http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1493
Dinosaurs and Humans—Together?
Why is it so difficult for people to accept that dinosaurs and humans
once lived together? No doubt one of the reasons is due to the fact that
for many years, we have been inundated with information—on television,
in books, in classrooms, in movies, in magazines, and on all sorts of
paraphernalia—suggesting that dinosaurs and humans are separated by 60+
million years of geologic time. Thus, evolutionary scientists (and those
who accept their timeline) have constructed a barrier that must be
broken down in order to get people to consider the coexistence of
dinosaurs and humans.
A second reason why people are uneasy about the idea of dinosaurs and
humans living contemporaneously on Earth is that in the twenty-first
century, mankind is accustomed to thinking that almost all dinosaurs
were enormous killing machines. Geologist John Clayton has suggested,
for example: (1) “It is ludicrous to suggest that man cohabited with the
dinosaurs in an
Alley Oop kind of world” (1991, p. 37); and (2)
“Man could not have lived in a world full of dinosaurs, so by the time
God created Adam the dinosaurs were gone” (1990, p. 14).
People apparently seem to think that dinosaurs would have killed all of
the humans by biting them in half with their super-sized teeth, or by
hunting them down and cutting them open with five-inch long, sickle-like
claws. People think that the large plant eaters would have crushed
humans with their massive feet, or smashed them with their huge tails.
Humans are just too small, dumb, and scrawny to have lived during the
time of the dinosaurs. At least that seems to be the way evolutionary
scientists, moviemakers, book writers, and magazine editors portray
these “terrible lizards.”
Truly, dinosaurs were remarkable creatures. Some were extremely large.
Others were smaller, but with sharp teeth and long claws. Some had big
heads, some had giant tails, and some had both. Others were covered with
spikes or armored plates. People in general seem to think of them as
being almost invincible—animals that lived during a time in which man
simply could not have survived. They would have been unapproachable, and
certainly, untamable. Right? Just how is it that creationists can
reasonably believe that dinosaurs and humans once lived on this Earth
together at the same time?
EXTRAORDINARY EXISTING CREATURES
Most people today, it seems, are constantly on the go. Whether man or
woman, young or old, with children or without, we (especially in
America) are a busy people. Time seems to leave us before we realize we
had it. We go to school, attend classes, and learn what we are told. We
work hard, and we play hard. But how often do people step back from the
hustle and bustle of life, take a deep breath, and think outside of the
proverbial box? Consider the topic of dinosaurs. Rather than thinking
critically about the possibility of humans and dinosaurs coexisting on
Earth at one time in the past, most students are content to swallow
everything a high school teacher or college professor tells them about
the “wild world” of dinosaurs. In the classrooms of evolutionary
scientists, thinking outside the “evolutionary box” (e.g., questioning
whether it is logical to believe in the cohabitation of dinosaurs and
humans) is not acceptable conduct.
The truth is, humans live in a world that is home to
many
incredible creatures. Numerous large animals, some of which are very
intimidating, cohabit this Earth with humanity, and have for thousands
of years. Man generally shies away from some of these animals. Others,
however, he has been able to nurture and tame.
Komodo Dragons are the world’s largest lizards. They can grow to be 10
feet long (almost twice the length of an average human) and can weigh as
much as 275 pounds. Still, their short, stocky legs can carry them 15
miles per hour (as fast as most dogs run). After stalking and killing
deer, wild boar, and other prey, they devour their dinner in a matter of
minutes. Furthermore, these amazing creatures can consume up to 80% of
their own weight. A
100-pound Komodo can eat
80 pounds of
food in one meal! And, as if that is not enough “bad news” about an
animal with which we share this planet, millions of deadly bacteria grow
inside its mouth, and make any bite poisonous and potentially fatal.
Yet despite its size, sharp teeth, speed, power, poison, and digestive
habits, neither this animal, nor any other large reptile (e.g., the
anaconda), has kept man from flourishing on Earth.
While continuing to think outside of the “dangerous dinosaur” box,
consider the world’s largest land animal with which we share the Earth
today—the imperial elephant. With somewhat amusing features (like long
“noses” and big ears), these awesome animals can reach weights of up to
11 tons
(22,000 pounds!). One elephant easily could kill a man just by stepping
on him with one foot, or by striking him with its powerful trunk. Yet,
for thousands of years, humans have been known to live with, and even
tame, these massive beasts. Over 2,200 years ago, the empire of
Carthage, led by its infamous general, Hannibal, used tame African
elephants to cross the Swiss Alps and battle the Romans. Today, many
elephants still are being controlled by man. Tamed elephants are used in
various Asian countries in religious ceremonies, or to do physical
labor like hauling lumber or transporting people from place to place.
