WHY THE DINOSAURS DIED OUT

Evolutionists contend that the fact that the dinosaurs died out is one great evidence that evolutionary theory is correct. Yet extinction is not evolution. What is needed is evidence of cross-species change, and such evidence has never been found. At any rate, everyone is interested in dinosaurs, so here are some interesting facts about them. This is science vs. evolution—a Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia, brought to you by Creation Science Facts.

CONTENT: Why the Dinosaurs Died Out

Extinction Is Not Evolution: The death of the dinosaurs is not a fact the evolutionists can use in their favor
Why Did the Dinosaurs Suddenly Die?: It is a mystery to those who refuse to accept the fact of the Genesis Flood
Another Evidence of the Flood: The sudden extinction of the dinosaurs is another evidence of that worldwide event
Human Were Alive at That Time: Dinosaurs did not live millions of years before people walked the earth
Why Are Dinosaurs Found Only in Certain Strata?: They were engulfed in certain levels, as the Flood waters arose

This material is excerpted from the book, THE EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD.
An asterisk ( * ) by a name indicates that person is not known to be a creationist. Of over 4,000 quotations in the books this Encyclopedia is based on, only 164 statements are by creationists.
You will have a better understanding of the following statements by scientists if you will also read the web page, The Effects of the Flood.

EXTINCTION IS NOT EVOLUTION

The death of the dinosaurs is not a fact the evolutionists can use in their favor.

Evolutionists point to the death of the dinosaurs as one of the very best evidences that evolution occurred. But extinction is not evolution. Evolution requires the change of one species into another, and no evidence of that has ever been found. The fact that dinosaurs are no longer alive says nothing about whether or not evolution is true.

Indeed, their sudden death is an evidence that the Bible is true.

WHY DID THE DINOSAURS SUDDENLY DIE?

It is a mystery to those who refuse to accept the fact of the Genesis Flood.

Very high up in the theoretical column of rock strata we find the Mesozoic, which includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. In these levels we find the dinosaurs. Apparently reptilian in nature, many of these were gigantic creatures. They died as a result of the Flood.

Evolutionists recognize that they were suddenly destroyed all over the earth, and are unable to give a satisfactory reason why.

Scientist are puzzled why there is a dividing point in the sedimentary strata, below which are the dinosaurs and above it no dinosaurs. This line is referred to as the K / T boundary.

"One of the important contemporary scientific debates is about the causes of the mass extinctions at the close of the Cretaceous epoch, about 65 million years ago . . Scientists refer to this crucial, enigmatic transition in the history of life as the K / T boundary. The Cretaceous epoch is abbreviated as K, to distinguish it from the earlier Carboniferous (coal-forming) epoch, abbreviated as C. Sedimentary rock layers above the Cretaceous, which include the fossil record of the Age of Mammals, are traditionally called Tertiary or T."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 246.

It has been suggested that the dinosaurs were killed by volcanoes, climatic changes, or the eating of their eggs by other animals. Yet other far more delicate wildlife have survived volcanoes, climatic changes, and egg predators. Evolution has no answer to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

"These are some of the theories that have been advanced to explain the sudden extinction of dinosaurs throughout the world. Each theory will explain the death of some dinosaurs in some places, but attempts to apply any of them, or combinations of them, to worldwide extinction have failed. This dinosaur story is like a mystery thriller with the last pages torn out. That is true and the paleontologist knows it. He also knows the riddle will probably never be solved."—*J.M. Good, *T.E. White, and *G.F. Stucker, "The Dinosaur Quarry," U.S. Government Printing Office (1958), p. 26.

Here are two possibilities:

(1) No dinosaurs were taken onto the Ark. We have reason to believe that mankind was larger, stronger, and longer-lived before the Flood. It was seen best not to have these giant reptiles wandering over the earth's surface afterward. Why would dinosaurs have been taken onto the Ark if they were only going to become extinct not long afterward?

(2) Some Creationists believe that some young dinosaurs were taken into the Ark and died out within a short time after the Flood ended. Other animals have become extinct after the Flood; dinosaurs could have also. It has been suggested that the climate that reigned for a time after the deluge caused them to die out.

A few of the dinosaur-type species were taken into the Ark. This definitely included crocodiles, alligators, and komodos, and could also have included the young of what today are referred to as "dinosaurs." After the Flood the dinosaurs became extinct while other dinosaur-type creatures/the crocodiles, alligators, and komodos, did not. There is certain indeterminate evidence that some dinosaurs were alive for a time after the Flood.

"Whatever triggered this decline [in worldwide temperature at some earlier time] may also be a factor in the extinction of the dinosaurs (which were probably adapted to mild and equitable climates) and put a premium on the warm-blooded birds and mammals, which can maintain a constant internal temperature."—*Asimov's New Guide to Science (1984), p. 204.

A provocative recent discovery may provide additional insight as to the cause of the disappearance of the dinosaurs. One major short-term effect was a rapid cooling after the Flood, caused by volcanic air pollution which kept sunlight from reaching the earth for a number of years. That worldwide coolness may have eliminated the dinosaurs by causing their eggs to hatch out all males or all females.

