Posted on 05/23/2002 6:48:35 AM PDT by Registered
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE VISION FORUM, INC. ================================================ HOME SCHOOL EXPEDITION UNCOVERS RARE ALLOSAUR and GIANT SAUROPOD ================================================ COLORADO, May 20 -- A dinosaur fossil expedition for home educators sponsored by Vision Forum and Creation Expeditions has excavated a rare, large, intact Allosaurus measuring more than 22 feet in length, 10 feet in height, with a complete skull more than a yard long. Allosaurs are believed to be a close relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, and differ from the T. rex primarily in size and cranial capacity. Under the leadership of Vision Forum president Doug Phillips, an adjunct professor of apologetics with the Institute for Creation Research, and Peter DeRosa, a veteran archaeologist and paleontologist with Creation Expeditions, the team of thirty home educators spent a week hunting for and excavating fossils in a privately owned location in the Skull Creek Basin of Northwest Colorado. Of the thirty-seven Allosaurs which have been discovered around the globe, only thirteen have been found with more than twenty-five percent of the fossilized remains intact. Of those thirteen, only three complete skulls have ever been recovered. The Skull Creek Allosaur not only provides the world with the fourth complete skull, but nearly seventy percent of the animal has already been found which lends credence to speculation that it may prove to be the best-preserved and most fully-articulated allosaur yet to be excavated. "Most people do not realize that there is a tremendous paucity of dinosaur bones available to scientists," said Doug Phillips. "Ninety-five percent of all the fossils in the world are marine invertebrates. Ninety-five percent of the remaining five percent are plants. The vast majority of the rest of the fossil record is fish and insects. Only a fraction of a percent of the remaining fossil record includes land vertebrates, and those finds usually consist of less than one bone. To find a complete Allosaur is simply historic." FOSSILS POINT to RELATIVELY RECENT and CATASTROPHIC BURIAL ================================================ The significance of the find arises not only from its rarity, but also from the circumstances surrounding the death of the animal. "The evidence strongly points to a relatively recent and catastrophic event similar to that described in the Bible as the Flood of Noah's day," said Pete DeRosa. "We found a complete section of vertebrae more than twelve feet in length which was fully articulated. The dinosaur appears to be in much the same position as he was at the time of his death and burial, which must have been virtually instantaneous, and caused by a catastrophic event. Not only was this fully articulated dinosaur found laying in a bed of leaves and plant debris, but there is wood from trees mixed in among the bones, some of which contains petrified and non-petrified elements in the same piece of wood. If this creature were millions of years old, the evidence would look quite different." The discovery of such a valuable dinosaur by creation scientists could send shockwaves through the scientific community. Phillips notes that "up to now, a well-funded and insular community of evolutionary theorists have dominated the field of paleontology, directing most of the large dinosaur finds to research and museums committed to interpreting the fossil evidence through the faith-driven assumptions of evolution. To have a dinosaur of this size and significance within the camp of scientists committed to the creation model is nothing short of a coup d'etat." The DeRosas, who have a contract on the fossil rights to the property and own the right to the material they excavate, had been working the site well in advance of the arrival of the home school expedition. Their preliminary work over a period of months led them to believe that they had an allosaurus, but it was not until the Vision Forum home school expedition arrived and preformed the heavy lifting of moving a lot of dirt, that evidence was found to validate their suspicions. HOME SCHOOL FATHER FINDS ALLOSAURUS SKULL ================================================ As often happens with fossil expeditions, the discovery of the Allosaur skull came at the last moment of the last day of the trip. With just minutes to go before calling quits on the expedition, Dr. Bruce Bellamy, a home school father from Clinton, Missouri, broke dirt on what would prove to be the neck vertebrae leading up to the skull. "I placed a $250 bounty on anyone who found the skull," Phillips said. "It was just a small incentive for my team, of course. The actual skull could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars." Last week, Pete DeRosa brought in a fresh team of professional excavators to plaster jack the skull and remove it from the ground for laboratory preservation. It is not yet known when the skull will be available for viewing. GIANT "BEHEMOTH" SAUROPOD UNCOVERED ================================================ Dr. Bellamy was not the only one to uncover a last minute prize. Just yards away on a second site, nine-year-old home schooler Haley Meadows was dusting away dirt with her brush when she found the claws to a 100-foot Sauropod, presently believed to be of the rare Ultrasaurus variety. "What is amazing about this