John Ray, one of England's greatest 17th century natural theologians, spent much time pondering the meaning of fossils or "formed stones" as they were called then. Â I have shared some of his thoughts about fossils and Earth's history before (See: Â John Ray on Flood Geology: Words that Still Apply Today). Â In a correspondence with... Continue Reading →
At the bottom of an ancient lake in southwest Wyoming thousands of fish, plant leaves, and other animals were preserved with amazing detail. These fossils represent very different organisms than those found in other parts of Wyoming such as the fossil sites that we found this summer north-central Wyoming (Hiking through the Jurassic Period in Wyoming... Continue Reading →
The Ark Encounter in Kentucky is built on a foundation of trillions of fossils but when they built a new activity to allow visitors to find their own fossils they opted to give them assorted fossils from other places in the world. This was a missed educational opportunity. When I wrote about my visit to the... Continue Reading →
Young earth creationists greatly underestimate the fossil record when they tell their audiences that there are "billions of dead things buried in rock layers."  The point, that there are huge numbers of fossils, is correct but billions is such an underwhelming number compared to the reality of the fossil record.  The vastness of the fossil record was driven... Continue Reading →
This summer two of my sons and I took a hike through the Jurassic time period.  Near Greybull, Wyoming is a long ridge called Sheep Mountain.  Geologically speaking, Sheep Mountain is an anticline which is a type of folded bedrock that has an arch-like shape with its oldest rocks at its core.  Because what are typically horizontal rock layers are here found tipped... Continue Reading →
Our perceptions of the age of a subject are frequently based on our common experience with similar subjects. Most people have some ability to guess the age of children with seemingly very little prior information.  We might call this ability to guess age our intuition but this "intuition" is the scientific method working automatically in our minds.  Our... Continue Reading →
Scattered across the upper surface of a hard layer of limestone in the badlands of the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming are the tell-tale signs of dinosaur activity: footprints.  Over one thousand footprints have been identified here, most of them on one exposure of rock in a small gully in the Red Gulch region.  On our family vacation this... Continue Reading →
On our way to the bighorn basin last month we stopped at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. It was a beautiful cool morning and so we took the 1.3 mile hike around the base of the tower.  From there we were able to watch several climbers scaling the sides.  Unlike Mt. Rushmore which always leaves... Continue Reading →
The past month has been quite an adventure.  It has been good to get a break from my job and this blog, which was starting to feel like a job.  Hopefully I am refreshed and bring some new perspectives - and photos - to share with you in the coming months.  Below are a couple of highlights... Continue Reading →
The Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic geological features on Earth.  Its immensity of the canyon regularly causes those that have peered into its depths to wonder about its origins. How could such an awe-inspiring canyon have formed? This fascination with the Grand Canyon has fueled a long a history of geological research.  As a result there is a wealth... Continue Reading →
Countless numbers of footprints made by hundreds of kinds of organisms are preserved in hundreds of individual layers of the geological column.  Millions of these tracks have been identified from just the tiny fraction of the rocks that are exposed at the surface of the Earth.  But how were so many footprints preserved? In conversations with... Continue Reading →
What happened to dinosaur eggs that were either abandoned or broke prematurely?  You might think that this is a question that is impossible to answer, but dinosaur eggs have been discovered with intriguing evidence of scavenging of many forms.  By studying the remains of organisms that are preserved in preserved dinosaur eggs paleontologists have discovered compelling evidence that a complex ecology... Continue Reading →
Soon after the revelation that the remains of at least 15 individuals had been found in the deep recesses of a cave and that these bones looked as if they had been deposited there purposely, I asked the question: How Will Creationist’s Respond to a Huge New Hominid Fossil Find? The first responses came within... Continue Reading →
While reading literature by young earth creationists, I am frequently struck by how often authors seeking to resolve one problem are unaware of how many new problems their explanations create. I recently read an article by Dr. Snelling of Answers in Genesis in which he provides a young-earth hypothesis for the recent origin of oil and coal. He has... Continue Reading →
Fossilized bones of dinosaurs, whales and mammoths get all of the attention but trace fossils provide important evidence for interpreting when and how organisms lived on Earth in the past. Trace fossils are not the fossilized remains of organisms themselves but rather are evidence of the past presence of organisms. Â The most recognizable trace fossils... Continue Reading →
Naturalis Historia 