LF: Iron Key to Preserving Dinosaur Soft Tissue

Iron may paradoxically be the key, claim evolutionist researchers, to preserving dinosaur soft tissue for evolution’s assumed millions of years. More specifically, highly reactive iron atoms are released from proteins when an organism dies; while the organism is alive, iron is sequestered in useful proteins, thus preventing it from participating in destructive chemical reactions. It remains impossible to demonstrate just how long such preservation has lasted, despite the evolutionist claims that iron-induced preservation could last millions of years.

Plausibility of Preservation

The key to preserving dinosaur soft tissue may literally be made of iron. In Dr. Mary Schweitzer’s quest to go beyond demonstrating the authenticity of ancient dinosaur soft tissue to determining the mechanism for such preservation, the North Carolina State University

paleontologist thinks iron is the answer. Iron atoms released at death from hemoglobin may, she believes, preserve biomaterials through deep time.

Debate has raged ever since 2005, when Mary Schweitzer identified soft tissue containing red blood cells and blood vessels inside dinosaur bone. How could soft tissue be preserved inside a dinosaur bone? Could protein and cellular structures survive for millions of years? At the October 2012 meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists, Schweitzer presented clear evidence that proteins found only in vertebrates and even the basic structure of bone cells were preserved in the dinosaur bones she was studying. Now Schweitzer’s group has unmasked a molecular mechanism that may well account for preservation of tissues after death, and they have demonstrated its ability to preserve soft tissue for two years. Schweitzer believes that if the mechanism will keep tissue pliable and intact for two years, then why not millions.

Locking up Iron

Hemoglobin—the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells—is bound, or chelated, to iron atoms. Iron is normally highly reactive, and it is just that tendency of iron to react readily to oxygen that makes hemoglobin a great oxygen-carrying protein. Hemoglobin, by chelating iron, harnesses iron’s reactive nature for the purpose of carrying oxygen in blood.

Hemoglobin and other iron-containing proteins like ferritin¹ keep iron atoms safely sequestered where they can do their jobs

without generating dangerous oxygen-free radicals. Free radicals damage biomolecules by cross-linking their parts—essentially freezing their overall structures while making them non-functional. But after an organism’s death, its protein molecules tend to denature—to unravel and become useless—or to be degraded by the actions of microbes or any remaining proteolytic (protein-destroying) enzymes. Denatured hemoglobin and ferritin can no longer hold onto their iron atoms.

Could Iron Nail Down Biomolecular Structure?

Once unleashed from chelating proteins like hemoglobin by death, chemically reactive iron atoms are free to react with other molecules. Ironically, Dr. Schweitzer notes that—by reacting with certain amino acids on nearby proteins—when iron destructively chelates and cross-links those molecules, it stabilizes their structure. This would ordinarily render them biologically inactive in a living organism and seems to make them harder to detect using modern methods, but such cross-links fix the molecules, protecting them from further destruction.

soft-tissue This fragment of demineralized tissue lined the marrow cavity of a T. rex femur. The demineralized fragment in “A” was flexible and resilient. When stretched, as shown by the arrow, it returned to its original shape. “B” shows the same fragment after air-drying. The fibrous character of the fragment is shown in “C.” IMAGE: Associated Press/Science/Huffington Post

On the top are ostrich blood vessels that were soaked in a hemoglobin solution for five days to simulate exposure to lysed red blood cells soon after death. In the bottom photo are ostrich vessels soaked only in water. These photos show that after thirty days the hemoglobin-soaked vessels are well-preserved, whereas the control group are decaying. Electron microscopy confirmed the excellent preservation conferred by hemoglobin exposure. Schweitzer believes that the iron in the hemoglobin is the substance that prevents tissue degradation. Image: M. Schweitzer et al., “A role for iron and oxygen chemistry in preserving soft tissues, cells and molecules from deep time,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, (online 27 November 2013) 281:20132741, rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org.

