Halictidae
Photograph by Mark Sturtevant.
Photography contest, Honorable Mention.
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Breaking news: Ken Ham apologizes to Williamstown!
No, he did not really, but William Trollinger on his blog, Righting America, has ghost-written a letter (which we doubt Mr. Ham will send) on this 10th anniversary of the time that Williamstown, Kentucky, not only underwrote $62.5 million worth of junk bonds but also diverted property tax toward paying off those junk bonds. No good deed goes unpunished, and Williamstown was severely punished, as attendance at Mr. Ham’s Ark Park never reached the projections in the original proposal and Williamstown, alas, found itself on the wrong side of the highway. For more, we suggest you read Prof. Trollinger’s letter.
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Chauliognathus basalis
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Why do we know that birds are living dinosaurs? Evaluation of reasoning in anti-evolutionist treatise
What follows is a summary of a longer article Why do we know that birds are living dinosaurs? published (in English) by AG Evolutionsbiologie, a German scientific association that deals with evolutionary biology and creationism.
Summary
The finding that birds are descendants of certain dinosaurs has been a scientific consensus for over 20 years. Only a very few experts still question it. In the publications of those who deny macroevolution and want to have it replaced by an “intelligent” origin (that is, creationists of various stripes), such criticism is clearly overrepresented. However, unlike the scientists they cite, creationists do not primarily cast doubt on the membership of birds in particular archosaur taxa. Rather, they want to see the evolutionary development as such questioned. They achieve this only by mixing the criticism of individual scientists with antiquated and factually incorrect ideas on evolution.
One of the creationists who is concerned with criticizing avian evolution is Reinhard Junker, former managing director of the German evangelical association Wort-und-Wissen. His argumentation is typical of creationist criticism. Since such criticism relies on antiquated views of evolution, numerous findings look like serious anomalies.
In this review, we explain why birds' ancestry from Mesozoic dinosaurs is a scientifically well-established fact. Afterwards, we discuss popular objections against this thesis presented by creationists like Reinhard Junker and by scientists like Alan Feduccia as well. We show that creationist criticism is working under a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of evolutionary theory. This line of reasoning is influential worldwide. It is representative of the whole creationist spectrum.
The ten main theses of our analysis are as follows:
Dan Phelps interviewed on the "Oh No, Ross and Carrie!" podcast
In case you thought that you knew all about the Ark Park, this interview with Dan Phelps on the Oh No, Ross and Carrie! podcast will disabuse you of that illusion. In a brisk hour and a quarter or so,
"Ross talks with Dan Phelps, president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and persistent thorn in the side of creationist Ken Ham. Learn why Answers in Genesis only paid $1 for 98 acres of land and how their parking lot pays for the corporate jet."
And more!