Whole Lizard Encased in Amber | The Institute for Creation Research

Whole Lizard Encased in Amber

The Amber Museum in the Mexican city of San Cristóbal de las Casas has a new specimen. Amber sometimes preserves insects, but this specimen contains a whole lizard. This unique discovery confirms two clear trends found in amber fossils.

The discovery site lies within the state of Chiapas in far southern Mexico. Amber collecting has become a key economic activity in that region.

Fox News Latino reported this remarkably rare find, which not only preserves the entire body of a vertebrate, but also preserves some of that creature's original soft tissues.1

Creation Science Update reported the 2008 discovery of an amber-encased gecko leg from Myanmar.2 Although dated at 100 million years, it was identical to modern gecko legs and instantly doubled geckos' supposed length of stay on planet Earth.2 That discovery confirmed one clear trend—animals and plants found as amber fossils look remarkably similar to their living counterparts.

Although some amber-encased plants, protists, and insects—or often just their varieties—have apparently gone extinct, many clearly identify with recognizable forms—including spiders, yeast, hair, ants, flies, butterflies, algae, amoebae, and even gall mites.3,4,5,6

A second clear trend among amber finds, one that the Mexican lizard fossil also confirms, has to do with their ages. Assigning an age of millions of years to these artifacts introduces a thus-far unsolved problem—how to explain the preservation of pristine tissues and whole body structures after millions of supposed years lying within Earth's layers.7

Fox News Latino quoted Francisco Riquelme of the National Autonomous University of Mexico describing the amber specimen as, "a complete and articulated animal that also preserves remains of soft tissue and skin."1

How can this possibly be true, given that "specimens found in the state date back a minimum of 23 million years ago because that is the age of the amber that is extracted from deposits in the municipalities of Simojovel, Huitihupan, El Bosque, Pueblo Nuevo, Palenque, Totolapa and Malpaso?"1 After all, lizard tissues are made of proteins, and studies have clearly shown that proteins turn to dust in only thousands of years—especially in tropical temperatures.8

Like original insect biochemicals and intact body tissues found in amber deposits around the world, these lizard remains retain their pristine quality. If they're really millions of years old, the body tissues would have certainly turned to dust. Of course, if these ambers originated within the last few thousand years, the age problem dissolves.

And both trends—animal kinds that stay the same without showing evolution between basic forms, and soft tissues that stay the same without showing even a million years' worth of decay—match the Bible's concept of recent and complete creation.

References

  1. 23-Million-Year-Old Lizard Fossil Found In Mexico. Fox News Latino. Posted on latino.foxnews.com July 8, 2013, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  2. Thomas, B. Fossilized Gecko Fits Creation Model. Creation Science Update. Posted on icr.org September 8, 2008, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  3. Thomas, B. Amber-Trapped Spider Web Too Old for Evolution. Creation Science Update. Posted on icr.org November 20, 2009, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  4. Thomas, B. Scan of Amber-Trapped Spider Shows Recent Origin. Creation Science Update. Posted on icr.org May 27, 2011, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  5. Thomas, B. '45-Million-Year-Old' Brewer's Yeast Still Works. Creation Science Update. Posted on icr.org August 17, 2009, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  6. Thomas, B. Why Do Creatures in Ancient Amber Look So Modern? Creation Science Updates. Posted on icr.org September 7, 2012, accessed July 22, 2013. 
  7. Thomas, B. 2010. Amber Jewelry: A Conversation Piece for Creation Evidence. Acts & Facts. 39 (9): 17.
  8. Buckley, M., Collins, M.J. and 25 others. 2008. Comment on "Protein Sequences from Mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex Revealed by Mass Spectrometry." Science. 319 (5859): 33.

Image credit: Copyright © 2013 Fox News Latino. Adapted for use in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holders.

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

Article posted on July 25, 2013.

The Latest
NEWS
The Origin of Eukaryotes
Eukaryotes are multicellular organisms that contain diverse differentiated cell types. Within almost every cell there are subcellular compartments called...

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...

DAYS OF PRAISE DEVOTIONALS
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...