Portal:Paleontology
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Paleontology is the study of the forms of life existing in prehistoric times, chiefly by studying the fossils of plants, animals, and other organisms. Secular paleontology is based on uniformitarian geology, which holds that there has been no Biblical flood, but instead it is believed the layers of stata represent vast geologic ages. Based on this assumption, paleontologists examine and characterized fossils. Within paleontology, there are branches are areas of specializations based on the particular type of organism. The study of prehistoric humans is known as Paleoanthropology, animal paleontology is Paleozoology, and the branch which studies ancient plants is called Paleobotany.
Dinosaur tracks can be found at multiple locations around the world. The general characteristics of these tracks offer strong evidence that they were formed under catastrophic conditions. Within North America, there are several "megatrack" sites, that is, track sites that have more than 100 dinosaur tracks. At many of these site, like the Red Fleet Megatrack Site in Utah (pictured at left), the dinosaur tracks predominantly go in a North East direction, suggesting the animals were fleeing in a common direction.
Dinosaur tracks have several other consistent oddities about them. Sauropod tracks are rare; the predominant tracks found are tridactyl (such as shown in Red Fleet photo). Juvenile tracks are also rare, and Glen Rose is one place that has both juvenile tracks and sauropod tracks. Usually the tracks are found in multiple layers, with no evidence of any long period of time in between the layers.
Dr. Jack Cuozzo studied at Georgetown University, earning his biology major and philosophy minor, then went to the University of Pennsylvania to get his Doctor of Dental Science, and to Loyola University / Chicago Graduate School of Dentistry, where he earned his certificate of specialty in orthodontics.
In 1979, he began studying Neanderthal fossils with the aid of Wilton Krogman, who is known as the Father of Forensic Anthropology. He has written many books on human origins, and has continued to research Neanderthals. His paleontological studies were conducted on specimens at museums in Paris, England, Belgium, Jerusalem, East Berlin, Washington D.C., Chicago, Harvard University, Southern Methodist Universities, and Paleolithic caves in Southern France. He was the first to take radiographs of Neanderthal fossils.
Archaeology • Dinosaur • Fossil • Paleoanthropology • Paleoanthropology book • Paleobotany • Paleoherpetology • Paleontology book • Paleozoology
Antediluvian civilization, Archaeopteryx, DNA and Babel, Dinosaur, Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur extinction, Dinosaur track, Fossil, Fossil record, Fossil record quotes, Fossil sorting, Fossilization, Geologic ages, Geological column, Human longevity, Human migration, Index fossil, Joggins, Nova Scotia, Living fossil, Marine fossils, Mastodon, Nebraska Man, Paleoanthropology quotes, Paleobotany, Paleontology, Paleozoology, Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified wood, Piltdown Man, Polystrate fossil, Rapid coal formation, Recent dinosaur, Sarcopterygii, Sedimentary rock, Stalactite and stalagmite, Tiktaalik, Transitional form, Unfossilized dinosaur bones,
Write descriptive pages for:
- Dinosaur categorized articles (many stubs)
- Paleozoology categorized articles (many stubs)
- Paleobotany categorized articles
- Australopithecines
- Dinosaurs
Help expand the following stubs:
Wanted articles include:
"No wonder paleontologists shied away from evolution for so long. It seems never to happen. Assiduous collecting up cliff faces yields zigzags, minor oscillations, and the very occasional slight accumulation of change over millions of years, at a rate too slow to really account for all the prodigious change that has occurred in evolutionary history. When we do see the introduction of evolutionary novelty, it usually shows up with a bang, and often with no firm evidence that the organisms did not evolve elsewhere! Evolution cannot forever be going on someplace else. Yet that's how the fossil record has struck many a forlorn paleontologist looking to learn something about evolution." - Niles Eldredge , "Reinventing Darwin: The Great Evolutionary Debate," 1996, p.95.
- Discovery of giant bird-like dinosaur leads to major questions for evolution surprising discovery indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought. June 14, 2007
- In Startling Advance, Study Identifies Dinosaur Protein Findings offered as new evidence for dino-bird evolution. New York Times. April 13, 2007