This fixation process can happen not only to protein molecules but also to DNA, and last year Schweitzer did report the presence of what might be DNA fragments in dinosaur bone she was examining. Furthermore, any proteolytic enzymes near iron atoms could easily be deactivated by such cross-links between their amino acids, further forcing tissue degradation to grind to a halt.

“Iron is necessary for survival, but it’s also highly reactive and destructive in living tissues, which is why our bodies have proteins that transport iron molecules to where they are needed but protect us from unwanted reactions at the same time,” Schweitzer says. [A thoughtful person might ask how such a beautifully designed system for life came into existence by blind, purposeless, directionless evolutionary processes, but we digress.] She continues, “When we die, that protective mechanism breaks down and the iron is turned loose on our tissues – and that destructive process can act in much the same way formaldehyde does to preserve the tissues and proteins.”² Schweitzer says, “The free radicals cause proteins and cell membranes to tie in knots. They basically act like formaldehyde.”

The Iron Key to Softness

Schweitzer first reported the presence of dinosaur soft tissue, which turned out to be collagen consistent with blood vessels along with red blood cells, in the thigh bone of a juvenile T. rex in Montana. “What we found was unusual, because it was still soft and still transparent and still flexible,” she says. Her 2005 discovery excited much controversy in the evolutionary community, as it seems quite impossible that anything could preserve something so chemically “fragile” for millions of years. Evolutionists date the first dinosaur in which Schweitzer found the soft tissue to 68 million years ago. Many insisted the material she had found must be microbial contamination because no known process could account for such long preservation of organic material in bone, the molecules of which tend to be readily broken down and particularly for the preservation of its pliability and elastic qualities.

In ongoing studies, Schweitzer has discovered soft tissue and confirmed the presence of collagen in other dinosaur specimens alleged to be 145.5 to 199.6 million years old. Collagen

is a structural protein commonly found in the connective tissue of many kinds of animals. In addition to demonstrating that there really are preserved protein molecules in some dinosaur bones, Schweitzer reported what may well be fragments of DNA.

Of course hemoglobin-containing blood circulates through the bodies of vertebrates, so there is an excellent opportunity for at least some cells and tissues to be exposed to iron soon after death. “We know that iron is always present in large quantities when we find well-preserved fossils,” Schweitzer says, “and we have found original vascular tissues within the bones of these animals, which would be a very hemoglobin-rich environment after they died.”²

The common thread running through “many exceptionally preserved fossils,”¹ Schweitzer notes, is the presence of iron, which is found in hemoglobin. Iron atoms, once released from their bonds to hemoglobin molecules, would be highly reactive and Schweitzer hypothesizes that such iron “contributes to preservation in deep time, perhaps by both free-radical-mediated fixation and anti-microbial activity.”¹ In other words, iron might stabilize biomolecular structures, deactivate enzymes that ordinarily break down tissue soon after death, and possibly inhibit bacterial degradation.

Putting Iron to the Test

To test whether iron such as that carried in hemoglobin can act as a preservative, Schweitzer’s team tested it on ostrich blood vessels. They soaked one batch of blood vessels in a hemoglobin solution³ and the other in water. The control group decayed within three days. The vessels soaked in the hemoglobin solution, produced by lysing red blood cells, “remained intact for more than 2 years at room temperature with virtually no change.”¹ This represented a 200-fold increase in stability in the presence of hemoglobin, Schweitzer reports, confirming hemoglobin’s tissue fixation properties and supporting the possibility that iron could thus, under the right conditions, protect biomaterials (tissues, cells, and molecules) from degradation over deep time.¹

Catastrophic Burial Still Essential

Preservation of soft tissue of course requires more that the presence of iron in a dead animal. Rapid burial is needed, and the global Flood supplied the rapid burial beneath huge masses of mineral-laden water-borne sediment requisite for the large-scale fossilization we see in earth’s sedimentary rocks. Burial in porous sediment through which water can flow, such as the sandstone in which soft-tissue-containing dinosaur bones have been found, is a further help to preserving delicate soft tissue. The bones of the specimens in which Schweitzer has found soft tissue have been articulated rather than scattered, which is additional testimony to their rapid burial. Thus rapid burial plus the release of biologically bound iron may be the twin keys to keeping dinosaur soft tissue around long enough for paleontologists to find it.

