Page 62 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

60 The Origin of Birds and Flight

evolved from dinosaurs. These differences lie between dinosaurs
belonging to the Saurischian (lizard-hipped) and Ornithischian (bird-hip-
ped) groups. From time to time, the existence of dinosaurs with bird-like
hip bones is perceived as evidence for the claim of dino-bird evolution.
Yet the hip bone similarity provides no support for dinosaurs being the
ancestors of birds. Dinosaurs belonging to the Ornithischian group bear
no similarity to birds at all with regard to their other features.
Ankylosaurus for example, had short legs, a giant torso and armor-
like scaly skin, and is even compared to a battle tank. Yet it is a member
of the Ornithischian family, with bird-like hip bones. On the other hand,
some anatomical features of Strithiomimus can be compared to those of
birds. It was long legged and had short front legs, but is actually a mem-
ber of the Saurischian family of dinosaurs, with reptile-like hip bones. 41
In short, hip bone structure constitutes no evidence of any relation-
ship between dinosaurs and birds, as evolutionists claim. The name
“bird-hipped dinosaur” stems from mere resemblance, but the other
enormous differences between the two groups make it impossible to
view this similarity from an evolutionary perspective.
Many other problems are attendant upon the theory asserting that
birds evolved from dinosaurs. Compared with Archaeopteryx, regarded
as the oldest known bird, the forearms of theropod dinosaurs are very
short in relation to their bodies. Bearing in mind these creatures’ large
body weights, you can see that their arms cannot have developed into
any kind of proto-wing.
The great majority of theropod dinosaurs lack the semilunate carpal or
wrist bone found in birds, but possess other wrist components the like
of which are absent in Archaeopteryx. There is also very strong evidence
in dinosaurs’ forelegs that they cannot be the ancestors of birds. A team
led by Alan Feduccia examined bird embryos under the microscope and
published its results in Science magazine: 42
New research shows that birds lack the embryonic thumb dinosaurs
had, suggesting that it is “almost impossible” for the species to be close-
ly related. 43