Elephants also are frequently seen performing at circuses. Amazing, is
it not, that humans have trained these creatures, which can outweigh
them by as much as 20,000 pounds—to perform some of the same tricks we
train dogs to perform?
Humans have been able to live alongside elephants for thousands of
years. Some humans and elephants even have become very good “friends.”
Why, then, is it so hard for people to think of humans living together
with some of the large dinosaurs? Yes, some dinosaurs like
Brachiosaurus
grew to be about four times larger than the largest elephants. Surely
we would all agree, however, that if man can work, play, and go to
battle alongside (or on top of!) elephants, it certainly is not absurd
to think that humans did similar things with certain
dinosaurs—especially when you consider that the
average dinosaur (about the size of a large cow—see Horner and Lessem, 1993, p. 124) was reasonably smaller than the average elephant.
Whales are the largest animals of which we are aware that have ever
existed on Earth—larger than any shark, elephant, or dinosaur. Blue
whales have been known to weigh as much as 400,000 pounds (200 tons!),
possess a heart the size of a Volkswagen Beetle
®,
and have a tongue large enough to hold 50 people. Yet, humans have
hunted many species of whales for centuries. Furthermore, whale
researchers and photographers have been able to get close enough to
touch these massive creatures in the open ocean.
Killer whales (also called orcas) are another one of God’s magnificent
creatures with which we live on the Earth. Orcas are one of the oceans’
fiercest predators, able even to kill much larger whales, including blue
whales, when swimming in packs (referred to as “pods”). They hunt so
well that very few animals can escape their predatory practices. Orcas
eat hundreds of thousands of pounds of mammal and fish meat every year.
Seals, sea lions, walruses, otters, polar bears, and even a moose have
all been found in the stomachs of these ferocious creatures.
Amazingly, these incredible “killing machines” (weighing up to 11,000
pounds!) can be captured, tamed, and trained to do all sorts of things.
The famous orcas living at Sea World in Orlando, Florida, occasionally
take their trainers for rides on their backs. Trainers of orcas even
have been known to stick their heads inside the whales’ mouths (which
usually hold about 40-56 large, 3-inch-long teeth) without fear of
getting bitten.
How can a mere 150-pound man teach a 10,000-pound whale to jump
hurdles, ring bells, and perform other tricks—without being harmed? The
answer is found in the fact that God made man in His own image, and gave
him the ability to have dominance over the lower creation. As early as
Genesis chapter one we read:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and
God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every
living thing that moves on the earth” (1:26-28, emp. added).
Regarding this supremacy that God gave mankind over His creation, the psalmist added:
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You
visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You
have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O Lord,
our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! (8:4-9, emp.
added).
The reason man can tame and/or live with even the largest and most
vicious creatures on Earth is because God created man “higher” than the
animals, and gave him the ability to “subdue” them and have “dominion”
over them. If man, in the twenty-first century, can live with (and tame)
such amazing creatures as the Komodo Dragon, the elephant, the blue
whale, and the killer whale, as well as lions (“the king of all
beasts”), tigers, and bears, it should not be difficult to accept the
fact that man once lived and interacted with dinosaurs. James wrote:
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea,
is tamed and has been tamed by mankind” (3:7).
EVIDENCE FROM DRAGON LEGENDS
Most people likely are unaware that
the word “dinosaur” was not coined until the 1840s.
Thus, if these creatures lived alongside humans prior to that time (and
the evidence indicates that they did—see Thompson and Harrub, 2003, pp.
197-226), they were not called dinosaurs. So what were they called?
Dragons. Numerous cultures throughout the world possess ancient stories
about “dragons” that closely resemble what we today would call dinosaurs
(which is to be expected if dinosaurs and humans actually lived
together). From ancient texts in Mesopotamia, China, and Europe,
creatures with scaly skin, slender necks, and long tails are described.
In far-eastern countries such as China, dragons often are described in
ancient writings. Some of them are said to have been domesticated, and
even were used to pull the chariots of Chinese rulers. Also, many of the
ancient Chinese people are said to have used “dragon bones” for special
medicines and potions. While visiting the continent of Asia in the
1200s, Italian explorer Marco Polo said that he saw long reptiles called
Lindworms that easily ran as fast as a horse! In the British Isles,
hundreds of dragon stories have come down to the present day. One
account told of an animal with a crested head, teeth like a saw, and a
long tail. Also, in 1449 in England, it was reported that two huge
reptiles were seen fighting on the banks of the river Stour.
The epic poem
Beowulf describes a battle in Denmark between a
man named Beowulf and a terrible monster called Grendel. Beowulf was a
real person. He lived from A.D. 495 to 583, and
was king of a group of people known as the Geatingas. Grendel was a
bipedal creature that possessed large, powerful jaws, and had small,
weak forearms. (Beowulf slew him, you may recall, by tearing off one of
those arms.) As Bill Cooper inquired:
Is there a predatory animal from the fossil record known to us, who
had two massive hindlegs and two comparatively puny forelimbs? There is
indeed.... I doubt that the reader needs to be guided by me as to which
particular species of predatory dinosaur the details of his physical
description fit best (1995, pp. 159,160).
