Page 98 - Confessions of the Evolutionists

96 CONFESSIONS OF THE EVOLUTIONISTS

Even more importantly, the tooth structure of Archaeopteryx and that

of other toothed birds is very different from that of dinosaurs, birds' sup-
posed evolutionary ancestors.

Archaeopteryx and Other Ancient Bird Fossils

In 1995, two paleontologists by the names of Lianhai Hou and
Zhonghe Zhou, researching at the Vertebrate Paleontology Institute in
China, discovered a new bird fossil they named Confuciusornis. This bird,
the same age as Archaeopteryx, had no teeth, but its beak and feathers ex-
hibited the same features as present-day birds. The wings of this creature,
whose skeleton was also the same as that of present-day birds, had claws.

Hoatzin

Another fossil, discovered in China in November 1996, provoked yet
more controversy. The existence of this 130-million-year-old bird, called
Liaoningornis, was announced

by Hou, Martin and Alan
Feduccia in a paper published
in Science magazine. This crea-
ture was identical to present-
day birds in all respects, and
yet was a contemporary of
Archaeopteryx. The only differ-
ence was the absence of teeth
in its mouth. This went to

show that, in contrast to evo-
lutionist claims, toothed birds
were in no way "primitive."
Another fossil that total-
ly discredited evolutionist

Ho at zin