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Dialogue 5(2):9-11,34 (1993). --- Reproduced here with permission and the accompanying acknowledgements at the end, after being adapted, modified, and updated.
Dinosaurs! Just the name triggers vivid images of either Tyrannosaurus
rex, a gigantic carnivore,1 or the enormous plant-eating sauropods,2
like Diplodocus. Supersaurus,3 a sauropod with a length of up to
140 feet (43.75 meters) according to some, weighed almost 50 metric tons (about the weight
of 7 African elephants).4 Even the smallest sauropods, approximately 30 feet
(9.38 meters) in length.
The herbivorous dinosaurs must have required a lush plant population to
survive. However, the plant material preserved in the rocks associated with their remains
seems to be insufficient. Resolution of this problem is difficult for most scientists.5
Biblical creationists are not surprised that the necessary food supply can be found in
other rock layers because they assume these layers were deposited during a worldwide
Flood.
Given the dissociation of dinosaur and human bones, it is no wonder
some individuals doubt that people and dinosaurs could have ever coexisted. As Christians
who accept the Genesis account, it is important to realize that considerable scientific
evidence corroborates the biblical story of Creation and the Flood. It is within this
context that biblical creationists believe humans and dinosaurs coexisted before the
Genesis Flood
Dinosaurs Existed
The role that dinosaurs may have played in earth's history has
aroused the curiosity of the Christian community. In the past some who were frustrated
with the sketchy dinosaur fossil record simply refused to believe that God would have
created such creatures. Within the past 15 years, however, our knowledge of dinosaurs has
increased substantially. In 1990, Dodson gave a conservative count of 285 genera of
dinosaurs that had been identified worldwide.6
These identifications by paleontologists are based on more than just one or
two bones from more than half of these large dinosaurs. In addition to bone fragments,
isolated bones, bone-beds and articulated skeletons, paleontologists have discovered
trackways,7 skin impressions,8 gastroliths (gizzard stones),9
juvenile dinosaurs,10 hatchlings,11 embryos, eggs and nests.12
Furthermore, the first appearance of at least 20 genera of dinosaurs in the geologic
column (rock record) occurs in the same unit (Carnian) of the Triassic period in deposits
on 4 continents.13 (It should be noted that this diverse and sudden, widespread
appearance of dinosaurs in the record is difficult to explain according to current
evolutionary theory.)
The task of identifying and reassembling the dinosaur bones is
challenging. However, these skeletons are not just a poorly constructed hodge-podge of
bones, as some have suggested. Aspects of the skulls, hips, thighs, legs, and feet are
used to identify dinosaurs.14 Taxonomically, there are two orders of dinosaurs:
Saurischia (lizard hip) and Ornithischia (bird hip) with three and six suborders,
respectively. By 1990, complete skeletons of 197 genera had been reconstructed. The
existence of so much dinosaur diversity before the Genesis flood suggests that there may
have been a kind of dinosaurs that formed a part of God's original creation. Although
there are a number of giant genera, 31 of the 58 dinosaur families have no members
exceeding 20 feet (6.09 meters) in length,15 the size of a contemporary African
elephant.16 With this in mind, perhaps it is not so difficult to envision a
pre- or postflood world that included these smaller carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs.
