Page 154 - The Transitional Form Dilemma

THE TRANSITIONAL-FORM DILEMMA

theropods, nerve V1 exits the braincase out the side, along with several other
nerves, whereas in birds, it exits out the front of the braincase, through its own
hole . . . . There is also the minor problem that the vast majority of the theropods
appeared after the appearance of Archaeopteryx. 128

7. Other ancient bird fossils: Some recently discovered fossils re-
veal other aspects of the invalidity of the evolutionist scenario with re-
gard to Archaeopteryx.
In 1995, two research paleontologists from the Vertebrate
Paleontology Institute in China, Lianhai Hou and Zhonghe Zhou, dis-
covered a new bird fossil they named Confuciusornis. This bird, 140 mil-
lion years old, more or less the same age as the 150- million-year-old
Archaeopteryx, had no teeth, and its
beak and feathers exhibited the same
features as modern birds. On the
wings of this bird—with its skeletal
structure the same as those of birds
of today— were claws like those of
Archaeopteryx. The structures known
as pygostyles, which support the tail
feathers, could also be seen. 129
In short, this creature, more or
less the same age as Archaeopteryx,
regarded by evolutionists as the old-
est ancestor of all birds and
as a semi-reptile, bore a
close resemblance to
modern-day birds. This
conflicts with the evo-

Confuciusornis

152