Could it be—
Tyrannosaurus rex?! Why not? The description of Grendel, recorded sometime before the tenth century A.D. (over nine centuries before the relatively recent discovery of dinosaur fossils), more closely resembles a
Tyrannosaurus rex than any animal alive today. (NOTE: There is no indication that either Beowulf or Grendel was mythical in nature.)
If humans today can manipulate animals that are
100 times their
own size (e.g., the elephant), that have a mouthful of 3-inch-long,
dagger-like teeth (e.g., the killer whale), or that have claws that
could be used to rip human beings apart (e.g., lions, tigers, and
bears), why is it so difficult to believe that humans and dinosaurs once
inhabited this Earth
at the same time? Admittedly, many human
lives likely were lost to certain species of dinosaurs for various
reasons. But, for thousands of years, people also have lost their lives
to animals that still inhabit the Earth today (like sharks, tigers,
lions, poisonous reptiles, bears, elephants, etc.). Although we probably
will never know exactly which details of the countless number of dragon
stories are fact or fantasy, the simple truth is that the huge lizards
in them sound very much like some of the dinosaurs we know once existed.
Ancient paintings, figurines, rock carvings, and other such
illustrations also have been found throughout the world that point to a
time when dinosaurs and humans once roamed this Earth together. One
cannot help but wonder, if they never did coexist (as evolutionists
would have us believe), what logical explanation can be given for the
existence of hundreds of dragon legends, and the thousands of artifacts
that either describe or depict these creatures hundreds or thousands of
years before modern man began learning about dinosaurs as a result of
the fossil record?
Sadly, however, it is not just evolutionists who take issue with the
coexistence of humans and dinosaurs. In a book he authored in 1998
titled
The Genesis Question, well-known progressive creationist
Hugh Ross ridiculed the concept that the biblical creatures, behemoth
and leviathan, were dinosaurs or dinosaur-like animals. According to
Ross, “No creatures on Earth, alive or extinct, fit the literal
descriptions” of the animals that God described to the patriarch Job in
Job 40:15-41:34. Furthermore, “No dinosaur...ever breathed fire or smoke
or had bones of iron and brass” (p. 48). Ross has chosen to believe
that the magnificent creatures described by God in His second speech to
Job were the hippopotamus and the crocodile.
Like so many professed Christians who have tried to amalgamate the long
evolutionary ages with the biblical account of Creation, Ross’s
reservations to accept the likelihood of behemoth being a dinosaur and
leviathan being a dinosaur-like, water-living reptile are not the result
of a sensible, judicious exegesis of the biblical text. A man who
believes that dinosaurs “dominated the Earth’s land and sea life from
250 million to 65 million years ago” (p. 48), and that “no credible
evidence whatever suggests the coexistence of primates and the great
dinosaurs” (p. 49), obviously will have a difficult time accepting that
behemoth and leviathan (which existed at the same time as Job) were
dinosaurs or dinosaur-like animals. [For additional information on the
cohabitation of humans and dinosaurs, see Thompson and Harrub, 2003. For
a discussion on the reality and the identity of behemoth and leviathan,
see Lyons, 2001.]
Two of the main reasons Ross gives for rejecting the dinosaur-like
features of these creatures are: (1) “no creatures on Earth, alive or
extinct, fit the literal descriptions;” and (2) “no dinosaur...ever
breathed fire or smoke.” According to Ross, such “facts” present a
problem when Bible students understand these creatures as being
dinosaurs.
We wonder if Ross could answer two questions for us. First, although admittedly no creature
alive today fits the “literal descriptions” of leviathan and behemoth, how can Ross confidently assert that
no extinct animal
resembles the description of behemoth or leviathan? How does Ross know
the description of every creature that has lived on the Earth? How does
he know what feats they were capable of performing? Ross might suggest:
“But common sense tells us that no creature had ribs of ‘iron’ or bones
of ‘brass’ ” (cf. Job 40:18). True. But when God employed such metaphors
and similes, any reasonable Bible student can understand that He was
stressing the fact that behemoth’s bones were incredibly solid—
like
they were made of solid metal. Interestingly, although dinosaurs had
the largest, most massive bones of any known animal that has ever walked
the Earth (e.g., one fossilized
Argentinosaurus vertebra was
five feet high and five feet wide—see Meyer, 2002), and even though they
are known to have the most massive tails of any animal ever known
(e.g., the 40-foot-long tail of
Diplodocus), which could
reasonably be likened to a “cedar” (Job 40:17), Ross has chosen rather
to believe that behemoth was a hippo—an animal with a tail shorter than
many dogs and cats.