Stretching Back Through Deep Time

But can iron chelation

preserve soft tissue and even keep it soft for millions of years? While a 200-fold delay in the decay of ostrich blood vessels is certainly impressive, even that level of preservation can’t hold a candle to the 99,800,000-fold⁴ increase in chemical stability needed in the millions-of-years evolutionary scenario. Schweitzer quite reasonably makes a comparison to the fixation properties of formaldehyde. Many variables influence the degree and duration of the decay-delaying properties of formaldehyde. But specimens preserved in formaldehyde are not preserved perfectly or permanently. While burial conditions likely influence the efficacy of iron as a preservative in any given bone, there is certainly no reason to propose that iron could preserve the molecular structure of soft tissue for millions of years any more than formaldehyde could.

Regardless of what anyone thinks is likely, the fact is it is impossible to scientifically test and observe the answer to this question. No scientist has ever observed the effects of millions of years on anything. The millions-of-years age assigned to the strata containing dinosaur fossils is derived from a number of worldview-based unverifiable assumptions. Therefore, the fact that dinosaur soft tissue is preserved in some fossils does not mean that iron or anything else has preserved it for millions of years. Iron chelation

may be the (or a) key to preservation, a conclusion supported by Schweitzer’s work, but nothing in the discovery demonstrates how long such preservation could be effective.

When examined in light of the record of earth’s history recorded in God’s Word, much of the fossil record is easily understood as a record of the order of rapid catastrophic burial of billions of organisms during the year-long global Flood of Noah’s day about 4,350 years ago. Biology has never demonstrated any observable evolution of one kind of organism into a new, more complex one. Thus the fossil record is not a record of the evolution of life but much of it is the record of the order of burial as the global Flood overwhelmed the habitats of the world and sorted creatures in the deposition process.

Unlocking More Discoveries

Paradoxically, the destructive-preservative activity of these unleashed iron atoms may also obscure the proteins that remain in soft tissue, making it tricky for paleontologists to find preserved proteins in ancient fossil specimens. “We also know that iron hinders just about every technique we have to detect proteins,” Schweitzer explains. “So iron looks like it may be both the mechanism for preservation and the reason why we’ve had problems finding and analyzing proteins that are preserved.”²

Schweitzer and colleagues, in addition to identifying iron as the essential preservative in ancient soft tissues, found that applying a technique to un-chelate the iron and remove it made the preserved proteins more detectable. This technique may make it much easier to detect residual protein molecules in any newly discovered dinosaur fossils.

The iron-removal technique won’t likely be of any use in finding preserved proteins in fossils already found and stored, as they are typically treated with glues or chemical preservatives which are detrimental to the soft tissue. Furthermore, exposure to air contributes to degradation of soft tissue. Schweitzer plans to return to the field this summer in hopes of finding some nice new specimens on which to try out the technique. “I'd like to find a honking big T. rex that's completely articulated that's still in the ground, or something similar,” she says. “Once we can get the chemistry behind some of these soft tissues, there’s all sorts of questions we can ask of ancient organisms.”

Common Designs From a Common Designer—Our Creator

Scientists have in recent years identified several bio-molecules in ancient organisms. These include collagen in a mosasaur said to have been extinct for 65 million years and keratin in the skin of a lizard said to have been buried about 50 million years ago. The molecular structure of these proteins, like the protein detected by Schweitzer in dinosaur bone, are consistent as far as can be determined with the structures of their modern equivalents.

Many living things, past and present, share a number of the same biomolecules. This is no surprise, since all were designed by the same Creator to live in the same world. But finding ancient biomolecules that essentially match modern ones is not a demonstration of molecules-to-man evolution but only of the fact that all share a Common Designer.

