Creation Extra

The Devastating Issue of Dinosaur Tissue (#200506)

by Frank Sherwin, M.S.

Abstract

Although it is too early to make definite statements regarding this stunning and wholly unexpected find, the evidence seems to indicate the T. rex fossil is--??well, young.

A recent discovery in the field of paleontology has sent shockwaves through the scientific community. Evolutionist Mary H. Schweitzer of North Carolina State University has discovered flexible blood vessels inside the fossilized thighbone of a "68-70 million year old" Tyrannosaurus rex1 from the Hell Creek formation in eastern Montana. Further investigation revealed round microscopic structures that look to be cells inside the hollow vessels. Even to the untrained eye, the tissue samples look as if the animal died recently. Fibrous protein material was dissolved with an enzyme called collegenase, indicating that amino acid sequencing could probably be done (amino acids are the building blocks of protein).

Although it is too early to make definite statements regarding this stunning and wholly unexpected find, the evidence seems to indicate the T. rex fossil is—well, young. Young as in just centuries-old, certainly not an age of millions of years. Indeed, Dr. Schweitzer said, "I am quite aware that according to conventional wisdom and models of fossilization, these structures aren't supposed to be there, but there they are. I was pretty shocked."2

Would evolutionary theory have predicted such an amazing discovery? Absolutely not, soft tissue would have degraded completely many millions of years ago no matter how fortuitous the preservation process. Will evolutionary theory now state—due to this clear physical evidence—that it is possible dinosaurs roamed the earth until relatively recent times? No, for evolutionary theory will not allow dinosaurs to exist beyond a certain philosophical/evolutionary period.

This is not the first time that puzzling soft tissue has been unearthed. Nucleic acid (DNA) taken from wet "fossil" magnolia leaves allegedly 17-20 million years old have been discovered.3 Fragments of genetic material up to 800 base pairs long were recovered—amazing considering it does not take long for water to degrade DNA. A microbiologist in California dissected a 25-to-40-million-year-old Dominican stingless bee from amber.4 Spores of bacteria were found inside the insect and actually grew when placed in the proper medium. Dr. Cano, the discoverer, took careful measures to avoid contamination. Analysis of the DNA extracted showed it was very much like the DNA found in bacteria growing in bees today. Just as the creation model predicts, bees have always been bees and bacteria have always been bacteria.

If this is in fact what these various scientific evidences indicate—soft tissue, bacteria, and DNA ensconced in fossils and amber allegedly millions of years old—then there needs to be a complete re-evaluation of these evolutionary time spans, especially in light of the advances of the ICR RATE project.

As the great English author Charles Dickens said over a century ago, "these are the best of times"—for creation science!

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1. Schweitzer, M. H., et al.,Science, vol. 307, no. 5717, pp. 1952-1955, 25 March 2005.

2. Boswell, E., Montana State University News Service, 24 March 2005.

3. Golenberg, E., et al., Nature 344:656-8.

4. Cano, S., Science, vol. 268, no. 5213, p. 977, Research News, 19 May 1995.

Credit: Parks Victoria

Going, going, gone. Just after 9:18 am, the 50-metre ‘Apostle’ collapsed within seconds leaving a heap of rubble.

Jesus’ Apostles indicated the earth was young, and these Apostles do too.

Collapsed Apostle tells a story

5 July 2005

Geologist Dr Tasman Walker of Answers in Genesis said that the famous ‘Twelve Apostles’ off the coast of Victoria, Australia have eroded much faster than most people imagine.

Australians were shocked to learn that one of the ‘Twelve Apostles’ crumpled into the Southern Ocean just after 9 am on Sunday 3 July 2005, leaving just a heap of rubble.

A Sydney family touring the area captured remarkable before-and-after images of the disintegrated rock formation.

The 50-metre-high sea stack, second from the viewing platform, began to shimmer and collapsed into a heap within seconds.

A Parks Victoria spokesperson said she was shocked by the collapse. ‘You think these structures are going to last for a while and certainly not [think you’ll] actually see one collapse in your lifetime.’

According to geologist Walker, the reaction to the collapse illustrates how the public have been conditioned with geological ideas that do not match reality.

‘We are told that The Apostles started to form up to 20 million years ago when erosion gradually attacked the limestone cliffs of Port Campbell. No wonder everyone is surprised when one collapses.

‘But there was a similar collapse in 1990 when London Bridge, a natural rock arch to one of the stacks, gave way not long after people walked over it. Two people had to be rescued by helicopter.

‘About 10 years ago in Western Australia nine people were killed when similar limestone strata collapsed onto the beach during an inter-school surfing competition.

‘The stacks are not millions of years old. The limestone strata were deposited during Noah’s Flood, as the floodwaters flowed from the emerging Australian continent.

‘That was just four and a half thousand years ago.’

‘Most geologists do not appreciate the geological effects of Noah’s Flood,’ says Walker. ‘If they did, people would be more aware of geological hazards, and not think that the rocks are a permanent feature of the landscape.’

The Twelve Apostles are icons of the Australian landscape. They are featured around the world as a symbol of the Commonwealth Games being hosted in Melbourne in 2006.

The changed landscape means the many photos and tourist promotions may have to be re-shot.

Before the collapse, the Twelve Apostles numbered nine, but now they are only eight.

Alex Green, the local Parks Victoria ranger said ‘It was one of the bigger [stacks] and integral to what used to be the view.’

It was almost like a building being demolished straight down on itself. The debris has turned the ocean muddy brown but the rubble is expected to vanish within weeks.

Geologist Walker said, ‘These eroding Apostles have a similar message to the original Apostles of Jesus’ time, one concerned with the authority and reliability of God’s Word. This world is young, just as the Bible records.’