- Recently My colleague, Ryan Patterson and myself were helping out at a Creation based stall at the Presbyterian Fun Day held on 14th May 2005, in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. For lunch we decided to go for some burgers and take a look around the nearest exhibit to us which was the Flight X2 Exhibition.

  The exhibition was well presented with a lot of interesting information. However there was one display that caught my eye in particular. As you can see from the picture below, it is a colourful display depicting the evolution of Dinosaurs into Birds. It also contains a cast of the infamous Archaeopteryx fossil. [The picture above is a model of how Archaeopteryx might have looked (1)]

There are two captions of information on the display. The first, on the right handside of the display reads -

"Birds are perfectly designed for flight. They have hollow bones to save weight and strong chest muscles to power their wings."

The second, in the lower position reads -

"This is a copy of a fossil of the oldest known bird - The Archaeopteryx. Most scientists now believe that birds are descended from dinosaurs.

On seeing the display and reading the content of the captions, we decided to enquire about and challenge the information presented in the display. We approached a female member of staff who from her appearance looked to be a member of management. The female member of staff was very helpful and took on board my points and questions (such as - There have been birds dated as older than Archaeopteryx found(2), so even in an evolutionary timescale Archaeopteryx could not serve as a transitional fossil, How reptilian bones which are solid became hollow like birds? How reptilian lungs changed into avian which have completely different structures to them? and how scales transformed into feathers when they are biochemically different?). We agreed that I would send her in articles which would further explain my points and questions (I also offered to give them museum a copy of a DVD, The Intricacies of flight by Dr Andy McIntosh which explains and illustrates the problems with Dinosaur to Bird evolution, see the recommended resources below) and that these would be passed on to receive an expert opinion from The Ulster Museum.

- Answers in Genesis Articles can be found on their website, please click on any of the titles to be taken to the article, or search there website for more answers to questions that you may have on dinosaurs at this address - http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dinosaurs.asp :

• Bird evolution flies out the window - Interview with Dr David Menton
• Archaeopteryx is not a hoax it is a true bird, not a "missing link"
• Letter from Smithsonian Institution on Bird evolution
• Chinese feathered dinosaurs, where are the skeptics?
• Dino-bird evolution falls flat!
• Yet another flap about Dino-to-Bird evolution
• Kentucky fried dinosaur?
• New Dinosaur-bird link?

- Other Articles (These are not on electronic format and can only be viewed in hard copies of the journals):

- Tim Beardsley, "Fossil Bird Shakes Evolutionary Hypotheses," Nature, Vol. 322, 21 August 1986, p. 677.

- Alun Anderson, "Early Bird Threatens Archaeopteryx's Perch," Science, Vol. 253, 5 July 1991, p. 35.

To view the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums response to our enquiry and articles sent in please click here.

References -

(1) Archaeopteryx model picture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Archaeopteryx-model.jpg, accessed 01/07/05

(2) See Other Articles above.

Recommended Resources:

What really happened to the Dinosaurs? - Ken Ham answers to all the most-asked questions about dinosaurs from a Biblical perspective.

The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved! - An information-packed dinosaur book based on the authority of the Bible.

(DVD) The Intricacies of Flight by Dr Andy McIntosh -How can evolutionists explain the ability of birds, bats and insects to fly? The answer is simple—they can’t! Dr McIntosh answers all the important questions about this dilemma among evolutionists. Flight—an amazing testimony to the Creator!

Please click on any on the recommended resources to be taken to the AIG Shop homepage.