Does fossilization require rapid burial as the result of catastrophic global flooding? Literalist creationists would have us believe so for they point to the fossil record as being proof of a cataclysmic global flood.  Look a bit deeper though and you will find that creationists frequently concede there are thousands of exceptions to this general... Continue Reading →
Moab will have yet another dinosaur attraction coming this fall. More than 200 reptilian footprints scattered over an area less than a football field have been uncovered after a resident discovered a few tracks while hiking. Dinosaur tracks are known from dozens of locations in this area but this site is unusual because of the... Continue Reading →
A 15-foot-wide metal grate covers a hole in a bare rock outcrop in the high desert of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Beneath the grate lies a 80 foot vertical drop to into a cavern with no other exit. At the base of cavern situated below the hole in the ceiling are up to 30... Continue Reading →
In my recent comments about Ken Ham’s view of modern creationism I stated that flood geology was nothing more than a recapitulation of many previous attempts to construct a naturalistic theory of the earth while maintaining a young earth presupposition. These prior attempts to conform geological data to such youthful constraints have not stood the... Continue Reading →
Thousands of dinosaur footprints have been found on a steep mountain slope in Denali National Park in Alaska. These are not the first dinosaur tracks to be found in Denali but the size of the tracksite - at least 500 by 150 feet - and the exceptional preservation of the tracks makes this a notable... Continue Reading →
Most of us remember our first life-like encounter with dinosaurs sitting in a theater watching Jurassic Park (1993). Although dinosaurs had been very popular in picture books for many years the vivid recreation of them on the screen rekindled a sense of awe of these amazing creatures of a past age. Today, movies with depictions... Continue Reading →
Ken Ham would have us believe that the modern creationist movement, which apparently began only 53 years ago, is the real deal this time. Unlike all the other attempts to create a history of the Earth with a recent global flood as a centerpiece, this time it apparently is going to usher in a real reformation in both science and an appreciation for biblical authority.
Following up on a new Ichythosaur discovery last week (When Marine Reptiles Ruled the Sea) the fossilized footsteps of a Nothosaur have been unveiled.   This time we go to China where a geological surveyor stumbled onto a few fossil tracks on a small ledge.  Cutting back into the side of the mountain, paleontologists exposed 350 prints as part of... Continue Reading →
Can you imagine the world’s oceans filled with carnivorous reptiles? Dinosaurs are the most famous members of the age of the reptiles. However, many of the original reptilian fossil discoveries that initiated the idea of the age of reptiles were not dinosaurs. They were instead reptiles that lived in the sea.
What do you think of when someone mentions the Jurassic or Cretaceous ages? Most likely you will immediately think of dinosaurs and other large reptiles such as pterosaurs.  Maybe you think of the movie Jurassic Park, filled with dinosaurs and lush vegetation.  This time has become known as the Age of the Reptiles and aptly so since... Continue Reading →
You might think of the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars as a assortment of space junk floating randomly in space. There are millions of asteroids of which more than 100,000 have been measured and mapped by astronomers. But analysis of those asteroids has shown that there are groups of asteroids that are related to one another and are referred to family members
Imagine you live in northern England and you are out exploring and come upon a hidden cave entrance.  Upon climbing down into the cave you discover hundreds of bones belonging to large mammals. At first you think the bones represent local animals since there are some deer, rabbits, weasels and wolves but soon it becomes clear... Continue Reading →
The Reverend William Buckland (1784-1856) was one of the last in a line of influential natural theologians following in the footsteps of John Ray (late 1600s) and William Paley (late 1700s).  I recently gave a seminar in which I explored a number of significant turning points (figure below) in the history of discovery of deep time and the awareness... Continue Reading →
Everyone has encountered a T. rex in books, movies or museums.  Besides its size and menacing jaws one of the most striking features of a T. rex is its diminutive arms.  So why were the arms of T. rex so short?  There have been many hypotheses including: 1) they had no use and... Continue Reading →
Our perceptions of the age of an object are frequently based on our common experience but I have found that for many people those common experiences are of little help when it comes to examining objects for which a person has no experience at all.  A couple of years ago this really hit me as... Continue Reading →
Naturalis Historia 