Dinosaurs - Part One

Facts or Fiction

Recently it was reported on, at least, one of the Memphis television stations that a fragment of a bone, said to be, from a dinosaur was found in someone's back yard. That bone can now be viewed at the "Pink Palace Museum" in Memphis, Tennessee.

The term "Dinosaur" was coined in 1842 by the English Paleontologist (Earth Scientist) Richard Owens, and was derived from the Greek words "deinos" which means terrible, powerful or wonderous and "sauros" meaning lizard.

From "Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia" found on the inter-net; "Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles. They were the dominate "Terrestal (worldly) "Vertebrates" (having a spinal column) for over 160 million years, from the late "Triassic Period" (about 250 million years ago) until the end of the "Cretaceous Period" (about 65 million years ago) when the "Cretaceous - Tetriary Extinction Event" caused the extinction of most dinosaur species, except for some birds". (note - The Wikipedia Encyclopedia, like so many things which are free, is not always exactly accurate. More on that later).

There are many theories on why the dinosaur became extinct, one being the "Asteroid Collision with Earth Theory" which was to have taken place 65.5 million years ago. Another theory is that the "Deccan Traps Flood Basalts" caused the extinction beginning about 68 million years ago and lasting for the next 2 million plus years. "The failure to adapt to changing conditions" is just one many other theories as to why we no longer have the dinosaur or related pre-historic reptiles.

Most of the time-lines written about in this article such as "65 million years ago" were arrived at by using "Carbon 14 Dating" which, according to many in the scientific community, is only accurate for up to 50,000 to 100,000 years maximum. The rest may only be guess work and an effort to create facts out of fiction. More on that later.

One of the more controversial points in the, so called, pre-historic history is; "Did man and dinosaur co-exist? In the "Hope of Israel Ministries (The Paluxy River Bed)" you can find this passage: "Believe it or not, dinosaur footprints and the footprints of man, are found in the same strata, in the very same formation, in some cases only 18 inches apart, at a geological dig in Glen Rose, Texas, called the Paluxy River Bed. The ancient footprints of "man" at the site are found to be evenly spaced, and go under overhanging shale formations, continueing under the formation, and have been excavated".

In the near future my limited expertise may be tested by an attempt to bring into focus other theories which could be easier to believe than some of those above. Until then, stay tuned. - William