Schweitzer writes, “Ironically, haeme, a molecule thought to have contributed to the formation of life, may contribute to preservation after death.”¹ Her statement reflects the molecules-to-man evolutionary belief that life evolved from chemicals in spite of the degrading effects of oxygen because hemoglobin-like molecules evolved to make use of iron’s properties while preventing its harmful effects. Yet nothing in biological research has ever shown how the genetic information that blueprints the production of haeme-molecules and the countless other essential proteins in living things could spontaneously come into existence through random processes.

Molecules-to-man evolution is pure speculation without any observations to demonstrate its occurrence. Schweitzer, like other evolutionists, believes that molecules-to-man evolution must have occurred, not on the basis of scientific observations but on the basis of a worldview that rejects the eyewitness historical account of our Creator, a historical account that is completely consistent with the actual observations of biology.

Thus it may be ironic that hemoglobin, which protects living things from the harmful effects of the iron atoms they need, might contribute to the preservation of soft tissue in dead animals, but there is no observational reason to support the notion that hemoglobin enabled life to evolve.

We are certainly excited about the prospect of finding more examples of intact proteins or even DNA molecules. Hopefully Schweitzer’s iron-extraction technique will open the door to find much more. But finding preserved biomolecules in a dinosaur fossil does not and cannot demonstrate evolutionary ancestry. Preserved biomolecules resembling modern ones demonstrate neither evolutionary ancestry nor millions of years of history. Instead they are examples of the way our Creator employed many common designs to create an incredibly diverse biological world.

“Just The Facts, Ma’am”⁵

While Schweitzer’s original finding of dinosaur soft tissue was perhaps less of a shock to young earth creationists than to believers in millions of years, even the preservation of dead dinosaur tissue in a pliable state for the few thousand years since the global Flood demands an explanation.

Mary Schweitzer should be applauded for her team’s excellent detective work zooming in on that explanation. They deduced from observing iron’s ubiquitous presence in dinosaur soft tissue that iron might be a preservative. They determined, based on the observable biochemical behavior of iron, possible mechanisms showing how iron’s chemical behavior in life and death may enable it to function as a preservative. And most significantly Schweitzer’s team developed experimental support for the efficacy of iron as a postmortem preservative.

Footnotes

M. Schweitzer et al., “A role for iron and oxygen chemistry in preserving soft tissues, cells and molecules from deep time,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, (online 27 November 2013) 281:20132741, rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1775/20132741.full. Back (1) Back (2) Back (3) Back (4) Back (5) Back (6)
news.ncsu.edu/releases/schweitzer-iron Back (1) Back (2) Back (3)
The hemoglobin solution was prepared from chicken and ostrich blood. After lysing the red blood cells and concentrating purified hemoglobin, the hemoglobin was diluted to the concentration the researchers predicted it would have had in dinosaur blood, though it is impossible to know the actual concentration of hemoglobin in dinosaur blood. Back
Schweitzer claims that she has found dinosaur soft tissue preserved in bones as old as 199.6 million years old. She has demonstrated that soaking in hemoglobin concentrate for 5 days can preserve blood vessels for 2 years. Do the math. If the observable preservation from a few days to 2 years constitutes a 200-fold increase in stability, then 199.6 million years would require a 99,800,000 increase in stability. In any case, neither Schweitzer nor any other scientist has the ability to test this idea, since the notion that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago instead of just thousands depends on worldview-based interpretation of the dating methods founded on unverifiable assumptions while disregarding the historical record contained in the Word of God. Back
A line commonly attributed to classic television Detective Joe Friday in Dragnet, though it is actually a parody of his line, “All we want are the facts.” Back

According to the Bible, there is no mention of dinosaurs. All we have is your word that your Sunday school teacher assures us the world was created 4,000 years ago.

Sorry to reaffirm your past posts that have assured your chit-chat channel goes nowhere because of indemonstrable leadership and wishy-washy factoids.

16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

An aura of mystery surrounds the dinosaurs. Where did they come from? Did they evolve? Did they really live millions of years ago? What happened to them? Are there any living today? Has any human being ever seen a live dinosaur?

