediments indicate transported eggs
Data: Dinosaur Eggs
Aix-en-Provence
Crushed eggs with internal shell
fragments
Photographed by Elaine Kennedy near Montagne Sainte-Victoire, France
Data: Dinosaur Eggs South
Korea
Sediments suggest transported eggs
Multiple levels
Part V: Summary
In the literature, authors cite single
and multiple eggs as “nests.” Regions
estimated to have hundreds of eggs
are considered nesting grounds.
Little work has assessed the nature
of the sediments in which the eggs
were deposited. Consequently, there
is little evidence for dinosaur nesting
behavior.
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part VI
The Links
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Problematic Issues II:
Dinosaur-Bird Links
• Why do scientists think birds
evolved from dinosaurs?
• Is Archaeopteryx the link
between dinosaurs and birds?
Data:
Dinosaur-Bird Link
Dromaeosaurids
Proposed “sister” group
Dinosaurs => Birds?
Database for Discussion
• Hip structure
– Bone structure
• Respiratory structures
– Nasal passages
– Lungs/Diaphragm
• Finger order
• Archaeopteryx
• Feathered dinosaurs
Data: Hip Structure
Stratigraphic level
Coelophysis Dromaeosaurs
Aves
• Upper Triassic: Coelophysis
• Upper Jurassic: Archaeopteryx
• Upper Jurassic: Confuciusornis
• Lower Cretaceous: Utahraptor
• Upper Cretaceous: Other
Dromaeosaurs
Dinosaur Respiratory
structures
• Nasal passages lack
turbinates
• Possible evidence of
diaphragm-like
structure
• Bird nasal passages
have turbinates
• No diaphragm/flow
through lung
Finger Structure
• Fingers in a bird’s
wing form in the
embryo as fingers
2, 3 & 4.
• Fingers of the
dinosaurs have
been identified as
fingers 1, 2 & 3.
Data:
Archaeopteryx lithographica
• 20+ features
shared with
reptiles
• 20+ features
shared with birds
• 5 features unique
to Archaeopteryx
sp.
Part VI: Summary
The evolution of dinosaurs into
birds is a popular theory. The
postulated evolutionary evidence
for links between dinosaurs and
birds has been disputed by a
number of credible researchers in
paleontology and biology.
Taming the
T-rex
…And other
dinosaurs
CHALLENGING EARTH HISTORY: Part VII
The Feathered Dinosaurs
Elaine Kennedy, Ph.D.
Geoscience Research Institute
http://www.grisda.org
Problematic Issues II:
dinosaur-bird links
• Are the “feathers” on dinosaurs
real?
• Is the existence of feathers on
any reptile problematic for
Christians?
• Are feathered dinosaurs links?
Data:
Young Sinosauropteryx prima
Yixian Formation, lower Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China
•Compsonathid –
like skeleton
•Ruffled dark
ridge above the
spine shows
what may have
been feathers
Data:
Confuciusornis sanctus
Yixian Formation, lower Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China
•This bird lacks teeth
•Note forelimbs &
feathers
•Birds abundant in
same formation &
“time” as feathered
dinosaurs
•Can feathered
dinosaurs be “the
links” when birds were
already present?
Feathers
Data:
Caudipteryx zoui
Yixian Formation, lower Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China
• Feather plume on
tail & wings
• Feathers & down
may have covered
entire body
• Only a few hooked
teeth in the front
of its upper jaw
Data:
Protarchaeopteryx robusta
Yixian Formation, lower Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China
Feathers
• Archaeopteryx
lithographica had
asymmetrical feathers
• P. robusta did not fly
– Symmetrical feathers
Data:
Microraptor gui
Jiufotang Formation, lower Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China
• Fracture pattern around skeleton
– Key features isolated
• Carbonized feathers
– No carbonized flesh
• Slurry? between bones & feathers
– Patching?
• Best specimens purchased
Part VII: Summary
The validity of the feathers on
dinosaurs is still debated;
however, if the feathers are
real, their presence on dinosaurs
does not establish a link between
dinosaurs and birds because true
birds are found in lower layers
with no ancestral evidence in the
layers below.
Conclusions
• Dinosaurs lived on earth, probably
created by God as unique organisms,
“normal” existence
• Eggs and babies are genuine
– Nests are not yet clearly established
– Transport of eggs is widespread
• Feathered dinosaurs are considered
links by some scientists
– Feathers disputed
– Links disputed
Psalm 8:3,4,6-9
3
4
6
7
8
9
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
What is man that You are mindful of him,…. ?
You made him ruler over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
All flocks and herds, and the beasts of the fields,
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,….
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
NIV