Dino-birds?
Imagine - it is ‘Creation Day Four’ when God speaks, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and Let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” (ESV version) So, ever ask yourself what is meant by the word, “let”? Evolutionists would likely interpret “let” to mean “a natural process over time”; creationists would say “God’s instantaneous creation (something from nothing) of every type of bird”. The Message Bible version seems to avoid the question by using an imperative command: God spoke: …” Birds, fly through the sky over Earth! Birds reproduce on Earth!”
I wake up most mornings to a symphony of graceful, colorful, feathered creatures buzzing about the bird feeder on my back deck…woodpeckers, blue jays, nuthatches, cardinals, doves, finches and sparrows. Here’s a multiple-choice trivial question for you; which of these three is anatomically and genetically most like birds: bats, Tyrannosaurus Rex, dragonflies? If you picked the dinosaur, you would be correct! Scientific evidence is mounting to support a direct (evolutionary) link between theropod dinosaurs and birds; dinosaurs predated birds according to fossils found in the stratigraphic record. But, the focus of this blog is not a debate of evolution versus creation; you readers have already picked which side you’re on. Rather, I am fascinated by the many resemblances between giant crawling dinosaurs and tiny flying birds. Let’s look at some of these.
As a child of the 1950’s, growing up in Pittsburgh, I loved to visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History with Papa, my maternal grandfather, especially when he would take me to the world-famous dinosaur exhibit. In the middle of the hall stood the majestic, ferocious T-Rex, King of the Dinosaurs. Artists, in early movies involving dinosaurs, often portrayed T-Rex as a gigantic, grizzled carnivore covered with thick, leathery armor-skin. Years later (1990s) this image was shattered by Chinese paleontologists who discovered a collection of feathered dinosaur species embedded in the Yixian Formation. Dinosaurs with feathers, really!? Unpronounceable names such as Sinomithosaurus and Coelurosaurous began to appear in the scientific literature. Now nearly all paleontologists regard birds as “coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs”.
For those who watched the movie Jurassic Park, you might recall a scene when a pesky pair of horse-sized “raptors” broke into the main building and began chasing the inhabitants, looking for an easy meal. One branch of theropod (raptor) dinosaur, maniraptor, share almost identical (but of course larger) skeletal similarities with birds, including: neck, pubis, wrist, arm and pectoral girdle, shoulder blade, clavicle, and breast bone; T-Rex belongs to this clade. Female birds grow a special type of bone in their limbs called the medullar. It is a bone with a hard, outer shell and a soft, calcium-rich inner layer; material from the inner layer is used to produce egg shells. Coincidently(?), paleontologists analyzed similar egg-making calcium derived from bone tissues lining the interior marrow cavities of portions of a Tyrannosaurus rex’ hind leg.
Archaeopteryx
Convinced yet? Probably not. But, what if dinosaurs could fly? Consider the well-known Archaeopteryx, first discovered in 1862. Archaeopteryx, about the size of a blue jay, lived at the end of the Jurassic Period about 150 million years ago; they possessed toothed jaws, a long lizard-like tail, and flight-type feathers. Most scientists consider this to be the first “true bird”. But it didn’t have a monopoly; it appears to have shared the friendly skies with a contemporary “true dinosaur” called Pterodactyl. Often shown swooping down on unsuspecting cave men in the movies, these Pterodactyls were portrayed as gigantic flying dinosaurs with wing spans of tens of feet and a protracted mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. In truth, they were rather smallish with wing-spans of around three feet. They had wings of skin and muscle-membrane, supported internally by collagen fibers – no feathers. Many believe they were capable of flight. Of course, they became extinct long before cavemen appeared on the scene, but don’t let that spoil your movie-memories.
Years ago, at a dinosaur store in Laramie, Wyoming, I purchased a fist-sized rock specimen claimed (by the owner) to be a genuine dinosaur bone (I wasn’t so sure). For years, I was intrigued by this bone-like sample laced throughout with tubular cavities. Until recently, paleontologists believed these cavities reduced the density of the bones, allowing the dinosaur to be lighter afoot while tracking down prey. So, what might this have to do with birds? Birds have a unique way of breathing, not at all like humans and other mammals that inhale and exhale. Birds possess septate lungs with an avian air-sac system which is 200 times more efficient than humans; this is one reason they are so efficient while flying at high altitude.
With birds, intake air is distributed to nine air sacs throughout the body; from these air sacs, which act as bellows, oxygen-rich air is forced across stationary lungs. Carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen as air exhausts from the bird. Many air sacs splice into bones in the form of tubular cavities; these are called pneumatized bones, or, breathing bones. Sound familiar? The bones are part of a bird’s respiratory system as well as its structure. There is only one other animal, long extinct, that was known to possess pneumatized bones. You guessed it, dinosaurs! Birds-from-dinosaurs: dino-birds; this discovery converted most skeptics into believers. FYI, all dinosaurs were not “avian” with bird-like features; many were more lizard or crocodile-like. Lizards and crocodiles are unable to run and breath at the same time as humans; therefore, they are usually ambush-type predators, waiting patiently for their unsuspecting prey. Recall that the car-chasing dinosaurs of Jurassic Park could seemingly chase their victims indefinitely without running out of breath. This is because they, like birds, possessed the super-efficient avian air-sac lung system.
So, what might this mean for Believers, especially those who are strict Bible literalists and rejecters of anything evolution? The scientific data appears to support the notion that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Since dinosaurs and birds and Homo sapiens each belong to the phylum “Chordata”, evolutionists boldly conclude humans must have evolved from dinosaurs. But this doesn’t ring true with the biblical account. So, which version is right? Christians who support “Theistic Evolution” would say God uses the process of evolution to accomplish his creation goals, with only infrequent interventions, such as parting the Red Sea; God is the Creator and evolution is his idea, so let’s give him credit. Christians who prefer “Intelligent Design” (ID), such as me, acknowledge evolution as a process invented by and used by God, but within limitations, allowing the Creator to intervene into his creation – supernaturally – whenever it suits him. I don’t believe either extreme must be the case – evolution (100% shared ancestry) or creation from nothing-to-something (100% miraculous). What about convergence?
“Convergence” is my option of choice. Convergence is the sharing of common anatomical characteristics by unrelated organisms. Take steering wheels in cars, for example. You wouldn’t say that a steering wheel evolved from the 1920 Model T to the 1956 Packard to the 2019 Subaru. With convergence, all car manufacturers have taken the concept of steering wheels and customized it to their models. Eyes are another example of convergence. The Creator wanted his creatures to see and function within his creation, so he came up with the concept of eyes. Scientists have discovered that complex eyes can be traced back to creatures living in the pre-Cambrian over 500 million years ago. Although all creatures don’t see alike with the same anatomical eyes, human eyes are very similar to those of dinosaurs and birds. I could imagine God getting ready to introduce his first image bearer, Adam, culling through his inventory of best anatomical body parts, gathering them up, and then speaking them into existence, somewhat akin to Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. For me, this is an acceptable compromise, God’s “Two Books” – Nature and Word of God. Dino-birds…..makes you wonder.