Children and adults alike are absolutely fascinated by these mysterious monsters. Numerous books and movies have been produced to satisfy a seemingly insatiable hunger for information on these puzzling creatures. The truth of the matter, however, is that there are no real mysteries at all, once you have key information that is not generally known and is withheld from the public.

Come with me as we take a walk through history and uncover some amazing facts that will answer many of your questions about these “terrible lizards.”

Did Dinosaurs Really Exist?

Dinosaurs certainly did roam the Earth in the ancient past! Fossils of dinosaurs have been found all over the world, and their bones are displayed in museums for all to see. Scientists have been able to reconstruct many of their skeletons, so we know much about how they may have looked.

When Were Dinosaurs Found?

The story of their discovery began back in the 1820s, when Gideon Mantell, an English doctor, found some unusual teeth and bones in a quarry. Dr Mantell realized there was something very different about these animal remains, and believed that he had found an entirely new group of reptiles. By 1841, about nine types of these different reptiles had been uncovered, including two called Megalosaurus and Iguanodon.

At this time, a famous British scientist, Dr Richard Owen, coined the name “Dinosauria,” meaning “terrible lizard,” for this is what the huge bones made him think of.

What Makes Dinosaurs Different?

Other than the huge size of some dinosaurs, the major feature that really distinguishes dinosaurs from other reptiles (such as crocodiles) is the position of their limbs. Dinosaurs had posture that was fully erect, similar to that in mammals. Most other reptiles have limbs in a sprawling position. For instance, compare the way a crocodile “walks” with that of, say, a cow. Dinosaurs would have moved like a cow, with the limbs supporting the body from beneath. Crocodiles “waddle,” as their limbs project sideways from their body.

How Big Were Dinosaurs?

Some were as small as chickens, and others were even smaller. Of course, some dinosaurs were very large, weighing in at an estimated 80 tons and standing 40 feet high! The average size of a dinosaur, however, was probably about that of a small horse.

When Did Dinosaurs Live?

The story we have all heard from movies, television, newspapers, and most magazines and textbooks is that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. According to evolutionists, the dinosaurs “ruled the Earth” for 140 million years, dying out about 65 million years ago. However, scientists do not dig up anything labeled with those ages. They only uncover dead dinosaurs (i.e., their bones), and their bones do not have labels attached telling how old they are. The idea of millions of years of evolution is just the evolutionists’ story about the past. No scientist was there to see the dinosaurs live through this supposed dinosaur age. In fact, there is no proof whatsoever that the world and its fossil layers are millions of years old. No scientist observed dinosaurs die. Scientists only find the bones in the here and now, and because many of them are evolutionists, they try to fit the story of the dinosaurs into their view.

Other scientists, called creation scientists, have a different idea about when dinosaurs lived. They believe they can solve any of the supposed dinosaur mysteries and show how the evidence fits wonderfully with their ideas about the past, beliefs that come from the Bible.

The Bible, God’s very special book (or collection of books, really), claims that each writer was supernaturally inspired to write exactly what the Creator of all things wanted him to write down for us so that we can know where we (and dinosaurs) came from, why we are here, and what our future will be. The first book in the Bible—Genesis—teaches us many things about how the universe and life came into existence. Genesis tells us that God created everything—the Earth, stars, sun, moon, plants, animals, and the first two people.

Although the Bible does not tell us exactly how long ago it was that God made the world and its creatures, we can make a good estimate of the date of creation by reading through the Bible and noting some interesting passages:

As you add up all of the dates, and accepting that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to Earth almost 2000 years ago, we come to the conclusion that the creation of the Earth and animals (including the dinosaurs) occurred only thousands of years ago (perhaps only 6000!), not millions of years. Thus, if the Bible is right (and it is!), dinosaurs must have lived within the past thousands of years.

Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?

