Flights of Fantasy

Ryan Cox • January 18, 2024

Flights of Fantasy

In desperate search of anything remotely close to an evolutionary “missing link”, evolutionary publications continue to publish the mythos that dinosaurs evolved into birds. The unbelievable tenets of this belief and the complete absence of evidence are laid out in our previous 3-part series entitled “Believing in Feather Tales”, available on the ministry website.¹ More recently, an article popped up by Discover Magazine entitled “Did All Dinosaurs Have Feathers?”² I clicked the link to see if anything new was presented. On the contrary, I was almost surprised at how old the arguments and presented evidence were, arguments that have long since been debunked.


The article claims that “Dinosaurs closely related to birds were feathered.”³ What are the specimens put forth to support this claim? Five examples are given: Sinosauropteryx, Archaeopteryx, Microraptor, Velociraptor, and Yutyrannus. Here’s what’s actually been discovered about these top 5 specimens that supposedly support dino-to-bird evolution.


  1. Sinosauropteryx – In January of 2023, Nature published an article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the supposed first discovered dinosaur with feathers. Sadly for the evolutionists, everything about this specimen supports the conclusion it is a dinosaur, not a bird, nor a dino-to-bird transition. According to other evolutionary scientists who have examined the fossil in detail, it has all the traits of cold-bloodedness, including a reptilian respiratory system. And, the alleged feathers turned out to be decayed collagen fibers of skin; they are clearly under the preserved skin impression. Conclusion: Sinosauropteryx is most assuredly a dinosaur with no feathers.
  2. Archaeopteryx – This one has been around for so long (1861), there is little left to say about it, except that it is a bird. The Discover article mostly admitted that, saying, “Often considered the first bird…” The only thing the article could claim that made it somewhat like a dinosaur is that it had teeth and claws. First, a bird with claws doesn’t make it a dinosaur; it makes it a bird with claws, such as the Hoatzin found in South America. Neither do teeth make a bird a dinosaur, nor a piranha a dinosaur or a cat or anything else with teeth. This is why it has been accepted for decades that Archaeopteryx was simply a bird.
  3. Microraptor – If only flying birds molt their primary feathers sequentially, as described by Current Biology in 2020, then a fossil of a bird (Microraptor) with sequentially molting feathers¹ should lead to the conclusion that it is a bird and not a dinosaur, correct? Not for Discover, which says, “Microraptor was a small, feathered dinosaur”. What can be said to people who refuse to acknowledge reality? All we can do is pray for their hearts to be softened and minds opened to the Gospel.
  4. Velociraptor Discover claims in the article, “Velociraptor had feathers covering its body.” How many fossils of this dinosaur have actually been found with feathers “covering its body”? Zero. The only “evidence” to support their claim are microscopic bumps found on one arm bone (ulna), that are supposed to be the attachment points for feathers. This has been debunked even by evolutionary scientists¹¹ and can be read about in Part 3 of our “Believing in Feather Tales” series.¹²
  5. Yutyrannus Discover states in the article, “It was one of the largest known feathered dinosaurs”. What was actually discovered? As Nature described, “filamentous integumentary [skin] structures.”¹³ That would be decayed skin resulting from its burial during the Flood, just like what was found with the Sinosauropteryx. Here is the deception as explained by paleontologist Dr. Gabriela Haynes, “Filamentous structures could be called feathers or feather-like only if the new evolutionary definition for feathers (a redefinition based on evolutionary assumptions) is applied. In this view, a filamentous structure is one of the first stages of supposed ‘feather evolution,’ and therefore such a structure can be called a feather”.¹⁴


When describing a parrot fossil discovered in dinosaur layers, scientists in an article for Nature concluded, “living bird lineages… coexisted with other dinosaurs… at least duck, chicken and ratite bird relatives were coextant [living with dinosaurs]”.¹ Numerous bird fossils have been discovered with dinosaur fossils, even bird remains in dinosaur stomachs!¹ How can a bird be the evolutionary descendant from a dinosaur when it is found in its evolutionary ancestor’s stomach? As Dr. Sharp would say, “I’m glad I don’t have to explain that.” How much simpler, scientific, and reasonable it is to believe the Creator and His Word.



1. https://www.creationtruth.com/believing-in-feather-tales-part1-1

2. Riley Black, “Did All Dinosaurs Have Feathers?”, Discover Magazine, published 26 September 2023, accessed 17 January 2024, <https://preview.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/did-all-dinosaurs-have-feathers>.

3. Ibid.

4. Kevin Padian, “25th anniversary of first feathered-dinosaur finds”, Nature 613: 251-252, 2023.

5. Ann Gibbons, “Lung fossils suggest dinos breathed in cold blood”, Science 278: 1229-1230, 1997.

6. Lingham-Soliar, et. al., “A new Chinese specimen indicates that ‘protofeathers’ in the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx are degraded collagen fibres”, Proc. Biol. Sci. 274: 1823-1829, 2007.

7. Perrins, et al., Birds: Their Life, Their Ways, Their World, Readers Digest: Pleasantville, NY, 6th ed., 1986, p. 277.

8. Dr. Gabriela Haynes, “The Debate over Classification of Archaeopteryx as a Bird”, Answers Research Journal 15: 285-300, 2022.

9. Kiat, et al., “Sequential Molt in a Feathered Dinosaur and Implications for Early Paravian Ecology and Locomotion”, Current Biology 30(18): 1-6, 2020.

