Dinosaurs, Feathers, and Bird Evolution

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

The majority of atoms-to-Archaeopteryx evolutionists believe that dinosaurs evolved into birds. Not all, but most. Because they are locked into their paradigm and lasso the evidence that fits, these evolutionists get all a-twitter when someone reports dinosaur feathers. Then the obedient secular science press go hog wild with sensationalistic stories, imaginative artwork, and evoporn in general.

Evidence for feathers on dinosaurs is myopic at best.

Some of the dinosaur feather stuff is simply fake news, and other reports are myopic at best. That is, they "see" quill knobs, "protofeathers" and similar in the absence of actual feathers. Scientists also mypoically avoid other rational explanations for what they actually see. There is also disagreement among these scientists which dinosaurs are the alleged ancestors of birds, and even whether or not dinosaurs had feathers in the first place.

Instead of asking how dinosaurs evolved into birds, secular scientists should be asking if the evidence supports such evolution in the first place. There's a passel of particulars involved beyond the clever morphing animation that is presented. For an overview of some of the problems, I suggest you read "Did Dinosaurs Evolve into Birds?" before we get into some of the more technical material.

Biblical creationists are excluded from serious examination of evidence, relying on photographs, casts, reports of secular scientists, and so on. That last part is a big problem, since creationists have to rely on the real or alleged authority of those scientists. Paleontologists know their jobs, but in this area, they need to have discussions with anatomists, avian, and other experts before making pronouncements about evolution and dinosaur feathers. After all, they are only beginning to get some insight on the true colors of dinosaurs, so it seems reasonable to exercise caution when claiming that a certain dinosaur fossil had feathers. Especially if it came from the fraud factory in the Liaoning Province of China.

The logic seems to be, "We found dinosaur feathers. Therefore, evolution. Therefore, the Bible is wrong!" We see this kind of convoluted logic all too frequently, where something appears to support evolution, so Darwin is proven right. (It helps their cause to conflate variation with evolution in the old bait-n-switch.) Doesn't work that way, pilgrim. Real scientists should be using the available evidence, not just what supports their worldview and gets them more grant money. Instead, they keep getting surprised and embarrassed, and have to rewrite stories of dinosaur evolution all over again.

Unfortunately, some biblical creationists are accepting what secularists say about dinosaur feathers. They seem to be forgetting their own training and healthy skepticism, and should be more circumspect. I'll allow that they are right that if evidence for feathered dinosaurs was conclusive, it is not a threat to the Bible or creation science. If God made feathered dinosaurs for his own reasons, we can accept that. Let me reiterate that it would not be justified to extrapolate that a feathered dinosaur proved they evolved into birds, you savvy?

After all that, we come to a technical article. After that, something less technical but still very helpful.
Feathered dinosaur candidate fossils have drawn huge interest from secularists who have fitted them into a dinosaur-to-bird evolutionary narrative. The same fossils draw interest from biblical creationists who strive to accurately categorize them into Genesis kinds. Some researchers, including creation paleontologists, accept feathered dinosaurs partly on the basis of detailed secular descriptions. Conversely, some creation scientists with expertise in other disciplines remain unconvinced that those secular descriptions have eliminated enough evolutionary bias to legitimize feathered dinosaurs as a Genesis-friendly category. In addition, secular reports fit the feathered dinosaur candidates into conflicting categories, and include disputes about whether certain fossilized structural remnants really represent feathers. Other intractable barriers against evolution from dinosaur to bird, including centres of mass and respiratory systems, should call into question attempts to conflate the categories. Thus, both creation and anti-creation researchers remain divided over how to categorize feathered dinosaur candidates, and even over the legitimacy of ‘feathered dinosaurs’ as a category.
To read the rest, get comfortable and maybe have some snacks handy, and click on "Researchers remain divided over ‘feathered dinosaurs’". Then we have something shorter but more specific, below.

An anti-creationist wanted to know about alleged quill knobs on dinosaurs. He also challenged CMI's intelligence and integrity.
Question: why are birds not dinosaurs? On your own principles, an eagle, a penguin, and a hummingbird do not share a common ancestor; they are not “birds” by virtue of being a single “kind”. Similarly, you don’t deny that birds are vertebrates, even though surely vertebrates are a plethora of distinct “kinds”.
Given that many theropods share similarities (e.g. hollow bones, bipedality, etc.) with modern birds that they do not share with other “dinosaurs” like Triceratops, why can both T. rex and Stegosaurus be “dinosaurs” but an ostrich or toucan cannot? It cannot simply be because birds were created on the fifth day while most dinosaurs were created on the sixth; by that standard whales and bats cannot be mammals.
Oh, boy. To read the entire question as well as the response, click on "Feathered dinosaurs? — Have quill knobs and feathers been found on dinosaurs?" You may want to save this article for future reference because it has quite a few helpful resources.