A second question we would appreciate Hugh Ross answering for us is how
he can be so certain that “no dinosaur...ever breathed fire or smoke.”
By his own candid admission, Ross never has seen a dinosaur (since he
believes they became extinct 65+ million years ago), and thus he
obviously never has observed every dinosaur that walked on land (or
dinosaur-like reptile that swam in the oceans). As Henry M. Morris
observed in his book,
The Biblical Basis for Modern Science: “To
say that the leviathan could not have breathed fire is to say much more
than we know about leviathans (or water dragons or sea serpents)” (1984,
p. 359, parenthetical item in orig.). When a person considers that
electric eels can produce enough electricity (500-600 volts) to stun a
horse without ever shocking itself, that anglerfish and fireflies can
manufacture “light,” that the Komodo dragon can store deadly bacteria
inside its own mouth, and that bombardier beetles can produce a caustic,
noxious fluid that can be expelled from their bodies at a temperature
of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it is not difficult to accept the possibility
that certain dinosaurs or dinosaur-like, water-living reptiles were
capable of expelling certain hot gaseous fumes that might ignite.
Hugh Ross, it seems, has forgotten that all animals, including the
dinosaurs, were designed and created by God on days five and six of
Creation. If Jehovah wanted to create one or more dinosaurs that could
expel fire, smoke, or some deadly chemical out of their mouths without
harming themselves, He certainly
could have done so. Bearing in mind the way that
God
described leviathan to Job in Job 41:18-21, and considering that many
secular stories have circulated for millennia that describe “fiery
dragons,” it is logical to conclude that He
did create such
creatures. It seems fitting to ask Dr. Ross the same rhetorical question
God asked Abraham long ago: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
(Genesis 18:14). Who is Hugh Ross to say that “no dinosaur...ever
breathed fire”?
EVIDENCE FROM THE BIBLE
Although evolutionists are quick to discount anything that the Bible
has to say about the coexistence of humans and dinosaurs, anyone who
claims to be a Christian (and thus trusts the Bible to be God’s
revelation to man) must accept whatever information they find in the
Bible to be accurate. In regard to the coexistence of humans and
dinosaurs, many modern-day “Bible believers” either have rejected what
the Bible has to say on the subject, or else they never have given it
much thought in light of various Bible passages. According to the
Scriptures, the whole of God’s earthly creation was brought into
existence within six days. Exodus 20:11 states: “For in six days the
Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
and rested the seventh day” (cf. also Exodus 31:17). The apostle John
declared that “
all things were made by Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). If God created the Earth,
the heavens, the seas, and
everything in them in six days, what does that omit? It omits
absolutely nothing! [NOTE: Genesis 1:31 records that the Creation was “perfect,” and Genesis 2:1 states that it was “finished.”]
The Genesis record goes on to inform us that no animals were created
before day five, at which time God created sea-dwelling creatures and
birds (Genesis 1:20-23). On the sixth day of Creation, Genesis chapters 1
and 2 indicate that God made
all of the land animals, as well as the first two humans, Adam and Eve. According to Genesis 2:19-20,
Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam
to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living
creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the
birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there
was not found a helper comparable to him (emp. added).
God miraculously “brought...every beast of the field” to Adam in order that he might give them names, and also realize that
his
mate had not yet been created by God. A Christian cannot reasonably
reject the view that dinosaurs (as land-dwelling animals) and humans
once lived together, because
Adam lived alongside dinosaurs. He
even gave them names. Just as Adam lived on the Earth as a contemporary
with such “intimidating” animals as lions, bears, rhinoceroses,
hippopotami, and elephants, the inescapable conclusion is that he also
lived with dinosaurs. [NOTE: Through the years,
attempts have been made to introduce into the biblical record the
concept of an old Earth so that evolutionary concepts (such as the
separation of men and dinosaurs by millions of years) could be made
acceptable to Bible believers. These attempts (generally known as the
Day-Age Theory and the Gap Theory) have failed, because the premises
upon which they were developed were false. For an in-depth refutation of
these theories (and others), see Thompson, 2000.]
Bible believers who question the possibility of humans being able to
cohabitate the Earth with dinosaurs should consider the types of
creatures with which Noah and his family cohabited for more than 365
days while on the ark. Genesis 7:13-16 states:
On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and
Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind,
all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every
sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in (emp. added).
Representatives of
all kinds of the land animals of the Earth were on the ark. Earlier, God had instructed Noah, saying:
And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every
sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and
female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and
of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive (6:19-20, emp. added).
