A team from Creation Expeditions found a fossil of an Edmontosaurus
hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) species which they called Ezekiel. The
fossil included a skin impression which showed it had no feathers as
expected by evolutionists, thus disproving that hadrosaurs were
bird-reptile transitional forms. Furthermore, it was buried in strata
containing garfish and turtles, which evolutionists would not expect,
supporting the idea that Ezekiel was a victim of the Flood.
No scientists believes the hadrosaurs gave rise to the birds.
Dinosaurs are divided into the Saurischia and the Ornithischia.
Hadrosaurs are members of Ornithischia. Scientists who suggest that
birds are descended from dinosaurs propose that birds are descended
from small theropod dinosaurs, members of Saurischia [Tudge 2000].
Any competent paleontologist should know this.
Hadrosaur skin impression have been known to science for decades
[Alaska Museum 1998]. It is no surprise that they did not have
feathers.
The Vision Forum press release (see the source above) refers to "The
beautifully-preserved skull, with its magnificent crest intact. . .".
Edmontosaurus, as with other members of the Hadrosaurinae subfamily,
does not have a crest [Polly et al. 2003]. The creationist
"paleontologists" have either misidentified their fossil, or they have
imagined a crest where none exists.
There is no reason why a hadrosaur should not share the same strata
with turtles and garfish. All lived during the Cretaceous [Polly et
al. 2003; Tudge 2000; White 2003]. Though terrestrial,
hadrosaurs lived close to water. That Ezekiel was found in a fossil
"graveyard" (to use the creationists' description) does not prove
catastrophic rapid burial and thus is not
evidence of the
Noachian Deluge.
Tudge, Colin, 2000. The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration
of all the Creatures that Have Ever Lived. Oxford: Oxford University
Press; chpt. 17: The Reptiles.
