Page 218 - Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism
P. 218

an intermediate structure could not breathe and therefore,
                  would not survive. 158
                       2) Embryological comparisons of birds and reptiles

                  made in 2002 by Alan Feduccia and Julie Nowicki showed a
                  major difference in the hand structure of the two, proving
                  that it was impossible to establish an evolutionary connection
                  between them. 159
         Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism
                       3) The final comparison between the skulls of the two
                  groups showed the same conclusions. As a result of a study
                  he carried out in 1999, Andre Elzanowski concluded that

                  there were "no specific avian similarities found in the jaws and
                  palates of dromaeosaurids [a group of theropod dinosaurs]."  160
                       4) Another difference separating birds from reptiles is
                  their teeth. It is known that in the past, some birds had teeth
                  in their beaks—which for a long time was presented as a so-
                  called proof of evolution. But eventually, it became known
                  that birds' teeth were peculiar to them. On this subject,
                  Feduccia writes:

                       Perhaps the most impressive difference between theropods
                       and birds concerns the structure of teeth and the nature of
                       their implantation. It is astounding that more attention has not
                       been given to the dramatic differences between bird and thero-
                       pod teeth, especially when one considers that the basis of
                       mammal paleontology involves largely tooth morphology. To
                       be brief, bird teeth (as seen in  Archaeopteryx, Hesperornis,
                       Parahesperornis, Ichthyornis, Cathayornis, and all toothed
                       Mesozoic birds) are remarkably similar and are unlike those of
                       theropods. . . There is essentially no shared, derived relation-
                       ship of any aspect of tooth morphology between birds and



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