sauropod is the fact that it constitutes an entire hill," Phillips said. "This is an enormous and impressive creature. Everywhere we dig, we seem to be finding more bones -- from six-foot femurs to ribs to vertebrae. HOME SCHOOL ADVENTURE TURNS INTO HISTORY-MAKING EXCAVATION ================================================ Excavating a fully articulated dinosaur is a highly specialized, expensive, and technical task -- for which the DeRosa family was well prepared. "We were blessed to be under the supervision of Pete DeRosa and his entire staff from Creation Expeditions," Phillips said. "These guys are a top-notch team with hundreds of digs behind them and more than a decade of experience working on some of the most interesting fossil sites in the world. I think everyone was impressed by their professionalism, their knowledge, and their passion for excellence." Home educators paying $995 per person were treated to a rare opportunity to study dinosaurs, learn excavation techniques, and actually uncover world-class dinosaur bones on a privately owned site once described by National Geographic as one of the fifty best fossil dig sites in the world. "The home schoolers on this trip paid for the privilege of shoveling dirt, hacking at rocks, and the possibility that some of them might uncover dinosaur bones," Phillips said. "Many of our guests came with minimal expectations, but the dig proved successful beyond the imagination of both trip sponsors and participants. There is not one child in a million who gets an opportunity like this. This is what home education is all about." "Learning paleontology and excavation techniques from a godly, highly experienced team of expert paleontologists, has not just been a highlight of our family's home school experience, but one of the greatest experiences God has ever given to my family," Phillips said. "I have been lecturing on dinosaurs and creation for years, but this was the first time I ever had the thrill of sitting with my boys on the edge of a cliff and uncovering a behemoth femur or a Stegosaurus plate," Phillips said. "It is difficult to describe the exhilaration to know that you are uncovering something very similar to the animal described by Job as the great 'behemoth,' an animal which in this case died and was buried during the Flood of Noah's day, and which has remained unseen by the eyes of man for thousands of years. Incredible!" THE FOSSIL SITE MAY YIELD GREATER DISCOVERIES YET ================================================ For many, the fact that creation scientists have broken through the monopoly on paleontology with access to such a fossil-rich treasure trove is the real story. "The story behind the location of this site is perhaps the greatest miracle," said DeRosa. "Through a series of remarkable events, more than 120 acres fell into the hands of the current owners, a Christian home schooling couple committed to biblical creationism." The owners, an evangelical Christian couple who home educate their own children, have been approached by museums, television networks, and leading evolutionists who have expressed a strong interest in the fossils found on the property. "I am sure the evolutionists would love to get their hands on these bones. Who can blame them," Phillips said. "It is like a goldmine for paleontologists." Creation Expeditions, which believes the land may contain dozens of more fully articulated dinosaurs, hopes to be excavating the site for years. VISION FORUM to SPONSOR TWO MORE FOSSIL DIGS ================================================ A similar fossil recovery expedition is planned in the first week of February 2002, for the Peace and Rainbow Rivers of Florida, where the team hopes to recover fossilized mammoth, megalodon, woolly rhino, giant sloth, giant beaver, and other ice age creatures. A recent expedition by the DeRosas to these locations uncovered the largest fully articulated mammoth jaw in the world. A dinosaur dig to the Colorado location is planned for May 2-6. Last year's dig was filled within about a week of the announcement by e-mail. Terms and application requirements for the 2003 Dino Dig will not be announced until later this year. However, if you would like to be considered with members of your family for a spot on the 2003 trip, you can send your contact information to Brian Howell at brian@visionforum.com. Space will be limited to just thirty. VISION FORUM to RELEASE DOCUMENTARY ================================================ Vision Forum is planning to release a video documentary on the historic Dragon's Den Expedition in the future. For more information on the creation work of Vision Forum, go to http://www.visionforum.com. To read about the ministry and conferences of Vision Forum Ministries, visit http://www.visionforum.org. For information on supporting the work of Vision Forum Ministries in its efforts to communicate the Gospel through creation, click here: http://www.visionforum.org/sections/support/ ### For Press Contacts with Pete DeRosa or Doug Phillips, call Bob Renaud at (210) 364-6647, or e-mail him at bob@visionforum.com. ================================================ Visit Us Online - http://www.visionforum.com Feedback - e-news@visionforum.com ================================================ 1-800-440-0022 | (210) 340-8525 | Fax: (210) 340-8577 4719 Blanco Rd., San Antonio, TX 78212 |
The definition of spam involves profit, and there's zero profit for me in any of this.