Similar to how God “brought” the animals to Adam centuries earlier in
order to be named, He told Noah that all of the animals he was to take
on the ark would “come to” him. Animals of all kinds migrated to where
Noah lived, and joined him and his family on the ark. For a little over
one year, Noah and his seven family members lived on a boat with bears,
bats, alligators, gorillas, lions, tigers, and many other animals that
humans normally try to avoid. Also included in this list of land animals
would have been dinosaurs (since by definition dinosaurs are
land-living animals). If dinosaurs were living during the time of Noah
(and there is overwhelming evidence that they must have been, since
humans after that time have encountered dinosaurs), the simple truth is
that they were on the ark.
Sadly, it is very unpopular to teach that mankind once coexisted with
dinosaurs. The average person has been programmed by his or her
environment to think that humans and dinosaurs never could have lived
together. Not only are we told that dinosaurs became extinct over 60
million years ago, but the mindset of most people seems to be that even
if this alleged 60-million-year gap of time did not exist, these
creatures would have been far too dangerous for us to exist along with
them. Even many
Christians have a difficult time accepting the
idea of humans and dinosaurs cohabiting the Earth at the same time. For
some reason, when these Christians read the Creation account or rehearse
the story of Noah and the Flood, they rarely consider these accounts in
light of the many kinds of animals that have since become
extinct.
Draw a human standing next to a dinosaur (except for cartoonish
purposes), and prepare to be ridiculed. Draw a human riding a small
dinosaur, and you likely will be labeled eccentric. Few people seem to
care that ancient art depicts Indians riding these creatures, or that
certain ancient Chinese writings mention dinosaur-like creatures pulling
the chariots of Chinese rulers. Even many “Bible believers” seem to
dismiss the historical and biblical evidence of humans and dinosaurs
living at the same time and within close proximity to each other. But
draw a picture of a man riding on the back of a 20,000-pound elephant,
and no one has a problem with it. Write an article about the woman you
saw at Sea World riding on the back of an 8,000 pound killer whale, or
about how she stuck her head inside the whale’s massive mouth, and
everyone understands these stories as being acceptable observations of
reality. Tell a friend about the man at the circus who has tamed lions,
tigers, and bears, and that is nothing but old news. Just refrain from
telling people about the evidence for man’s coexistence with dinosaurs,
because “that is absurd”—or so we are told.
If man can tame many types of dangerous and ferocious animals that live
on Earth today, why is it so difficult to think of man being capable of
surviving alongside dinosaurs? Ancient man was able to build pyramids
that stood nearly 500 feet high. He constructed the Great Pyramid with
over two million blocks of stone that had to be cut, transported, and
assembled to create the almost six-million-ton structure. To this day,
modern man still does not know exactly how the Egyptians built these
great pyramids. More than one thousand years before astronomers
discovered that the length of a year was precisely 365.2422 days,
ancient man (without any help from computers or modern measuring
devices) calculated the length of a year as 365.2420 days long. He also
figured the orbital period of Venus to be 584 days, when current science
shows it at 583.92 days. Our early forefathers were capable of
tunneling through rock in order to mine precious metals from deep within
the Earth (Job 28). Humans formed tools out of bronze and iron (Genesis
4:22). And a man named Noah even built an ark thousands of years ago
that was larger than many ships of today (Genesis 6-8).
Our forefathers were not the ignorant, unlearned nitwits that many
evolutionists today make them out to be. Rather, our ancestors were
intelligent individuals who were more than capable of surviving
alongside dinosaurs. They were made in the image of God, and given
dominion “over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis
1:28)—including the dinosaurs.
DINOSAURS AND HUMANS—
WHERE IS THE FOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR THEIR COEXISTENCE?
But if dinosaurs and humans did once live as contemporaries on Earth,
why is it that human fossils have not been found alongside, near, or in
the same strata as dinosaur fossils? If they lived together and died
together, shouldn’t there be evidence from the fossil record of their
coexistence?
Admittedly, at times questions like these appear somewhat puzzling. We
know from the biblical record that dinosaurs and humans coexisted.
Furthermore, various ancient paintings, figurines, rock carvings, and
historical references confirm they were contemporaries upon the Earth.
Why, then, at first glance, does the fossil record seem not to
corroborate this information?
First, fossils are rare. Not every living plant, animal, or human fossilizes after death. In fact, it is
extremely rare
for things once living to fossilize. Dead animals lying in a field or
on the side of the road do not fossilize. In order for something to
become fossilized, it must be buried rapidly in just the right place.
Consider as an example all the bison that were slaughtered and left to
rot on the prairies of the Old West. In those days, you could buy a seat
on a train, pull up to a herd of bison, and keep shooting out of the
window until you were either out of bullets or your barrel overheated.
