Page 40 - The Evolution Impasse 1

period. The fact that Archaeopteryx had This attests to its strong flight muscles,
some characteristics that differ from tho- but its capacity for long flights is questi-
se of modern birds led evolutionists to onable. 37
suppose that it was a transitional species This discovery has removed the basic
between them and their dinosaur ances- foundation for the claim that Archaeop-
tors. According to the theory of evoluti- teryx was a half- evolved flightless bird.
on, small dinosaurs called Velociraptors - There is no difference between the
or Dromesaurs evolved wings and began wings of modern birds and those of Arc-
to fly; Archaeopteryx is thought to be the haeopteryx: Both have the same asy-
ancestor of today’s flying birds. mmetrical feather structure, which indi-
However, the latest research on Arc- cates that this creature was an excellent
haeopteryx fossils shows that this claim flyer. As the noted paleontologist Carl O.
has no scientific basis. This species was Dunbar pointed out, ‘Because of its feat-
not an awkwardly flying transitional spe- hers, [Archaeopteryx is] distinctly to be
cies, merely an extinct bird with charac- classed as a bird.’ 38
teristics different from those of its mo- - Another fact that emerges from the
dern counterparts. Here is the latest rese- feathers of Archaeopteryx is that the cre-
arch data on Archaeopteryx: ature was warm-blooded. As we know,
- Originally, the fact that this creature reptiles and dinosaurs were cold-bloo-
had no sternum was cited as the most im- ded—that is, their body temperature was
portant proof that it could not fly. The determined by the external ambient tem-
muscles needed for flight are attached to perature. One of the most important
the sternum located at the base of the rib functions of birds’ feathers is to stabilize
cage. (Modern flying and flightless birds keep their body temperature. The fact
and bats—mammals which belong to a that Archaeopteryx had wings shows that
totally different family—all have a ster- unlike dinosaurs, it was warm-blooded.
num.) That is, it was a true bird that needed a
But the seventh Archaeopteryx fossil covering of feathers to regulate its body
found in 1992 showed this argument to temperature.
be false. This particular fossil had a ster- -The two most important points that
num, which evolutionists had long disco- evolutionist biologists consider as evi-
unted. The following words are from an dence that Archaeopteryx was a transitio-
article in Nature magazine: nal form are its teeth and the claws on its
The recently discovered seventh spe- wings.
cimen of the Archaeopteryx preserves a But those claws on its wings and its
partial, rectangular sternum, long sus- teeth do not indicate that Archaeopteryx
pected but never previously documented. had any relation to reptiles. Two species