Page 94 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

92 The Origin of Birds and Flight

How [feathers] arose initially, presumably from reptiles scales, defies
analysis. . . It seems, from the complex construction of feathers, that
their evolution from reptilian scales would have required an immense
period of time and involved a series of intermediate structures. So far,
the fossil record does not bear out that supposition. 66
In another statement, she refers to the intermediate-form impasse:
No fossil structure transitional between scale and feather is known.
. . and recent investigators are unwilling to found a theory on pure
speculation. 67
Some evolutionists seek to gloss over the matter by saying that
since birds have hollow bones, they left no fossils behind. That, however,
is very definitely untrue. Under certain conditions—for example,
around lakes, in watery inland regions and those close to the sea—very
good bird and feather fossils are frequently discovered. Thousands of
fossil birds have been discovered to date, and all possess perfectly
formed feather structures. Just as there are no half-scale, half-feather in
the fossil record, no structure resembling a feather less developed than
present-day specimens has ever been found.
In an American Zoology article, Larry Martin and S. A. Czerkas write,
“The oldest known feathers . . . are already modern in form and micro-
scopic detail.” 68
The anatomist David Mention also touches on the subject:
There are no examples of living or fossil scales that even remotely
resemble a feather. Archaeopteryx has complete feathers like modern
birds. 69
Specimens of Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, have been per-
fectly preserved. An analysis of its 150-million-year-old feathers has
revealed that every detail is identical to present-day specimens. Back in
70
1910, the zoologist W. P. Pycraft stated that the Archaeopteryx feather was
no different from fully developed modern feathers. Other Archaeopteryx
71
fossils discovered since that time have in no way altered that fact. There
are many well-preserved feathers in amber dating back to the late