Fossil Fibers Befuddle Dinosaur Evolution | The Institute for Creation Research
Fossil Fibers Befuddle Dinosaur Evolution

Evolutionary museums and textbooks have often portrayed modern birds as the descendants of dinosaurs, a story that has been presented without empirical support. Now, a new “feathered” dinosaur discovery has thrown a wrench into the already dysfunctional machinery of the dino-to-bird tale. This dinosaur fossil with fang-like teeth, Tianyulong confuciusi, has been found with fibers that resemble structures believed by some evolutionists to be the precursors of feathers—the only problem is, it’s the wrong category of dinosaur to have them!1

Certain theropod dinosaurs, such as Sinosauropteryx, have fossilized fibers. This “dino-fuzz” has been interpreted as protofeathers, but this interpretation has been disputed by other evolutionary paleontologists. One study pointed out:

The major, and most worrying, problem of the feathered dinosaur hypothesis is that the integumental structures have been homologized with avian feathers on the basis of anatomically and paleontologically unsound and misleading information.2

For the dino-to-bird story to be true, the lizard-hip structures of theropods must have evolved into bird-hip structures. Some evolutionary scientists have further observed the extent of internal restructuring that theropods would have had to undergo in order to shift the bulk of their body mass from the rear to the front, noting that theropods have “exactly the wrong anatomy for flight.”2 Although these dinosaurs walked on two legs placed underneath their bodies like birds do, that is where the similarities end. Nor has a single transitional form between the two been confirmed.3

Now, fibers have been found on Tianyulong, which is not even a theropod. This fact has been difficult to explain by those who are convinced that theropods evolved into birds. Why did these non-theropods have “protofeathers” if they were not destined to morph into birds? It appears that these fibrous processes were present with the very earliest dinosaurs, whether they were theropods or not. In the journal Nature, Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University stated, "Perhaps the only clear conclusion that can be drawn ... is that little Tianyulong has made an already confusing picture of feather origins even fuzzier.”1

This news constitutes another refutation of the theropod-to-bird story. The information one can gather from the raw fossil data, however, fits with biblical creation. First, “no fossils from the first dinosaurs are known.”4 In other words, no fossils from their imagined evolutionary precursors have yet been found.5 But there are numerous fossils of dinosaurs that perished in a widespread watery cataclysm, such as Noah’s Flood.6 Their lack of evolutionary ancestors, their sudden appearance in the fossil record, and the global evidence for a massive extinction like that recorded in the Bible add up to dinosaurs having been distinctly created according to their own kinds, just as Genesis recorded.7

Second, no dinosaur has been found with any undisputed transitional feature. Even the newly discovered “dino-fuzz” is not feather-like (lacking rachis, barbs, barbules, or evidence of keratin rather than cartilage) and is perhaps more accurately interpreted as simply decorative fibers. Thus, it presents evidence for special creation by a God who is aesthetically-minded.8

There is no such thing in the real world as a feathered dinosaur. The news that this non-theropod dinosaur had fibers just adds more scientific evidence to corroborate the historical evidence that dinosaurs were created, not evolved.

References

  1. Witmer, L. M. 2009. Dinosaurs: Fuzzy origins for feathers. Nature. 458 (7236): 293-295.
  2. Feduccia, A., T. Lingham-Soliar, and J. R. Hinchliffe. 2005. Do Feathered Dinosaurs Exist? Testing the Hypothesis on Neontological and Paleontological Evidence. Journal of Morphology. 266: 134.
  3. Archaeopteryx was not a transitional creature. It was fully a bird, with flight feathers. Other more familiar birds have been discovered in rock layers below that of archaeopteryx, rendering moot any claims that it was transitional. See: Gish, D. 1989. As a Transitional Form Archaeopteryx Won't Fly. Acts & Facts. 18 (9).
  4. Ritter, M. Dinosaur find raises debate on feather evolution. Associated Press, March 18, 2009.
  5. “Paleontologists have virtually no clues to the origin of the ornithischian [bird-hipped] dinosaurs. They appear in the fossil record…already structurally distinct.” Stahl, B.J., J. R. Young, and S. Gamer (eds). 1974. Vertebrate History: Problems in Evolution. New York: McGraw-Hill, 336.
  6. Morris, J. D. 2004. Are Fossils the Result of Noah’s Flood? Acts & Facts. 33 (11).
  7. Genesis 1:24.
  8. Thomas, B. 2009. The Apobetics of Aesthetics: A Hairy Problem for Evolution. Acts & Facts. 38 (4): 18.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on March 31, 2009.

The Latest
NEWS
Bumblebee University
Entomologists, biologists who study insects, continue to uncover amazing discoveries regarding the intellect of bees1,2 Now, biologists...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Struck: Risking It All for the Truth | Creation.Live Podcast:...
In this unique episode, host Trey talks with three key people involved in creating Struck—an upcoming miniseries that shows the special ties between...

NEWS
Giant Ants Buried in Receding Flood Rocks
Evolutionary scientists are baffled by a large ant fossil found in British Columbia, Canada. Known as Titanomyrma, this same ant had been found previously...

CREATION PODCAST
Why Do Animals Hibernate? | The Creation Podcast: Episode 45
The word hibernation is often used in reference to deep sleep, but what is it really? What kinds of creatures hibernate? How does this demonstrate the...

NEWS
Thalattosuchians—Extinct Crocodile Relatives?
The Thalattosuchia are an extinct group of marine crocodylomorphs (a group that includes the crocodiles) that allegedly transitioned from land to water...

NEWS
The Star-Nosed Mole
The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a fascinating semi-aquatic mammal found in eastern Canada and the United States. Moles (placental mammals)...

NEWS
The Hexagon: An Indication of Order and Design in Nature
In nature, noncoincidental patterns and geometry exist everywhere. But the number six appears to overshadow nature’s mathematical landscape. Whether...

NEWS
Neanderthal Crab Bake
The evolutionary science community said it perfectly in their headlines: “Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another 'nail in the coffin'...

CREATION PODCAST
Is There Any Truth to Dragon Legends? | The Creation Podcast:...
Dragons are considered by many to be made-up creatures in fairytales and legends, but our ancestors produced many descriptions and depictions of "dragons,"...

NEWS
Our Sun, Finely Tuned for Life on Earth
Aside from appreciating the splendor of the sun during a beautiful sunrise or sunset, many rarely consider how special, necessary, and finely tuned...