Page 44 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

42 The Origin of Birds and Flight

Since they lack any evidence or scientific foundation, both theories
are based on imaginary claims. Robert L. Carroll, the world-renowned
expert on vertebrate paleontology, comments: “neither structural nor
physiological arguments have yet settled this controversy conclusively.” 26
As Professor Phil Regal of Minnesota University has said,
“Evolutionary theories relating to the origin of feathers and flight (and
even heat conservation) are all inadequate.” 27 The Pennsylvania State
University biologist James H. Marden states the following about the
claims regarding the origin of flight: “Theorists have spent half a centu-
ry fiercely debating whether avian flight evolved from ‘the trees down,’
via gliding intermediates, or from ‘the ground up,’ via running, leaping
intermediates, with no resolution in sight.” 28

Rare wing
covering
feathers

Main
wing cov-
ering
feathers

Tertiary flight
feathers
Primary flight
Secondary flight feathers
feathers
The feathers that constitute wings are so complex as to amaze scientists. Yet feathers alone
are not enough for a bird to be able to fly. These feathers have to be equally distributed, in a
specific order, on both sides of the wing. If you set out a bird’s feathers at random, it will be
unable to fly. Therefore, flight is clearly not an ability that can be acquired through random
effects. Birds, and their structures ideally suited to flight, are just one of the creations that dis-
play Allah’s infinite artistry and knowledge.