Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs | The Institute for Creation Research

Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs

Dinosaur footprints are found in numerous locations around the world, on every continent. Typically they are found in strata that evolutionists identify as representing "dinosaur era" time, so their discovery isn't surprising to them. Creationists, however, insist that fossil-bearing strata were primarily deposited during the great Flood of Noah's day, and label the dinosaur fossils and footprint layers as coming from mid to late-flood episodes within that Flood.

A recent discovery of about 3,000 dinosaur tracks was announced from China. Here, tracks from creatures of several different species, sizes, lifestyles, and presumably habitats indicate they were all stampeding in the same direction. The researchers ask, "What were they all running from?" The carnivores couldn't have been pursuing the herbivores, because the footprints are intermingled. And what was chasing the carnivores? It's hard to reconstruct the event completely.

Perhaps the most notorious footprint-containing layer is the Glen Rose Limestone in central Texas, in the Paluxy River bed. Ever since the early 1900s, footprints of dinosaurs have been excavated here, along with elongated human-like footprints. To many, this proved humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time. For years while on the faculty of the nearby University of Oklahoma, I studied and documented these markings, and eventually wrote the definitive source book, Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs--and the People Who Knew Them, published by Master Books in 1980. Continued research led me to question the human interpretation of the human-like prints and, feeling the data were too ambiguous at that time to be certain, withdrew my book from circulation. Films for Christ withdrew their award-winning film Footprints in Stone from circulation at the same time. Research continues, and while I don't question the fact that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, I don't use the evidence from the Paluxy anymore. There is less problematic evidence for that conclusion.

But the question remains. How can fragile footprints made by any creature in mud survive the Flood's currents? Wouldn't the waves wash them away? Admittedly, the problems are serious, but they are much the same for evolutionists. How can easily eroded ephemeral markings survive for millions and millions of years? Investigation of the overlying and underlying strata provides a possible answer.

The Glen Rose Limestone in the Paluxy area measures scores of feet thick and contains multiple, rather thin layers of sandy limestone interspersed with layers of clay or sandstone. Prints are found in several of the layers. The layer immediately overlying the main print horizon consists of an unconsolidated clay made of fine, lightweight particles, which usually require slack water and unusual chemistry to be deposited. The limey muds were probably gravity-driven slurries cascading down shallow slopes. Evidently there were moments when the Flood's dynamic conditions alternated with somewhat calm times, and the water temporarily retreated. The twice-daily tides must still have acted, while pulsating tsunamis kept everything in turmoil. Temporary abatements allowed animals swimming for their lives to clamor over exposed mud flats, only to be overwhelmed when the waves returned. The prints were filled in by a less tumultuous layer, and thus protected while the sediments hardened into solid rock. All the print-making animals eventually died in the Flood, but they were not all dead at this stage.

Complete understanding of the Flood's complexity eludes us. The Flood processes were much more dynamic and complex than we have experienced or can fully comprehend. God promised such a thing would never happen again. Similarly, dinosaurs are extinct today, unavailable for observation and understanding. We must do our best, using Scripture as our guide.

* Dr. Morris is President of the Institute for Creation Research.

Cite this article: Morris, J. 2010. Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs. Acts & Facts. 39 (5): 15.

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
Water vs. Wind: The Controversial Coconino | The Creation Podcast:...
Welcome to the sixth episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old...

NEWS
Fossil Fish Finally Filmed
The bizarre lobe-finned coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) “that flourished some 350 million years ago”1 continues to be a thorn...

NEWS
The Mosasaur: A Giant Sea Dragon
Mosasaurs (order Squamata) were massive marine lizards that were common in the pre-Flood oceans. Therefore, it is not surprising that their fossils...

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
Summer 2025
...

NEWS
Was Life Detected on a Distant Planet?
There was celebration, albeit briefly, for the discovery of potential life on a planet called K2-18b, which is 124 lightyears away from Earth. The...

NEWS
Ichthyosaur Graveyard Explained by the Flood
Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that occur globally in the same rock layers as dinosaurs. Specimens with babies support the idea that they gave live...

CREATION PODCAST
What Do We Do With Geology's Unconforming Features? | The Creation...
Welcome to the fifth episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old...

NEWS
Freshwater Fish Fossil in Australia
Yet another fish fossil has been discovered. This one was found in the Australian desert and was dated by evolutionists to be “15 million years...

NEWS
May 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans...

NEWS
Acoustic Communication in Animals
We are all familiar with vocalizations in the animal world. For example, dogs bark, birds sing, frogs croak, and whales send forth their own distinct...