When everyone had enough, the train would move on, leaving the dead and
dying animals behind. By 1885, millions of bison had been reduced to
just 500 (Jones, n.d.). What happened to all of their remains? We do not
see them on the prairies today. Why? Because their bones and flesh were
scavenged by worms, birds, insects, and other animals. The smallest
portions were digested by bacteria, fungi, and enzymatic degradation
until the buffalo remains were gone. Even oxygen plays a part in
breaking down the chemicals that make up the living body. Evolutionary
scientist James Powell described another situation where a rather large
population of animals died. He wrote:
[I]n the winter after the great Yellowstone fires of 1988, thousands
of elk perished from extreme cold coupled with lack of food. Late the
following spring, their carcasses were strewn everywhere. Yet only a few
years later, bones from the great elk kill are scarce. The odds that a
single one will be preserved so that it can be found 65 million years
from now approach zero. At best we can expect to find fossil evidence of
only a tiny fraction of the animals that once lived. The earth’s normal
processes destroy or hide most of the clues (1998, p. xv).
Normally, as Powell indicated, living things do not fossilize. Under
normal conditions, living things decay and rot. It is
atypical
for plants and animals to fossilize, because they must avoid even the
tiniest of scavengers, bacteria, fungi, etc. For bones to fossilize,
they must be buried—the deeper and sooner the better. Fine sediments,
like mud and silt, are good because they block out oxygen. In this
“protected” environment, bones and teeth may last long enough to
mineralize. But,
normally, carcasses do not find themselves in such environments.
Second, although dinosaur graveyards have been discovered in various
countries around the world (e.g., Tanzania, Africa; Jenson, Utah [USA])
where thousands of dinosaur bones are jumbled together (obviously due to
some sort of catastrophe—e.g., a flood), most people are unaware of the
fact that, in museums, “in spite of the intense popular and scientific
interest in the dinosaurs and the well-publicized efforts of generations
of dinosaur hunters, only about 2,100 articulated dinosaur bones (two
or more aligned in the same position as in life)” exist (Powell, 1998,
p. xv, parenthetical comment in orig.; see also Dodson, 1990, 87:7608;
Lewin, 1990). Furthermore, in an article in the October 1990 issue of
the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Peter Dodson of the University of Pennsylvania reported that almost half (45.3%) of all dinosaur genera are based on a
single
specimen, and 74% are represented by five specimens or less (p. 7608).
Even some of the most famous dinosaurs are based on a fraction of what
they were originally. For example, the 120-foot-long
Argentinosaurus
replica (housed in the Fernbank Museum o Natural History in Atlanta,
Georgia) is based on only 10 percent of its remains (a dozen backbone
vertebrae, a few limb bones and part of the hips) [Meyer, 2002].
Truthfully, although dinosaurs have captured the attention of scientists
for more than 150 years, their fossilized remains are not as prevalent
as many would think.
Third, humans make up an infinitesimal portion of the fossil record.
Due to the number of drawings of our alleged human ancestors that appear
in the news on a regular basis, one might get the feeling that hominoid
and human fossils are ubiquitous. But such is not the case. More than
two decades ago, in an article in
New Scientist, John Reader
wrote: “The entire hominid collection known today would barely cover a
billiard table (1981, 89:802). One year later, Lyall Watson similarly
stated: “The fossils that decorate our family tree are so scarce that
there are still more scientists than specimens. The remarkable fact is
that
all the physical evidence we have for human evolution can still be placed, with room to spare, inside a single coffin”
(1982, 90:44, emp. added). It is true, of course, that additional
alleged hominid fossils have been discovered since Watson and Reader
made their comments, but none qualifies as a legitimate human ancestor
(see Harrub and Thompson, 2003, pp. 14ff.). In a conversation with James
Powell, president and director of the Los Angeles County Museum of
Natural History, renowned evolutionary paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey
gave some insight into her frustrations in searching for hominid (or
human) fossils when she described her “nearly futile hunt for human bone
in a new field area as
four years of hard work producing only
three nondescript scraps” (see Powell, 1998, p. xv, emp. added). More recently, David Begun concluded an article in
Science
titled “The Earliest Hominins—Is Less More?,” by admitting: “[T]he
level of uncertainty in the available direct evidence at this time
renders irreconcilable differences of opinion inevitable. The solution
is in the mantra of all paleontologists:
We need more fossils!”
(2004, 303:1479-1480, emp. added). Although hominid/human fossils are
the most sought-after fossils in the world, scientists readily admit
that few such fossils have been found.
As you can see, the question “Why don’t we find dinosaur and human
fossils together?” is extremely misleading. The truth is, fossils
themselves are rare. And, of all those things that do fossilize, it
appears that less than 1% are vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles,
birds, or mammals) [see Snelling, 1991, p. 30]. Furthermore,
human fossils
make up a microscopic part of the fossil record. Searching for one is
like trying to find the one proverbial needle in a haystack. The real
question then, is not, “Why don’t we find dinosaur and human fossils
together?,” but, “Where are all of the human fossils?”