Evolutionists claim that dinosaurs evolved over millions of years. They imagine that one kind of animal slowly changed over long periods of time to become a different kind of animal. For instance, they believe that amphibians changed into reptiles (including dinosaurs) by this gradual process. This would mean, of course, that there would have been millions of creatures during that time that would be “in between,” as amphibians evolved into reptiles. Evidence of these “transitional forms,” as they are called, should be abundant. However, many fossil experts admit that not one unquestionable transitional form between any group of creatures and another has been found anywhere. If dinosaurs evolved from amphibians, there should be, for example, fossil evidence of animals that are part dinosaur and part something else. However, there is no proof of this anywhere. In fact, if you go into any museum you will see fossils of dinosaurs that are 100% dinosaur, not something in between. There are no 25%, 50%, 75%, or even 99% dinosaurs—they are all 100% dinosaur!

The Bible tells us that God created all of the land animals on the sixth day of creation. As dinosaurs were land animals, they must have been made on this day, alongside Adam and Eve, who were also created on Day Six (Genesis 1:24–31). If God designed and created dinosaurs, they would have been fully functional, designed to do what they were created for, and would have been 100% dinosaur. This fits exactly with the evidence from the fossil record.

Evolutionists declare that no man ever lived alongside dinosaurs. The Bible, however, makes it plain that dinosaurs and people must have lived together. Actually, as we will soon see, there is a lot of evidence for this.

What Did Dinosaurs Eat?

The Bible teaches (in Genesis 1:29–30) that the original animals (and the first humans) were commanded to be vegetarian. There were no meat eaters in the original creation. Furthermore, there was no death. It was an unblemished world, with Adam and Eve and animals (including dinosaurs) living in perfect harmony, eating only plants.

Sadly, it did not stay this way for very long. Adam rebelled against his Creator, bringing sin into the world (Genesis 3:1–7; Romans 5:12). Because of this rebellion, Adam, and thus all of his descendants (you and me), gave up the right to live with a Holy (sinless) and just God. God therefore judged sin with death.

After Adam’s sin, animals and people started to die. It was now a different world, one of death and strife. A world that was once beautiful now suffered under the curse placed upon it by the Creator (Genesis 3:14–19). But a promise was given (Genesis 3:15) that God would provide a way for the penalty of sin to be paid so there would be a way for man to come back to God.

Why Do We Find Dinosaur Fossils?

In Genesis 6, we read that all flesh (man and animals) had “corrupted his way upon the Earth” (Genesis 6:12). Perhaps people and animals were killing each other; maybe dinosaurs had started killing other animals and humans. In any case, the Bible describes the world as “wicked.”

Because of this wickedness, God warned a godly man

named Noah that He was going to destroy the world with a Flood (Genesis 6:13). God therefore commanded him to build a great ship (the Ark) so that all the kinds of land animals (which must have included dinosaurs) and Noah’s family could survive on board while the Flood destroyed the entire Earth (Genesis 6:14–20).

Some people think that dinosaurs were too big, or there were too many of them, to go on this Ark. However, there were not very many different kinds of dinosaurs. There are certainly hundreds of dinosaur names, but many of these were given to just a bit of bone or skeletons of the same dinosaur found in other countries. It is also reasonable to assume that different sizes, varieties, and sexes of the same kind of dinosaur have ended up with different names. For example, look at the many different varieties and sizes of dogs, but they are all the same kind—the dog kind! In reality, there may have been fewer than 50 kinds of dinosaurs.

God sent two of every (seven of some) land animal into the Ark (Genesis 7:2–3; 7:8–9)—there were no exceptions. Therefore, dinosaurs must have been on the Ark. Even though there was ample room in the huge ship for large animals, perhaps God sent young adults into the Ark that still had plenty of room for them to grow.

Well, what happened to all the land animals that did not go on the Ark? Very simply, they drowned. Many would have been covered with tons of mud as the rampaging water covered the land (Genesis 7:11–12,19). Because of this quick burial, many of the animals would have been preserved as fossils. If this happened, you would expect to find evidence of billions of dead things buried in rock layers (formed from this mud) all over the Earth. This is exactly what you do find.