10. Dr. Brian Thomas, “New Evidence Hurts Feathered Dinosaur Theory”, Institute for Creation Research, 09 September 2020, accessed 17 January 2024, <https://www.icr.org/article/new-evidence-hurts-feathered-dinosaur-theory>.

11. Dr. Darren Naish, “Concavenator: an incredible allosaurid with a weird sail (or hump)… and proto feathers”, scienceblogs.com, 9 September 2010, accessed 08 October 2022, <http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/09/09/concavenator-incredible-allosauroid/>.

12. https://www.creationtruth.com/believing-in-feather-tales-part-3

13. Xu, et al., “A gigantic feathered dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China”, Nature 484: 92-95, 2012.

14. Dr. Gabriela Haynes, “Dinosaurs in Birds’ Clothing?”, Answers in Depth, 29 June 2022, accessed 18 January 2024, <https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/dinosaurs-in-birds-clothing/>.

15. Clarke, et al., “Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous”, Nature 433: 305-308, 2005.

16. Xing, et al., “Abdominal Contents from Two Large Early Cretaceous Compsognathids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) Demonstrate Feeding on Confuciusornithids and Dromaeosaurids”, PLoS ONE 7(8): 1-11, 2012.

Ichthyosaur pic
By Matt Miles October 2, 2025
The Flood during Noah’s day was a devastating judgement against the sin and wickedness of the time. Most people focus on what the Lord did as He saved the eight people and animals on the Ark. Yet while they were being saved, the Flood destroyed the earth and left behind some remarkable things. Geology around the globe shows water burial of plants and animals. Many of the animal remains show signs of drowning and then burial. One particular reptile that shows this is the Ichthyosaurus. From what we can understand, water was her home for everything in life, even giving birth to live young. This well designed creature may even help us trust the Word of God when it comes to the history of the Flood. In our Mobile Museum of Earth History we exhibit a research replica of an ichthyosaur called Stenopterygius quadriscissus . She is from Holzmaden, Germany and is one example of hundreds that have been found in the area. The reason we can so confidently state this fossil is a “her,” when we rarely know for sure about fossil animals, is because she is pregnant. She has three babies present with her remains: one under her tail, one in or near the birth canal, and one still inside. Our fossil is in situ, which means the fossil remains in the rock matrix it was buried in. So, the presence of momma and babies are how they were buried and not articulated in some manner after excavation. This is important to show the rapid, watery burial that must have taken place to lock this scene in the fossil record. The Flood trapped organisms all over the world in different life positions. Sometimes the fossils left behind have shown eating, hunting, sleeping, swimming, nesting, or drowning. When it comes to ichthyosaurs around the planet, there is a significant number of females that seem to be pregnant. They have been found in the fossil record on at least four continents. A fair assumption would be that Ichthyosaurs had a certain time of year they mated and gave birth to young, much like sea turtles today that nest from late spring to late fall depending on the region around the world. So it should come as no surprise that we find pregnant ichthyosaurs all around the world as the Flood lasted an entire year. It would have buried the females that were pregnant near their location of habitat.  Evolutionists maintain that ichthyosaurs lived tens to hundreds of million years ago and each of the mothers found in the fossil record just died while giving birth. This is difficult to support in a millions magnitude time scale. That would mean every time a disaster happened, millions of years apart, the right conditions existed to quickly bury ichthyosaurs that just so happened to be pregnant. It just might take some “faith” to trust that “miracle” would happen over and over again through eons of time. Or you can have faith that the Word of God’s history is correct with a judgement of man’s sin bringing global devastation through the Flood during Noah’s 600th year of life. The Word of God is trustworthy, with even the fossil record showing us glimpses of historical evidence in support of our faith. I’m so thankful we don’t need blind faith to trust our salvation! Blessings.
Furnace
By Ryan Cox October 2, 2025
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 …if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:14-18 In the 6th century BC, three young men stood up for their faith in the one true God, for which someone attempted to kill them. Today, in the 21st century AD, one young man was gunned down for his faith in the one true God. And sadly, Charlie Kirk is not the only one. According to The Esther Project, martyrdom for the cause of Christ is commonplace around the world ( theestherproject.com/statistics ). On average: 322 Christians are killed monthly. 214 churches or Christian properties are destroyed monthly. 772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, etc.) against Christians are committed monthly. 100,000 to 160,000 Christians are killed annually in the 21st century. 1.093 million Christians were martyred between 2000 and 2010. And more than 70 million Christians are believed to have been martyred since the 1st century, with more than half killed in the 20th century alone under communist and fascist governments. And how should Christians respond? Peter wrote, “ if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name ” (I Peter 4:16). Jesus took this a step further; He told us, “ …love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ” (Matthew 5:44). Now, as Shawn Grant, minister at Kissimmee Christian Church, FL, preached on the Sunday following the assassination, th at may not be what you want to hear right now, but that is what Jesus has told us we must do. Why? So the world will see the difference Jesus makes! The night of and the days after the assassination, businesses did not have to board up their stores. Police and soldiers did not have to be deployed. There were no riots, no property damages, no police spat upon – only tears, prayers, and a witness to the world that Jesus is the answer. So noticeable is this to the world, there were more international press requests for the Charlie Kirk memorial service than are requested for Super Bowls. Within seven days of his death, Kirk’s ministry Turning Point USA had received over 54,000 campus chapter requests. And most importantly, scores of videos of young people considering or even deciding to give their lives to Jesus have been posted to social media platforms. 
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