Simply because human fossils apparently have not been found with
dinosaur fossils does not make the case for the coexistence of dinosaurs
and humans any less credible. Think about it. Where are the human
fossils that have been found with the recently extinct Pyrenean Ibex?
Can we prove that Dodo birds and humans once lived together by observing
their fossilized remains together in a particular layer of rock? We
know that they once coexisted, but can a person point to the fossil
record for such information? The chance of finding human fossils is
rare. The chance of finding exactly the combination of fossils for which
one is searching (in this case, dinosaurs and humans) is even less
likely.
Fourth, considering that sedimentary rocks (the sort of rocks in which
fossils are most likely to be found) cover two-thirds of the continents
and are over a mile thick on average, even if there are dinosaur and
human remains fossilized in the same rock, the chance of them being
exposed, discovered, recognized, and reported together is very
improbable. They might be exposed somewhere in the world today (like in a
mine, road cutting, or a cliff), but unless they are discovered before
the wind, Sun, and rain reduce them to dust, such exposure is useless to
scientists.
Furthermore, it may very well be the case that these bones
have been discovered together
in times past, but for at least two reasons, were not reported. First,
someone who might have found these bones in a quarry, could react by
saying, “Hey look guys, it’s a bunch of old bones. But quick, pass me
another stick of dynamite so we can get the next ton of coal out of
here.” The proof that men and dinosaurs were fossilized together may
have gone up in smoke years ago. Second, it may be possible that human
bones
have been found by scientists alongside dinosaur fossils,
yet simply have not been reported widely. By saying this, we do not mean
to accuse evolutionary researchers of dishonesty. Rather, we simply
believe they are afflicted with presuppositions that have affected their
judgment. It is
evolutionary geologists and paleontologists who are doing most of the research in this area. If they
did
happen upon human fossils and dinosaur fossils in the same strata, is
it not possible that they would think to themselves, “Oh, these human
fossils are an anomaly; they
cannot have actually existed in this
time period because evolution is true”? If evolutionists can “confuse” a
dolphin’s rib for a human collarbone (Anderson, 1983, p. 199), or an
extinct pig’s tooth for a human tooth (e.g., Nebraska Man; see Harrub
and Thompson, 2003, pp. 88-89), then similar mistakes could easily be
made concerning human and dinosaur fossils. If one ever has been found
with another, scientists could have misinterpreted the “anomaly.”
Because (from an evolutionary perspective) human fossils “shouldn’t be
where they are,” they might very well not get reported as being where
they are!
Additionally, we find a number of evidences in the fossil record which
clearly refute the evolutionary notion that humans and other large
mammals were not present during the “age of the reptiles.” Evolutionary
timelines present mammals as having evolved from reptiles. Raven and
Johnson, in their college text,
Biology, wrote: “During the
Mesozoic Era, the reptiles, which had evolved earlier from the
amphibians, became dominant and in turn gave rise to the mammals and the
birds” (1989, p. 432). George Gaylord Simpson and his co-authors
contended that no “advanced mammals” were present during the age of the
dinosaurs. Why not? The dinosaurs allegedly became extinct in the
Cretaceous Period, and the only mammals that had evolved up to that
point were “
small, mostly about mouse-sized, and rare” (1957, p.
797, emp. added). This is a logical explanation if one contends that
mammals evolved from reptiles, because that scenario require mammals to
appear much later in the picture.
But therein lies the problem. A significant discovery, reported in the January 13, 2005 issue of
Nature,
has challenged everything evolutionists have ever maintained regarding
the cohabitation of dinosaurs and mammals. The Associated Press noted:
Villagers digging in China’s rich fossil beds have uncovered the
preserved remains of a tiny dinosaur in the belly of a mammal, a
startling discovery for scientists who have long believed early mammals
couldn’t possibly attack and eat a dinosaur (Verrengia, 2005).
Not only is there substantial proof of large mammals coexisting with dinosaurs, but now we also have scientific evidence of a
large mammal eating a dinosaur! Scientists discovered the fossil remains of two different mammals. One (
Repenomamus giganticus) was 50% larger than mammals previously considered to be living alongside dinosaurs. The other,
Repenomamus robustus, was fully intact—
and had a dinosaur in its stomach. Yaoming Hu and his co-authors wrote in
Nature:
During preparation of the specimen, a patch of small bones was
revealed within the ribcage, on the ventral sides of the posterior left
thoracic ribs and vertebrae, where the stomach is positioned in extant
mammals. Unduplicated dentition [teeth—EL/BT], limb bones and phalanges [bones of the toes or “fingers”—EL/BT] in the patch confirm that these bones belong to a juvenile individual of Psittacosaurus, an herbivorous dinosaur that is common in Jehol Biota. The serrated teeth in the patched skeleton are typical of juvenile Psittacosaurus. The skull and most of the skeleton of the juvenile Psittacosaurus are broken, disarticulated and displaced, in contrast to the preservation of the R. robustus skeleton, which is essentially in its original anatomical relation. Although fragmentary, the bones of the Psittacosaurus are packed in a restricted area. These conditions indicate that the juvenile skeleton ofPsittacosaurus is the remaining stomach contents of the mammal (Hu, et al., 2005, 433:151).