By the way, the Flood of Noah’s day probably occurred just over 4,500 years ago. Creationists believe that this event formed many of the fossil layers around the Earth. (Additional fossil layers were formed by other floods as the Earth settled down after the great Flood.) Thus, the dinosaur fossils which were formed as a result of this Flood were probably formed about 4,500 years ago, not millions of years ago.

Have Dinosaurs Lived in Recent Times?

If the different kinds of dinosaurs survived the Flood, then they must have come off the Ark and lived in the post-Flood world.

In the Bible, in Job 40:15–24, God describes to Job

(who lived after the Flood) a great beast with which Job was familiar. This great animal, called “behemoth,” is described as “the chief of the ways of God,” perhaps the biggest land animal God had created. Impressively, he moved his tail like a cedar tree! Although some Bible commentaries say this may have been an elephant or hippopotamus, the description actually fits that of a dinosaur like Brachiosaurus. Elephants and hippos certainly do not have tails like cedar trees!

Actually, very few animals are singled out in the Bible for such a detailed description. Contrary to what many may think, what we know now as dinosaurs get more mention in the Scriptures than most animals! So dinosaurs—all the different kinds—must have lived alongside of people after the Flood.

Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in Ancient Literature?

Interestingly, the word “dragon” is used a number of times in the Old Testament. In most instances, the word dinosaur could substitute for dragon and it would fit very nicely. Creation scientists believe that dinosaurs were called dragons before the word dinosaur was invented in the 1800s. We would not expect to find the word dinosaur in Bibles like the Authorized Version (1611), as it was translated well before the word dinosaur was ever used.

Also, there are many very old history books in various libraries around the world that have detailed records of dragons and their encounters with people. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly for creationists), many of these descriptions of dragons fit with how modern scientists would describe dinosaurs, even Tyrannosaurus. Unfortunately, this evidence is not considered valid by evolutionists. Why? Only because their belief is that man and dinosaurs did not live at the same time!

However, the more we research the historical literature, the more we realize there is overwhelming evidence that dragons were real beasts, much like our modern reconstructions of dinosaurs, and that their existence has been recorded by many different people, even just hundreds of years ago.

What Happened to Dinosaurs?

Evolutionists use their imagination in a big way in answering this question. Because of their belief that dinosaurs “ruled” the world for millions of years, and then disappeared millions of years before man allegedly evolved, they have had to come up with all sorts of guesses to explain this “mysterious” disappearance.

When reading evolutionist literature, you will be astonished at the range of ideas concerning their supposed extinction. The following is just a small list of theories:

It is obvious that evolutionists don’t know what happened and are grasping at straws. In a recent evolutionary book on dinosaurs, “A New Look At the Dinosaurs,” the author made the statement:

But, one such explanation does exist. If you remove the evolutionary framework, get rid of the millions of years, and then take the Bible seriously, you will find an explanation that fits the facts and makes perfect sense:

At the time of the Flood, many of the sea creatures died, but some survived. In addition, all of the land creatures outside the Ark died, but the representatives of all the kinds that survived on the Ark lived in the new world after the Flood. Those land animals (including dinosaurs) found the new world to be much different than the one before the Flood. Due to (1) competition for food that was no longer in abundance, (2) other catastrophes, (3) man killing for food (and perhaps for fun), and (4) the destruction of habitats, etc., many species of animals eventually died out. The group of animals we now call dinosaurs just happened to die out too. In fact, quite a number of animals become extinct each year. Extinction seems to be the rule in Earth history (not the formation of new types of animals as you would expect from evolution).

Will We Ever See a Live Dinosaur?

The answer is probably not … but, then again? There are some scientists who believe a few dinosaurs may have survived in remote jungles. We are still discovering new species of animals and plants today in areas that have been too difficult to explore until now. Even natives in some countries describe beasts that fit with what might be a dinosaur.

Creationists, of course, would not be surprised if someone found a living dinosaur. However, evolutionists would then have to explain why they made dogmatic statements that man and dinosaur never lived at the same time. I suspect they would say something to the effect that this dinosaur somehow survived because it was trapped in a remote area that has not changed for millions of years. You see, no matter what is found, or how embarrassing it is to evolutionists’ ideas, they will always be able to concoct an “answer” because evolution is a belief. It is not science—it is not fact!