"Crocodilians and turtles share a special reproductive trait that is not found in any other living group of reptiles. In all other vertebrate species [including snakes], the sex of offspring is determined by genetics; in crocodilians and turtles, it is determined by environment. Amazingly, whether an egg will develop into a male or female depends on the temperature at which it was incubated! Hotter conditions produce females in most turtles, and males in crocodilians. Hatched under lower temperatures, turtle eggs yield mostly males and crocodile eggs females . . This apparently opposite effect may be related to body size; in both cases, high temperatures produce larger individuals. Female turtles are larger than males . . Male crocodilians are the larger sex . .

"[If dinosaurs were heat-sexed like turtles and crocodiles (instead of like snakes which are genetically determined), then] changes in climate could have produced a preponderance of one or the other sex [in dinosaurs], causing genetic bottlenecks and sharp curtailment of breeding. Dinosaurs may have become extinct, then, because their eggs produced too many individuals of one sex . .

"Recent studies by Graham Webb in Australia, shows that [turtle] sex ratios are maintained by distribution of eggs in a single nest. The top layer of eggs all developed into males, the middle layers produced a 50-50 ratio of sexes, and the bottom layers all hatched into females."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 101.

It is also of interest that a majority of the larger dinosaurs were vegetarians, and many of the carnivorous dinosaurs preyed upon other dinosaurs. This would explain why dinosaurs could exist on the earth contemporaneously with man—before the Flood and perhaps after it,—without being a major threat to him.

"Dinosaurs were mostly vegetarians, despite their enormous size and decidedly carnivorous appearance. One exception was the mammoth Tyrannosaurus rex, which apparently ate other dinosaurs."—*Asimov's Book of Facts (1979), p. 136.

Oddly enough, the dinosaurs are often displayed in museums as an outstanding proof of evolution,—when, in fact, they are no proof at all! (1) They were all non-evolving, distinct species, and (2) their sudden disappearance from our planet cannot be explained by evolutionary theories.

ANOTHER EVIDENCE OF THE FLOOD

The sudden extinction of the dinosaurs is another evidence of that worldwide event.

As with many animals, the dinosaurs apparently gathered into groups in time of danger. The rising waters of the Flood finally overtook and buried them beneath water and sediment. Today, we find their bones in so-called "dinosaur graveyards." The entombment of such vast numbers of these large creatures demands a terrible worldwide catastrophe. Tell those you meet that the dinosaurs are enough evidence of the Flood and another denial of evolution.

"As the layer [cut out of a New Mexico hillside] was exposed, it revealed a most remarkable dinosaurian graveyard in which there were literally scores of skeletons, one on top of another and interlaced with one another. It would appear that some catastrophe had overtaken these dinosaurs, so that they all died together and were buried together."—*Edwin Colbert, Men and Dinosaurs (1968), p. 141.

In Wyoming, dinosaur bones were found "piled in like logs in a jam." In the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado (the Morrison formation of the Jurassic), over 300 dinosaurs of many different types have been dug out.

"Innumerable bones of many fine skeletons of dinosaurs and other associated reptiles have been quarried from these badlands, particularly in the 15-mile stretch of the river to the east of Steveville, a stretch that is a veritable dinosaurian graveyard."—*Edwin Colbert, The Age of Reptiles, p. 141.

HUMANS WERE ALIVE AT THAT TIME

Dinosaurs did not live millions of years before people walked the earth.

Evolutionary theory declares that the "age of the dinosaurs"—and the death of the dinosaurs—occurred millions of years before man evolved on this planet. In the Glen Rose and Antelope Springs Tracks, we go into detail on the Glen Rose, Texas, human footprints intermingled with dinosaur tracks in the same stratum of mud—sometimes with human footprints on top of the dinosaur tracks. This is know as the Cretaceous Glen Rose formation, located in flat limestone beds near the small town of Glen Rose, Texas, and is found for some distance along the Paluxy River, west of town. The tracks occur in trails, and in two or three instances, the dinosaur and human trails cross each other,—with two known instances in which human and dinosaur tracks actually overlap each other. Books and films of these tracks have been produced. (See the excellent book, Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs and the People Who Know Them, by John Morris, 240 pp.)

WHY ARE DINOSAURS FOUND ONLY IN CERTAIN STRATA?

They were engulfed in certain levels, as the Flood waters arose.

Before concluding this brief section on dinosaurs, a question remains: Why are they only found in the strata of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, the three divisions of the Mesozoic Era? On the basis of Flood geology, the answer is simple enough: They could run faster than conifers, trilobites, ocean corals, amphibians (such as frogs), plants, and fish, all of which we find in the so-called "Paleozoic Era"; but they had a more lumbering gait than the faster mammals and birds, which we find in the "Cenozoic Era."

There are a number of theories about the swiftness of the dinosaurs. It is generally believed that they had a more lumbering gait. As the flood waters arose, they were drowned before a number of other species.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

To the next topic in this series: THE GENESIS FLOOD: Here is the story of the gigantic water explosion, which is described in Genesis.