Claim CB930.2:
In 1977, a plesiosaur carcass was netted by a Japanese trawler.
Source:
Swanson, R., 1978. A (recently) living plesiosaur found? Creation
Research Society Quarterly 15(1): 8.
Morris, John D., 1999. Dinosaurs, The Lost World, and You,
Master
Books, p. 38
Response:
- The carcass was a partly decomposed basking shark, according to tissue
samples and descriptions and sketches by witnesses. Reports that it
was a plesiosaur were based on a superficial resemblance caused by the
pattern in which sharks decay and were spread and exaggerated by news
media hype (Kuban 1997).
- Even if the carcass were a plesiosaur, the find would not have been a
challenge to evolution. The theory of evolution does not demand that
species go extinct after a certain amount of time.
Reference:
- Kuban, Glen J., 1997. Sea monster or shark? An analysis of a supposed
plesiosaur carcass netted in 1977. Reports of the National Center for
Science Education 17(3): 16-28. http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm
Further Reading:
Kuban, Glen J., 1997 (see above).
created 2001-2-17