Moreover, you spam-crying clowns remind me somewhat of the story of the politician who started to tell a texas-aggie joke and was informed that there were a few texas aggies in the audience. His reply was "Okay, I'll tell it S-L-O-W...."
Likewise, you evos might not LIKE seeing some of this stuff more than once but, apparently, you NEED to see it more than once. I mean, at some point the idea of your brain-dead ideology having been bypassed by history will start to sink in. Kind of like medicine: nobody LIKES taking medicine, but sometime you NEED it.
Now look at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs like bars of iron. He is the first of the ways of God; only He Who made him can bring near His sword.
Which religion would you be referring to--Christianity or Darwinism?
The evidence of this finding is both widespread and irrefutable. It includes not only drawings of humans' experiences, but also actual photographs and film, and has been found in the ruins of virtually every 20th century society on earth. A very small sampling of these startling historical images are presented below.
Have your son ever seen pictures of dragons? I'm willing to bet he has, and his drawings mimic what he has already seen. Have you ever seen a space monster? Has he? Doubtful, therefore his drawings cannot be corroborated as being factual in their basis (he used his imagination). Have paleontologists dug up many fossils and skeletons of these various species of dinosaurs? Do they in fact have a very good idea, if not definite knowledge, of the physical appearance of these animals? Since the answers to both of those questions is "yes," then we know those ancient drawings are in fact of real dinosaurs who we know for a fact once existed.
I think your argument needs work.
You don't have to be a paleontologist to dig up dinosaur bones. The ancient Greeks found fossils, and knew they were bones of animals that they didn't see walking around. No reason to think the Indians didn't find bones of "dragons," and didn't repeat stories about those discoveries.
...which would be a great explanation if we were talking about stories, but we're talking about actual drawings made by people thousands of years ago that clearly depict dinosaur species that have been discovered by more modern day scientists. How could these ancient peoples have known what dinosaurs looked like if they could never have seen one? Could they extrapolate their appearance based on a couple of bones? I doubt it.
The comment about my son's drawings are admittedly "color commentary." I'd say the meat of my argument is in the first statement you didn't quote: "of course, there is no other plausible explanation for these images except that the Indians were familiar with living dinosaurs."
The central issue, I believe, is whether or not direct encounter with living dinosaurs is the only plausible explanation for the pictographs. I think not. Just off the top of my head, I can think of several. The possibility that Indians extrapolated from fossils encountered by themselves or others during their many years of close familiarity with the American landscape. The possibility that Indians participated in cross-cultural exchange of stories that became mythological raw material during contacts with travellers from other civilizations, such as African or Oriental or European ocean travellers with extensive mythological beastiaries of their own. The possibility that Indian shamans experienced during the altered state of consciousness of a dream or trance images that were later portrayed as mythical creatures that conceivably resemble dinosaurs. Even the possibility that the petroglyphs are fakes.
Not saying that I prefer one or another of these other possibilities. But it's just silly to say that the only plausible explanation is encounter with living dinosaurs. As silly as my pointing at my son's drawings as proof of space monsters. Why should the "living encounter" hypothesis be preferred over the ones I listed? No reason I can think of, unless one is trying to make the petroglyphs support a particular theory of the age of the earth or the age of living creatures.
I dispute that they "clearly depict" these species. IMO, the "pterosaur" could be a heron, and the "triceratops" could be a stylized buffalo, ox, or rino. The stegosaur and pleisiasaur are more compelling, but still debatable.
How could these ancient peoples have known what dinosaurs looked like if they could never have seen one? Could they extrapolate their appearance based on a couple of bones?
Not all fossils are just "a couple of bones." And even a couple of bones can be instructive, depending on their relationship to each other when found, and which bones they are.
I don't think most of those pictures are that "clear." The "pterodactyl," for example, looks more like an eagle to me. Besides, there are some pretty complete dinosaur skeletons lying close to--sometimes on-- the surface out west.
The long neck makes me think heron, or maybe goose. Goose that charged me once looked a lot like that.
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