What Lessons Can We Learn From the Dinosaur?

When we see the bones of dinosaurs, we can be reminded that death was not a part of the original creation. Death is actually an intruder, entering when the first man disobeyed God. The Bible tells us that because we are all descendants of Adam, we too have sinned: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12); “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We need to recognize that the wickedness in the world is because of sin, because man rebelled against God.

We can also be reminded that God, who made all things, including the dinosaurs, is also a judge of His creation. He judged Adam’s rebellion by cursing the world with death. Adam was warned about what would happen if he disobeyed God’s instruction not to eat the fruit of one particular tree. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Dinosaurs can also remind us that God judged the rebellion in Noah’s day by destroying the wicked world with water, resulting in the death of millions of creatures. The Bible teaches us that He will again judge the world, but next time by fire: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

We can also be reminded that after this judgment by fire, God will make a new heaven and Earth: “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). And what will it be like in this new Earth? “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

But we are also warned that many will not be allowed into this new Earth but will suffer for eternity: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Humans, who are all sinful from conception (Psalm 51:5), cannot live with a Holy God, but are condemned to separation from God. But, God provided a wonderful means of deliverance from sin. The Bible teaches that God offered the perfect sacrifice needed to pay the penalty for man’s sin. God’s own Son, the one who in fact created the world (Colossians 1:16), came to Earth as a man, as a descendant of Adam, to suffer the death penalty for sin. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20–22).

The Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross, but on the third day, rose again, conquering death, so that anyone who believes in Him and accepts Him into his or her life, is able to come back to God and live for eternity with the Creator. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16); “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

For those who do not accept by faith what Christ has done for them and do not recognize their sinful nature and need for redemption, the Bible warns that such people will live forever, but will be separated from God in a place of torment that the Bible calls Hell. But for those who commit their lives to the Lord—what a wonderful message! What a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful salvation in Christ the Creator!

If you, the reader of this web page, want to know more about how you can spend eternity with the God of creation, please read on about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

war has to do something for entertainment; the voices in his head aren't speaking to him and his imaginary friends have found reasons not to come over anymore.

Abstract

Plausibility of Preservation

Locking up Iron

Could Iron Nail Down Biomolecular Structure?

The Iron Key to Softness

Putting Iron to the Test

Catastrophic Burial Still Essential

Stretching Back Through Deep Time

Unlocking More Discoveries

Common Designs From a Common Designer—Our Creator

“Just The Facts, Ma’am”⁵

For more information:

Footnotes

Did Dinosaurs Really Exist?

When Were Dinosaurs Found?

What Makes Dinosaurs Different?

How Big Were Dinosaurs?

When Did Dinosaurs Live?

Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?

What Did Dinosaurs Eat?

Why Do We Find Dinosaur Fossils?

Have Dinosaurs Lived in Recent Times?

Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in Ancient Literature?

What Happened to Dinosaurs?

Will We Ever See a Live Dinosaur?

What Lessons Can We Learn From the Dinosaur?

Abstract

Plausibility of Preservation

Locking up Iron

Could Iron Nail Down Biomolecular Structure?

The Iron Key to Softness

Putting Iron to the Test

Catastrophic Burial Still Essential

Stretching Back Through Deep Time

Unlocking More Discoveries

Common Designs From a Common Designer—Our Creator

“Just The Facts, Ma’am”5

For more information:

Footnotes

Did Dinosaurs Really Exist?

When Were Dinosaurs Found?

What Makes Dinosaurs Different?

How Big Were Dinosaurs?

When Did Dinosaurs Live?

Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?

What Did Dinosaurs Eat?

Why Do We Find Dinosaur Fossils?

Have Dinosaurs Lived in Recent Times?

Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in Ancient Literature?

What Happened to Dinosaurs?

Will We Ever See a Live Dinosaur?

What Lessons Can We Learn From the Dinosaur?

“Just The Facts, Ma’am”⁵