In discussing this amazing find,
Nature writer Anne Weil
observed: “Discoveries of large, carnivorous mammals from the Cretaceous
challenge the long-held view that primitive mammals were small and
uninteresting.
Have paleontologists been asking the wrong question?”
(2005, 433:116, emp. added). Maybe a better question would be: Have
paleontologists been analyzing the data via evolutionary
presuppositions?
It may be that dinosaur and human fossils will never be found together.
But, regardless of whether they are or not, the evidence for the
coexistence of humans and dinosaurs at one time in the past is
undeniable to the unbiased truth seeker. Human footprints in coal veins
that are allegedly 250 million years old, human artifacts buried in
limestone dated at 135 million years old, clay figurines of dinosaurs
from an ancient civilization in Mexico, ancient dinosaur petroglyphs,
and much, much more, all point to a conclusion that evolutionists will
not accept—dinosaurs and humans once lived on Earth together.
REFERENCES
Anderson, I. (1983), “Humanoid Collarbone Exposed as Dolphin’s Rib,”
New Scientist, April 28.
Begun, David (2004), “The Earliest Hominins—Is Less More?,”
Science, 3003:1478-1480, March 5.
Clayton, John N. (1990),
Dinosaurs—One of God’s More Interesting and Useful Creations (South Bend, IN: Privately published by the author).
Clayton, John N. (1991),
Does God Exist? Christian Evidences Intermediate Course Teacher’s Guide (South Bend, IN: Privately published by the author).
Cooper, Bill (1995),
After the Flood (Chicester, England: New Wine Press).
Dodson, Peter (1990), “Counting Dinosaurs: How Many Kinds Were There?,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 87:7608-7612, October.
Harrub, Brad and Bert Thompson (2003),
The Truth About Human Origins (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Horner, John R. and Don Lessem (1993),
The Complete T. rex:
How Stunning New Discoveries are Changing Our Understanding of the World’s Most Famous Dinosaur (New York: Simon & Schuster).
Hu, Yaoming, Jin Meng, Yuanqing Wang, and Chuankui Li (2005), “Large Mesozoic Mammals Fed on Young Dinosaurs,”
Nature, 433:149-152, January 13.
Jones, Alvin T. (no date), “The American Bison,” [On-line], URL: http://www.texasbi son.org/bisonstory.html.
Lewin, Roger (1990), “Science: Dinosaur Count Reveals Surprisingly Few Species,”
New Scientist Archive, 128[1745], December, [On-line], URL: http://archive.newscientist.com/ secure/article/article.jsp?rp=1&id=mg 12817452.700.
Lyons, Eric (2001), “Behemoth and Leviathan—Creatures of Controversy,”
Reason & Revelation, 21:1-7, January.
Meyer, Pedro (2002), “Does the Original Matter?,” WashingtonPost.com, [On-line], URL: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/zonezero/jan_02.htm.
Morris, Henry M. (1984),
The Biblical Basis for Modern Science (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Powell, James Lawrence (1998),
Night Comes to the Cretaceous (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company).
Raven, Peter H. and George B. Johnson (1989),
Biology, (St. Louis, MO: Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing), second edition.
Reader, John (1981), “Whatever Happened to
Zinjanthropus?,”
New Scientist, 89:802, March 26.
Ross, Hugh (1998)
The Genesis Question (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress).
Simpson, George Gaylord, C.S. Pittendrigh and L.H. Tiffany (1957),
Life: An Introduction to Biology (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company).
Snelling, Andrew (1991), “Where are All the Human Fossils?,”
Creation Ex Nihilo, 14[1]:28-33, December 1991-February 1992.
Thompson, Bert (2000),
Creation Compromises (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), second edition.
Thompson Bert and Brad Harrub (2003),
Investigating Christian Evidences (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Verrengia, Joseph (2005), “Fossils Show a Mammal Turned Tables, Devoured Dinosaur for Last Meal,” [On-line], URL: http://www. cp.org/english/online/full/science/050 112/g011204A.html.
Watson, Lyall (1982), “The Water People,”
Science Digest, 90[5]:44, May.
Weil, Anne (2005), “Living Large in the Cretaceous,”
Nature, 433:116, January 13.
