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Dinos in the News

June 15, 2004

Three dinosaur finds were reported in the last month: Sauropod: A new kind of sauropod was found in the Morrison Formation (Jurassic) in Montana, reported National Geographic News. This kind of dinosaur was unexpected, and suggests an unknown fauna existed in a state known more for its Cretaceous meat-eaters. The skull of this sauropod had […]

Fossils

Do Fossils Show a Worldwide Record of Evolution?

May 21, 2004

The fossil record provides the acid test for evolutionary theory. Everyone who walks a real dog by a poodle knows that small-scale variation occurs among living species, but non-evolutionists get understandably annoyed when Darwinians extrapolate the observed variations to encompass all of life: as if to say, because finch beaks vary, therefore humans had bacteria […]

Fossils

Fossil Water Lily Matches Modern

May 19, 2004

Three Cornell botanists found fossil water lilies from the early Cretaceous that look nearly identical to modern ones, except that they are smaller. The exquisitely-detailed fossils were preserved in a New Jersey clay pit by a process of coalification. Water lilies (family Nymphaeaceae) are presumed by evolutionists to be among the earliest flowering plants (angiosperms). […]

Fossils

Another Impact Theory for Permian Extinction Proposed

May 13, 2004

Richard Kerr was very cautious in his announcement in Science1 about a new claim about an asteroid impact near Australia causing the Permian Extinction. He went to lengths to point out that the evidence is not clear, and that many other scientists disagree. After describing the “proposed” impact site, he cautioned: Not so fast, say […]

Birds

Fossil Hummingbird, Arthropod Look Modern

May 7, 2004

Science announced that a rare hummingbird fossil has been found in Germany and, though assumed to be 30 million years old, is indistinguishable from living New-World hummingbirds. This upsets the standard theory that hummingbirds evolved in the New World only. Writing in the May 7 issue,1 discoverer Gerald Mayr said, I report on tiny skeletons […]

Dinosaurs

Feathered Dinosaur Exhibit Raises Doubts

May 6, 2004

Can you trust those fossils on display in your local museum, the ones showing “Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight”? No less than the respected journal Nature1 is concerned they may have been gathered and sold illegally, and are no more trustworthy than the 1999 Archaeoraptor hoax that embarrassed National Geographic magazine. […]

Fossils

Slowing Down the Cambrian Explosion

April 14, 2004

“Although the cause of the Cambrian radiation is unknown,” states a story in Science Now, maybe it wasn’t as rapid as previously thought. Bruce Lieberman (U. of Kansas) is toying with the idea that trilobites, those icons of the Cambrian era, radiated into various ecological niches 65 million years earlier than the ~520 million year […]

Dinosaurs

How Could Polar Dinosaurs Survive Freezing, Darkness?

March 29, 2004

Dinosaur fossils have been found in the northern and southern polar regions.

Geology

Rethinking the Geological Layers

March 5, 2004

One of the most formative ideas in Darwin’s intellectual journey was the concept of gradualism, the principle of “small agencies and their cumulative effects.” This idea became a dominant motif in his philosophy of life. Describing how the assumption of gradualism permeated his last book (on earthworms) shortly before his death, Janet Browne, in her […]

Fossils

Oldest Fossil Insect Alleged

February 11, 2004

In a pattern that sounds familiar, an insect fossil has been found that (1) is the oldest ever discovered, and (2) shows that “winged flight may have emerged earlier than previously thought.” Estimates put this fossil at about 400 million years old, among the first creatures to colonize the land. Though wing impressions were not […]

Dating Methods

Hundreds of Whales Buried Suddenly in Diatoms

February 2, 2004

A remarkable fossil find has been found in Peru: 346 whales buried in diatomaceous earth. The preservation of the whales is so pristine and complete, the authors of the paper in the Feb. 2004 issue of Geology1 conclude that the whales had to be buried rapidly, in days or weeks. If so, it represents a […]

Fossils

Extinction Puzzle Explained as Selection Effect

February 1, 2004

It’s not evolution, it’s statistics. That’s the conclusion of Robert Scotland and Michael Sanderson in the Jan. 30 issue of Science. What’s the puzzle? When biodiversity is examined in the context of species richness, a consistent feature emerges: Most taxonomic groups are species-poor, relatively few are species-rich, and the frequency distribution has the shape of […]

Fossils

La Brea Tar Pits Trap Scientists

January 24, 2004

Visitors to the La Brea Tar Pits are not told the whole truth about the fossils.

Fossils

Fossil Worm: Does It Help Solve Cambrian Explosion Puzzle?

January 14, 2004

A soft embryo of a Cambrian worm, exquisitely preserved, makes Graham Budd (U. of Uppsala, Sweden) ask some hard questions about it and other recently-discovered embryo fossils in the Jan. 15 issue of Nature:1 These fossils raise several questions, to say the least. First, how could they possibly be preserved? Second, why are they concentrated […]

Fossils

Chinese Puzzle: New Primate Fossil Raises Eyebrows

January 1, 2004

A new fossil primate skull from China, alleged to be 55 million years old, provides “much-needed substantial evidence of early primates in Asia,” says Robert Martin (Field Museum, Chicago), reporting in the Jan. 1 issue of Nature.1 But “interpretation of the creature’s eye size and activity pattern,” he says, “will spark debate.” (This is code […]

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