Page 231 - A Definitive Reply to Evolutionist Propaganda
P. 231
HARUN YAHYA
Anatomy
Birds possess a special anatomy that allows them to fly.
The bones play an important role from the point of view of
flight. They need to be both strong and light. Bird bones are
hollow, but strong enough to hold the skeleton together.
Yet, in reptiles the bones are heavy, and not hollow.
Dr. Feduccia has said the following about the
anatomical differences between birds and di-
nosaurs:
Well, I've studied bird skulls for 25 years and I
don't see any similarities whatsoever. I just don't see
it... The theropod origins of birds, in my opinion, will be
the greatest embarrassment of paleontology of the 20th century. 5
As well as their bones, birds' wings also possess a special design
not found in any other living thing. As well as their light bones,
their feathers also play an important role in the aerodynamic prop-
erties of the wing. Dr. Andy McIntosh, a professor in Combustion
Theory at Leeds University, UK and an aerodynamicist, described
the superior design in feathers during an interview:
Bird flight in particular is remarkable; consider feathers. If you look
at a feather under a microscope, you see the main stem, with barbs
coming out to the left and right, and from these you have left-and
right-handed barbules. Now the interesting bit is that the left-
handed ones have hooks, and the right-handed ones have ridges...
The feather is made such that if you bend it, everything bends with
it, and yet it's a very light structure. So the hooks catch the ridges
and they slide over the ridges—it's a mechanical engineer's dream
to have such useful, lightweight engineering. But if you have a slid-
ing joint, you need lubrication. To do this the bird twists its neck
o
around 180 and dips its beak into a tiny oil gland right down at the
back of its spine. It then preens itself, wiping this oil all over its
feathers, so that they join together nicely, and these sliding joints
are oiled. That's a marvellous bit of engineering. 6
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