Some Christians have argued that dinosaurs resulted from some type of
cross-breeding or genetic engineering by pre-flood humans or Satan. Such organisms do not
produce naturally breeding populations without continued intervention. There is ample
evidence to suggest that at least some of the dinosaurs were naturally breeding
populations. The Willow Creek Anticline, Montana, may have served as a nesting area for Troodon,
Maiasaura and a third typeof dinosaur.17
Troodon, a bipedal flesh-eater about 6 and 1/2 feet (0.3 meters) in
length with large eyes and a retractable second toe, built nests that consisted of up to
24 eggs laid in a spiral pattern, point down.18 Some of the unhatched eggs
contained identifiable embryos. Since researchers have found some eggshell material that
is broken but not crushed, they have suggested that the young may have left the nest soon
after hatching.19
The second nest building dinosaur at the Montana site was Maiasaura,
a 30 foot (9.38 meters) long herbivore.20 Several maiasaurs may have
constructed as many as 11 nests on a single level. Four of the bowl-shaped nests consisted
of only eggshells, but four others contained hatchlings. One of the nests had 11
hatchlings inside with 4 more babies nearby. Three partial clutches were found. In one
nest, 10 eggs were found in a paired, linear arrangement with an 11th egg nearby. Unlike
the Troodon young, baby Maiasaura may have remained at the nest site to be
cared for by adults. This idea was suggested because eggshells associated with the
maiasaur hatchlings are crushed more than the Troodon shells.21
Although skepticism with respect to the existence of dinosaurs in the past is
understandable, it is difficult to deny their past existence today. The mass mortality
sites and bone beds that have been discovered have yielded specimens for museum
collections around the world. An example of one of these mass mortality sites is found in
the badlands of Alberta, Canada. Approximately 80 centrosaurs22 were found with
Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) bite marks on their bones. T. rex "shed
teeth," normally lost during feeding, were associated with the bones as well. The
interpretation of the sedimentology suggests that the centrosaurs unsuccessfully attempted
to cross a flooded river. The resulting mass mortality would naturally attract carnivores
like T. rex.23 In 1984, Jack Horner's24 team uncovered a bone
bed containing "at least 10,000" maiasaurs. The "herd" of maiasaurs
found in the bone bed were entombed in volcanic sediments and apparently died during a
volcanic eruption.25 The evidence listed above strongly supports the position
that dinosaurs were living, breathing organisms.
Finally the existence of giant genera seem to pose a problem for some
people. Many Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that God might have created large
carnivores such as T. rex and Allosaurus, or even some of the
"smaller" meat-eaters like Velociraptor. One possible explanation is that
during the time between creation week and the flood, the effects of sin altered many
organisms, including the dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Survival
Some Christians have advanced the Bible texts speaking of animals
called leviathan and behemoth (Job chapters 40 & 41) as biblical support for the
existence of dinosaurs both before and after the flood. Other individuals have suggested
that various legends about dragons represent historical evidence for the coexistence of
dinosaurs and people. It would not be difficult to find evidence for the existence of
dinosaurs after the Genesis flood if we could find the articulated skeleton of a Velociraptor
impaled on the tusk of a fully articulated wooly mammoth, an animal commonly associated
with human history. In reality, dinosaur remains have not been found in deposits above the
Cretaceous rocks in the geologic column. This fact, however, does not necessarily rule out
the possibility of some dinosaur survival via the ark.
It seems reasonable to assume that not all of the earth's surface was
exposed simultaneously as the flood waters receded. In other words, rocks that are visible
today may represent material deposited 1) during the flood, 2) as flood waters receded, or
3) after the close of the flood year. Within the context of a short chronology for the
history of life on earth, postflood deposition of dinosaur remains would need evidence of
passing time after the period of deposition postulated during the one-year flood. In
addition, the remains should occur at or near the top of the rock record of the region in
which it was deposited so that no flood deposited material overlies it.
However, any extended postflood dinosaur survival is unlikely since
confirmed Cenozoic dinosaur remains have not yet been found. The rather tenuous and
somewhat ambiguous lack of evidence may imply their survival was short-lived. If that is
true, their demise is not too surprising. Extinctions are to be expected in the
dramatically altered and unstable postflood world. The cataclysmic destruction of the
earth by water had an impact on marine systems, structure of the earth, climate, and plant
life, as well as the land animals released from the ark.
The history of dinosaurs is fascinating and many people have some
strong opinions about these creatures. As Christians we need to be cautious because
dinosaurs are not addressed by name in the scriptures. Those descriptions usually
attributed to the dinosaurs (e.g., leviathan and behemoth) may also be applied to other
organisms that are preserved in the fossil record as well as some living forms. Even
though we may not fully understand the role of dinosaurs in earth's history, it is clear
from the biblical record that the Genesis flood was a judgement against humanity's sin
that largely destroyed the antediluvian plant and animal kingdoms. Dinosaurs also suffered
in that destruction. It is equally clear in the flood account that God directly intervened
to save all of His creation that He could possibly save. Some of the dinosaurs may have
been included in that effort.
College and University Dialogue is an international journal of faith, thought,
and action produced in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish editions. Free sample
copies of the journal can be obtained by contacting them:
Phone: 301/680-5066
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NOTES AND REFERENCES
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