Page 170 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

168 The Origin of Birds and Flight

evolutionist publication. In fact, however, recent examinations of other
Archaeopteryx fossils have shown that this creature is very definitely no
intermediate form, but merely an extinct species of bird with a few
features that distinguish it from modern-day species. The scientific
world today agrees that Archaeopteryx possessed a skeleton, feather
structure and flight muscles identical to those of present-day birds. In

addition, scientific examination has proved that with its breastbone 114
and asymmetric feather structure, 115 Archaeopteryx was fully capable of
flight. In contrast to general evolutionist claims, its possessing teeth
does not indicate it to have been a dinosaur. 116
In short, Archaeopteryx cannot be called an intermediate form on
the basis of a few unique features. In particular, the seventh
Archaeopteryx fossil, found in 1992, totally demolished evolutionist
claims based on its similarity to reptiles. The scientific writer Richard
Milton touched on the invalidity of the claims regarding Archaeopteryx:

Although it is certain that Archaeopteryx is an important fossil, it is
hard at this moment to say what that importance actually is. Even
more importantly, it is impossible for Darwinists to suggest that it
supports natural selection accompanied by a random mechanism of
genetic mutation. Archaeopteryx constitutes no evidence for these
mechanisms, because it is a completely isolated fossil in the fossil
record with no known direct ancestor or lineage, just like Eohippus. 117
Since Archaeopteryx is acknowledged to not represent any interme-
diate form, many evolutionists today agree on the need for new
evidence. Alan Feduccia expresses the erroneous nature of the evolu-
tionist claims regarding Archaeopteryx:

Paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound-
ed, feathered dinosaur. But it’s not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no
amount of “paleobabble” is going to change that. 118
Despite being an evolutionist, the Yale University professor of
geology John H. Ostrom agrees that these claims lack proof: