- 相册
- 0
- 阅读权限
- 255
- 日志
- 0
- 精华
- 3
- 记录
- 0
- 好友
- 1
- UID
- 264651
- 帖子
- 6378
- 主题
- 4865
- 金币
- 5531
- 激情
- 2154
- 积分
- 6199
- 注册时间
- 2008-6-12
- 最后登录
- 2013-2-2
- 在线时间
- 494 小时
  
- UID
- 264651
- 帖子
- 6378
- 主题
- 4865
- 金币
- 5531
- 激情
- 2154
- 积分
- 6199
- 注册时间
- 2008-6-12
- 最后登录
- 2013-2-2
|
世界上最早发现恐龙的是谁？并非 1822 年的洋人，而可能是殷商时期的China先民。 China龙可能就是「恐龙」，而且我们的老祖先极可能还见过「活生生」的「恐龙」。将恐龙化石与甲骨文对比，使China人与恐龙之间的关系，成了有趣的话题。
「龙」在文字学中是Q列入「象形」类文字，而象形字的条件必须「有形可象」，但在 所有象形字中唯独「龙」字，不像China传说中的龙，反而像爬虫恐龙。小篆中有龙的「遗迹 」，「龙」字的右半偏旁，横过来看很像是个大爬虫，宛若恐龙的外形，十分肖似恐龙族群 的霸王龙（暴龙），在甲骨文中也可找出相同的证据。我国文字多以象形创成，三千馀年前的商代甲骨文凭什麼灵感创出此字？
「霸王龙」又称「暴龙」，生存年代是六千至七千五百万年以前的中生代「白垩纪」後 期，活动的范围很广，北美洲及我国的蒙古一带都有它们的足迹。「霸王龙」约有十五公尺高，八吨多重，有一张巨大有力的大嘴，尖锐的巨齿从二十公分至三十公分不等，它只用两 只後腿走路，後腿又粗又壮，前肢较小，而四个脚趾中有三个长著巨大的利爪，足以撕裂任何动物的外皮（除了三角龙的坚轫护甲），它跑得速度很快，凡是被它发现的动物，很少能 逃得出它的魔掌，是当时笨重的食草恐龙最大的克星，号称「食肉恐龙之王」，可谓当之无愧，无怪一些怪兽电影的主角都找上了它。
古老的「龙」字并非专择霸王龙，钟鼎文较似三角龙或原角龙，其他甲骨文、汉简、古文奇字中也可找到龙族的影子，与原物均极肖似，小篆中的「龙」字偏旁有「」与恐龙中 的暴龙十分肖似，同时China甲骨文中也有「」字。钟鼎文中也找出了一个「龙」字，彷佛 是「三角龙」或「原角龙」的剪影。
国人认为和「龙」有关的动物（或龙的後代）有蛇、龟、蜥蜴及鳄鱼，而这些动物却都是爬虫类，和恐龙貌似。鳄鱼古称「猪婆龙」，以它的形象去推测古代的「龙」结果却是像恐龙而非「传说中的龙」。古人说「鱼龙变化」，认为龙为鱼所变，但根据科学家研究，爬虫类的恐龙原本是生活在水（海）中的鱼类，逐渐演进而成两栖类及爬虫类，因而适应了陆地上的生活。
就以「龙」这个字而言，甲骨文「龙」的本体或在其他字偏旁中所找到的，大约有六十 馀种写法，而被疑为「龙」字变体的有五十馀种，总数则是一百廿种，相同处是它们都以一 个独体的象形字来表现。根据故宫张光远先生的看法，他认为甲骨文所显示龙的形状，它应 该是一种巨首、张口、有角、有耳、长身、曲尾、有鳞、无足的动物，而且龙头与颈身多成九十度状，和卜辞中所见的蛇形，作头颈直连的写法回异。在一百廿式「龙」字写法中，有 的省角、有的省耳、有的省鳞，并非每一式都具龙形的所有特徵，这应不奇，原本造字就是 撷取物象的重要特徵而显之。由於此时文字没有定型，它们或可省此，或可省彼，只要最大的形体特徵存在，也就不谈枝节了。故欲观殷商人所具全龙的形象，自应从所有的「龙」字 写法中去索求。
先民以象形之法造字，必有实物为据。基此旁证考说，「龙」字既为一个独体的象形字 ，则它必是有形可象，那麼在三千多年前，或者更早的年代，龙当是一种见世的动物，但在 今日科学昌明的时代里，大家都以亲睹目验为可信，是否这三千多年前的龙，已早在大自然 的竞争中被淘汰，或者也随著犀牛、大象及孔雀，迁徙到南方的热带丛林中去，这就只有耐心等待考古学家或动物学家的最新发掘报告了。由於殷商甲骨金文中所见有关动物的字，大多象形而犹生存迄今，故龙在远古之世，应非子虚神话之物，也许若干年後，我们还有幸发 掘到龙的遗骸化石，以为考定。
对於张先生这样合理的论述及大胆的假设，笔者十分赞同，因为古代所造之象形字，不论是动、植物与无生物等自然物或者人造物，至今仍然全数可以看到，而且字与物之间的差异也不大，却唯独少了「龙」，成了有字无物，因此硬要说古人造这个字时是凭空想像，毫无根据，那麼这种论断未免太过牵强，何况除了象形字，我们还有会意、指事、形声、转注 、假借等造字体例，为何非要「龙」字列入象形字呢？
由於甲骨文是在清朝末年才发现，而对於「殷墟」（河南省安阳县小屯村）的大规模发 掘更是民国以後的事，而著《说文解字》的许慎，是东汉初年的人（约当西元五五～一四四 年？），距今接近二千年前，由於未及见到「甲骨文」的发现，大概只看到了小篆，於是就 以传闻附会之见来诠释「龙」字，故而在《说文解字》中说道 ：「龙，鳞虫之长，能幽能明，能细能巨，能短能长，春分而登天，秋分而潜渊，从肉飞之形，童省声。」把原本独体象形 的「龙」字，强说成合体的形声字，根本就失去了原意，而晚近的两位国学泰斗黄季刚及林尹先生，则也因袭了许慎的错说 ，认为「龙」字从「肉」（月），「童省声」（立），并加了 「」象龙之形，并定名为「杂体」。
事实上，从「金文」（钟鼎文）「龙」字的演进中就可看 出；在殷商时「龙」字的金文和甲骨文同为一个独体的象形字 ，但到了西周晚期，便出现有身、首分写的「龙」字，至春秋 秦景公时（约西元前五五０年左右）的「秦公簋铭」，再行增 笔，於是後出的小篆，便和原字大有不同了，并成为一个左右合体的字（见图一）：正因为如此，使我们知道了「龙」追个 — ２４ — 字起始之初，绝对是象形字，那麼象形字的定义是「画成其物，象物之形」。如果「龙」真 的只是神话传说中虚构想像之物，那麼必然不曾有人见过，又何以能「象其形」呢？可是若 要说「龙」是实存之物，为何不但近世无人见过，更未发现任何实体或骨骼化石的遗迹，而 「龙」这个字又独独反常，不同於其他象形字，几乎完全不像现存於绘画及雕刻中的龙呢？
我国的象形文字，不论大小篆，那些代表性的字，如鸟、龟、象、瓜、竹、山、川、日 、月、弓、矢、井都是根据实物简化的，如此之神似。如果唯独只有「龙」是想像中的产物 ，而「龙」这个字是附会这无稽的想像而生的，那麼「龙」这个字应该不是现在这个样子， 连小篆都不应该是这样的字形，因为如用文字来形容龙，那麼China所谓的「龙」是：「牛鼻 、豹眼、虎口、鲶须、虎牙、鹿角、蛇身、鱼鳍、鹰爪、鱼鳞、金鱼尾」等所组成。
另据古代留下的绘画、雕刻考证，战国以前的龙之造型，较像兽而不像蛇，古龙有蛟， 螭鳄形龙、鱼龙、蚕烛龙、虫龙，鼋龙、而龙生螭吻、狴犴、饕餮、睚眥、狻猊、椒图等等九子，以及山海经的龙首鸟身、鸟首龙身等，多彩多姿，种类繁多，可见古人已知恐龙是族繁不及备载，而非明清留传的五爪金龙一种。
史载，春秋时期会稽山挖到一大堆巨兽骨骼，难以车载，有人去请教万事通孔夫子，孔老答称是「防风氏」之骨，这是帮禹治水之龙，因开会迟到被禹斩杀埋在该处。孔老夫子绝非乱盖之辈，他何以见骨知龙，应是有趣的「考古题」！
古代当然也可能会寻获恐龙化石，但依当时的科技常识，不太可能拼凑完整，而汉文帝改元黄龙，改年号并非小事！若非皇帝亲见或有可靠证据，必不会轻举妄动，从这两项因素 推敲，也可推测古人必是见过恐龙。
民国七十四年四月在台南市举办的「恐龙世界」大展中，笔者又发现一块「引螈」头骨化石，此物是生活在古生代末期的两栖类，与恐龙有共同的祖先，但是头骨却像商周铜器上 的「饕餮纹」、「蟠龙纹」头部，在在显示出不寻常的「巧合」。
英国尼斯湖中曾出现水怪，经科学家用声纳探测并纪录绘图後，推测很可能是恐龙类的 「蛇头龙」或「薄板龙」。鉴今知古，可以大胆推论：China老祖宗也见过恐龙残族，或是恐 龙并非在六千五百万年前绝种，应在晚近才绝迹，也或许China历史不祇五千年，可能还可上 推数十百倍，因此才「写」得出、「画」得出龙形。
民国十年，俄人在黑龙江一带盗采「满洲龙」化石，此後各国相继组团到我国采探，北 伐成功後，我国也自行挖掘研究，成果丰硕，目前世界已知的五百多种恐龙化石，在我国有 一百馀种，从这项根据亦可显示China确是「龙的传人」。
甲骨文中「龙」字造形与各种恐龙形状的比对，从一百廿个「龙」字的正体与变体字中，找出了最具代表性的二种写法（见图二），其中第一种写法，相信对恐龙形象略略熟悉的读 者，大概一眼就可看出它的确很像一只活生生 的肉食性大恐龙，如果和附图的霸王龙相比 较，就将发现这个甲骨文的龙字简直就是霸王龙的简笔画，而且相当传神，同时最重要的一 点，就是这个甲骨文的「龙」字完全不像我们 现今在图画或雕刻物中所常见的龙形。
仔细的去看，它有一个大头，一张大嘴，身躯和尾巴 各占二分之一，而又有前肢和後肢，当然这绝不可能是一前一後各一只脚，而应该是各有一 对，必然是古人在造字时为方便书写，以及侧视角度的关系，而省略成这样的。如果注意一下它的造形比例，将发现它的头是相当大的，同时身躯及尾巴也相当肥胖，完全不似传说中常见的五爪金龙那种细长似蛇或鳗鱼的体形。而这个甲骨文「龙」字的尾巴骤然变细，也十分肖似恐龙尾部的特徵。最重要的是，这样的比例及造型可说与恐龙来做比对时，已接近完 美而少有差异，至於那条灵活的尾巴更说明了一个事实，我们的老祖宗所见到的「龙」（恐龙）绝对是活物，而不可能只是一堆偶然被发掘出来，零零星星的骨骼化石而已。
因为即使科学发达的今日，对动物分类、动物体结构已 经相当了解，又有各种仪器的协助下，拼凑出 一具完整的新品种恐龙的骨骼，也非易事，何况古人呢？更加上迄今仍未发现过一具连皮带骨完完整整的恐龙化石，恐龙的外型完全是根 据拼凑出来的化石骨架，以精密的动物结构学 逐一将皮肉添加上去，才能塑造出类似原貌的恐龙模型，因此我们很难相信古人也能有如此 进步的观念及方法。但是，古人在造字时竟然 造了这样一个千古之谜的「龙」字，如此的肖 似恐龙，使我们找不出可以解释的理由，认定 这「纯属巧合」，也不得不相信古人真的是见过活生生的恐能，当然，如果这样的论断成立的话，那恐怕只有二种可能：
一、恐龙的灭绝并非一般推论的六千五百万年前，而是更为晚近，当然笔者也不敢妄自将 它拉至三千七百年前的商朝，更不敢将China历史推演到六千五百万年前，只认为或许 China的历史恐怕比我们认为的五千年还要更长一些。
二、恐龙的灭绝虽然是在六千五百万年前，但那只是指大部分的恐龙，而仍有小部分残存 到我们老祖宗懂得造字的年代或更为晚近的世代中，而以「活化石」的方式出现。
至於第二个甲骨文的「龙」字和前一个相去不远，不需做太多的解说，只要看一下造型 和假设的字体演进过程，或许并非纯属笔者一厢情愿的想像，而多少有些合理的成份在。（ 见图四）所以，在此特别取了几个特殊的甲骨「龙」字与恐龙图形相比较，肖似与否，谨供 参考。（见图五） 此外，在甲骨文中，「龙」字的异体字出奇的多，而且往往各自成型，完全不一样。这 个疑问是否正表示著商代的「龙」并不止於一种，而有著各式各样不同的龙？或甚至比甲骨 文更早的「图象文字」中就存在著各种造型不同的龙？那麼在三、四千年前，China老祖先对 龙的看法并不局限在现今蛇形的五爪金龙一种而已，似乎与恐龙一样是「族繁不及备载」的 才对！
龙的传人其来有自
根据台湾新生报民国七十四年四月十二日报导，谢前副总统东闵先生，於参观台南市「 恐龙世界」大展，强调China人是「龙的传人」其来有自，炎黄子孙应当追宗思源，详看恐龙 的演化过程。小篆钟鼎文悉见龙形，证实我们的先民实际上看见过恐龙，希望将笔者研究的 象形文字演进，制成图表挂在展示现场，以增加国人对中华文化悠久的历史，突破五千年向更远历程推演。
我们是「龙的传人」，给民众的意识不够深入了解，自黄帝创始，仓颉造字也是「象形 文」，周朝史籀创造籀文（大篆），秦代李斯改造成「小篆」，从字的组合，都可以明察「 龙」的写法，确实与恐龙的形象相吻合。
由於China人善於美化，经过科学家与艺术家的美感观念的美化，把龙的形象美化成现代 龙的造形，举凡舞龙、雕塑、壁画及国画中的龙，都是经过历代炎黄子系美化而成的。他很欣慰的说，有关这座骨骼、化石，以及台湾左镇、龙崎出土的生物化石、头骨，都深具教育价值，让我们新生的一代体认自己的历史，追溯自己祖先的由来，可见大陆与台湾早期原本 是一体的，经过中生代地球演化，才有今天的海洋阻隔，像那些犀牛、大象、人的头骨，据考古代生物学家研究发现，都是两万年前的，这些动物都不曾游水过来，祇有早期没有海洋连接在一起，才有这类化石头骨存在。
巴比伦的龙，估计上图是元代蒙古到欧洲带回来的。其实欧洲其他很多文明都有酷似恐龙的造型，不知道这些可否认为我们对恐龙时代的记忆，还是说恐龙相当长一段时间伴随着人类一起在生活？
ANCIENT DINOSAUR DEPICTIONSTo the right is a picture of a dinosaur fighting a mammoth from the book Buried Alive by Dr. Jack Cuozzo (click to enlarge). It was taken by the author in the Bernifal Cave, one of the caverns in France that is renowned for Neanderthal artifacts. The cave has been closed to the public. Science News was given the opportunity to publish the remarkable photo, but declined. It seems that evidence against the prevailing paradigm of naturalistic origin was selected against. It is buried alive by the scientific establishment. As Cuozzo says, this is natural selection in the most literal sense!
 "Fran Barnes, a recognized authority on rock art of the American South-West, writes, 'In the San Rafael Swell, there is a pictograph [picture symbol] that looks very much like a pterosaur, a Cretaceous flying reptile'..." (Swift, Dennis, "Messages on Stone," Creation Ex Nihilo, vol. 19, p. 20). This figure, about 7 feet long from wing-tip to wing-tip, is actually painted with a dark-red pigment. Indians of the Fremont culture are thought to have inhabited the "Swell" between 700 and 1250 A.D. Black Dragon Canyon is named for the pictograph which resembles a large winged reptile with a headcrest. On the left is shown a photo of one of the curious "dinosaur" petroglyphs near Middle Mesa at the Wupatki National Park. This particular petroglyph is called "Puff the Magic Dragon," and appears to be a depiction of a fire-breathing dinosaur. Though there is no certain way to date such petroglyphs, it is believed to be at least several hundred years old.
  In 600 BC, under the reign of King Nebuchanezzer,a Babylonian artist was commissioned to shape reliefs of animals on the structures associated with the Ishtar Gate. Centuries later, in 1887 AD, when German archaeologist Robert Koldeway stumbled upon the blue-glazed brick, that gate was rediscovered. The animals appear in alternating rows with lions, fierce bulls (rimi or reems in Chaldean), and curious long-necked dragons (sirrush). The lions and bulls would have been present at that time in the Middle East. But, on what creature did the ancient Babylonians model the dragon? The same word, sirrush, is mentioned in the book of Bel and the Dragon, from the Apocrypha. Both the description there and the image on these unearthed walls (see right), which are now displayed in the Berlin Vorderasiatisches Museum, appear to fit a sauropod dinosaur. (Shuker, Karl P.N., "The Sirrush of Babylon," Dragons: A Natural History, 1995, pp. 70-73.)
 The ancient Sumatrans produced multiple pieces of art depicting long-tailed, long-necked creatures with a headcrest. Some of these animals resemble hadrosaurs. This particular work (Ethnographical Museum, Budapest) depicts a creature that bears a striking resemblance to a Corythosaurus which is being hunted by these ancient Indonesian peoples. (Bodrogi, Tibor, Art of Indonesia, plate #10, 1973.)
  Asian stories and stylized dragon depictions are fairly common. But an unusual beaked dragon statue came up on the antiquities market and is now in the Genesis Park collection. The bronze styling on this artifact suggests it is from the Zhou Dynasty (1122 B.C. - 220 B.C.) or possibly from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). It displays numerous characteristics of the beaked dinosaurs (like the oviraptor depicted alongside for comparison): tridactyl feet configuration, metatarsal stance, scale-like representation all over the body (except for the horn which has a striated pattern), long (albeit slender) tail, elaborate head crest and a long neck. Another fascinating Chinese artifact is the Late Eastern Zhou Sauropod (Fang Jian) Ornamental box. Displaying a tridactyl foot, a long neck and a head that resembles a brachiosaur, this depiction is compelling. (Fong, Wen ed., The Great Bronze Age of China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980, p. 285.)
 
  Next we consider a Shang dynasty (B.C. 1766-1122) dragon artifact that was advertised on the Chinese antiquities market as a dinosaur depiction. It displays relief lines in a scale-like pattern, a broad beak, a dermal frill, and a headcrest that is strikingly like the dinosaur Saurolophus (shown on the right). This jade statute, now in the Genesis Park collection, is made of white colored nephrite with differential weathering, cleaving veins and earth penetration, demonstrating authenticity. (Click to enlarge.)
 The February 26, 2000 issue of Science News contained an article that commenting on an artifact housed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that has come to be known as the Hesione vase (Hesman, 2000). Pictured on this ancient Greek vase is a series of somewhat unusual paintings, including one that portrays a monster that possesses the head of a dinosaur. This pottery was created around 550 B.C., and depicts the Greek hero Heracles rescuing Hesione from this "monster of Troy." Forced to concede the amazingly realistic dinosaurian depiction, Science News concluded that the paintings on this unusual vase simply prove that ancient people dug fossils, too.
 To the left is an urn from Caria, which was located in Asia Minor (Turkey). This artifact (described in Thomas H. Carpenter's 1991 book Art and Myth in Ancient Greece: A Handbook) is estimated to be from 530 BC. It depicts what appears to be a mosasaurus with several known sea creatures. The animal behind the sea serpent is a seal, while an octopus is below the sea serpent along with what seems to be a dolphin. The thick jaws, big teeth, large eyes, and positioning of the flippers on this creature match a mosasaurus skeleton very well. Some mosasaurus species also had a narrow cranial crest behind the eye that may have had a fin attached the way it is depicted on the Carian urn. Other artifacts of interest from this region came to light after the deluge and landslide of 1971 in the small village of Girifalco. A lawyer named Mario Tolone began investigating. Tolone asserts to have found dinosaurian representations in this area of Caria with hundreds of other ancient artifacts, of a pre-Greek civilization of Calabria, that is at least 3000 years old.
   Shown to the left is a terracotta statue measuring about 18 cm long, shaped remarkably like a dinosaur with plates on its back. The plates are triangular, and continue along the back until reaching the tail. In the view from above (right) the object reveals a strange curving of the plates, as if the animal had been represented in motion on the land. The legs are large and awkward, as if carrying great weight, not at all like those of a lizard. There is also a clear representation of a stegosaurus on a piece of broken pottery.
The art below is from a Mesopotamian cylinder seal dated at 3300 BC. (Moortgart, Anton, The Art of Ancient Mesopotamia, 1969, plate 292.) The animal on the right is an artists conception from a skeleton of an Apatosaurus. There are many striking similarities between these two depictions. The legs and feet on the Egyptian art clearly fit the sauropods better than any other type of animal. The biggest difference is at the head. Cartilage forming the shape of a frill or ears may be stylized or accurate (since there is no way to know from the skeletons we have today). As for the musculature, the Egyptian artist draws with stunning realism. One has to ask where the artist got the model to draw so convincingly the trunk of a sauropod?
   An Egyptian seal with the cartouche (official name inscribed within an oval) of Tutmosis III (appx. 1400 B.C.) depicts a Sauropterygia-like animal (type of plesiosaur). The anterior and posterior flippers are distinctively represented with the narrow connection to the rotund body of the creature. The seal is from the Mitry collection and is of unquestioned authenticity. The ancient Egyptians are known for their keen observation and accurate zoological   representations, particularly with regard to sea creatures. Other such seals in the Mitry collection appear to have dinosaurian representations as well. The world famous gold throne of King Tut (right) has winged serpents forming the arm rests. Known as Wadjet, the winged serpent of Egypt, protected the Pharaohs and controlled the waters of the Nile. In fact, winged snakes are depicted on many of the coffins from ancient Egypt. To the lower right is a picture of a winged serpent like a "covering saraph" protecting the god Osiris. There is even a hieroglyphic symbol for the winged serpent that appears in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. (Note the hieroglyphic in the picture on this limestone pendant to the lower left.)
 The January 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine presents an artifact described as a "cosmetic palette . . . from a cemetery of the first dynasties in Manshaat Ezzat." These long-necked creatures displayed on page 78 fit the pattern of other ancient dinosaur-like depictions, including arching, muscular necks and stout bodies. Known as the "Two Dog Palette," this artifact depicts many lifelike animals (including a giraffe on the reverse).
  To the right are displayed slate palettes from Hierakonpolis showing the triumph of King Nar-mer with long necked dragons and an ancient palette depicting a pair of "dinosaur-like" creatures along with numerous clear representations of living animals (taken from p. 93 of Pritchard's book The Ancient Near East in Pictures).
The preponderance of these long-necked depictions in ancient art (note also the Egyptian wand depiction) motivated archaeologists who do not believe men and dinosaurs coexisted to invent a name for this particular creature. It is called a "serpopard," supposedly a mosaic of a serpent and a leopard. But for those who believe that man was created in the beginning alongside the great reptiles, these palettes seem to be an attempt to depict a sauropod dinosaur. Note the "Four Dogs Palette" with the "serpopard" cut out for clarity.
    
To the right is a Roman mosaic from about 200 AD that depicts two long-necked sea dragons. Paul Taylor, author of The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, likens them to the web-footed Tanystropheus shown beside.
 To the left is another beautiful mosaic that was one of the wonders of the second century world. Called the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, it depicts Nile scenes from Egypt all the way to Ethiopia. Scholars now believe this is the work of Demetrius the Topographer, an artist from Alexandria who came to work in Rome. The top portion of this remarkable piece of art is generally believed to depict African animals being hunted by black-skinned warriors. These Ethiopians are pursuing what appears to be some type of dinosaur. The Greek Letters above the reptilian animal in question are: KROKODILOPARDALIS which is literally translated Crocodile-Leopard. The picture shown here is only a small portion of the massive mosaic. It also contains clear depictions of known animals, including Egyptian crocodiles and hippos. (Finley, The Light of the Past, 1965, p. 93.)
"An ancient Mayan relief sculpture of a peculiar bird with reptilian characteristics has been discovered in Totonacapan, in northeastern section of Veracruz, Mexico. José Diaz-Bolio, a Mexican archaeologist-journalist responsible for the discovery, says there is evidence that the serpent-bird sculpture, located in the ruins of Tajín, is not merely the product of Mayan flights of fancy, but a realistic representation of an animal that lived during the period of the ancient Mayans - 1,000 to 5,000 years ago. If indeed such serpent-birds were contemporary with the ancient Mayan culture, the relief sculpture represents a startling evolutionary oddity. Animals with such characteristics are believed to have disappeared 130 million years ago." (Anonymous, "Serpent-Bird of the Mayans," Science Digest, vol. 64 November 1968, p. 1)
 
The picture to the right (click to enlarge) was drawn by North American Anasazi Indians that lived in the area that has now become Utah approximately 150 B.C. - 1200 A.D. Even noted anti-creationists agree that it resembles a dinosaur and that the brownish film which has hardened over the picture, along with the pitting and weathering, attests to its age.  One evolutionist writes, "There is a petroglyph in Natural Bridges National Monument that bears a startling resemblance to a dinosaur, specifically a Brontosaurus, with a long tail and neck, small head and all." (Barnes and Pendleton, Canyon Country Prehistoric Indians - Their Culture, Ruins, Artifacts and Rock Art, 1995.) Clearly a native warrior and an apatosaur-like creature are depicted. Horned and flying serpent figures are prominent in the mythology of most Native American peoples, often associated with rain and thunder. An example is the Algonquin pictograph of a flying serpent known as Mishipizheu. Yet another Native American rock pictograph found in Utah (see left) seems to depict a sauropod dinosaur.
 The native American Coclé culture of Panama was discovered by A. Hyatt Verrill. He noticed the oddly pterosaur-like representations on Coclé pottery and suggested it was so realistic that these native Americans must have been influenced by fossil discoveries. He describes the depiction (see left) as having "beak-like jaws armed with sharp teeth, wings with two curved claws, short, pointed tail, reptilian head crest or appendages, and strong hind feet with five-clawed toes on each." The Coclé civilization dates from AD 1330-1520. But Verrill theorizes that such drawings were based on "accurate descriptions, or even drawings or carvings, of fossilized pterodayctyls" (Verrill, A. Hyatt, Strange Prehistoric Animals and their Stories, 1948, pp. 132-133.)
  Another petroglyph (carved rock drawing) has been found in Arizona's Havasupai Canyon (photo taken by Dr. DeLancy). In the far right picture, Paul Taylor compares this ancient drawing to the Edmontosaurus.
 There are stories of a plesiosaur-like creature seen in Queensland, Australia. Both aboriginal peoples around Lake Galilee and tribes farther up to the north tell of a long-necked animal with a large body and flippers. "Elders of the Kuku Yalanji aboriginal tribe of Far North Queensland, Australia, relate stories of Yarru (or Yarrba), a creature which used to inhabit rain forest water holes. The painting [left] depicts a creature with features remarkably similar to a plesiosaur. It even shows an outline of the gastro-intestinal tract, indicating that these animals had been hunted and butchered." (CEN Technical Journal, Vol.12, No. 3, 1998, p. 345.)
  There are some clearly ancient engravings in dolerite and gneiss that have been found in Bushmanland, South Africa. Amongst the many depictions, dinosaur footprints, and other artifacts in this region; two are of special interest. One resembles a sauropod dinosaur and the other looks like an attempt to depict a pterosaur.
 An Egyptian seal (right) depicts a large pterosaur hunting a gazelle (Giveon, R., "Scarabs From Recent Excavations in Israel," Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 83, 1988, p. 70.) The leaf shaped tail vane of the pterosaur is unmistakable. The long reptilian head has the double crest of a Scaphognathus above it. The two wings even exhibit the unique corrugated features seen in the Solnhofen Rhamphorhynchus fossil and the claws of a pterosaur. The level of detail is similar to that for the gazelle. The seal dates from 1300-1150 B.C. and is now in the Tel Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology. Similarly, an Egyptian statue residing in a Berlin museum depicts legs with toes and claws, three wing claws; a prototagium (a portion of the wing above the arm known from pterosaur fossil impressions); and a tail vane. That pterosaur is shown hunting a falcon and also appeared to have the dental structure of a Scaphognathus. (Goertzen, John, "The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A 'Living Fossil' Until the 17th Century," 1998 ICC Paper.)
Deep in the jungles of Cambodia are ornate temples and palaces from the Khmer civilization.   One such temple, Ta Prohm abounds with stone statues and reliefs. Almost every square inch of the gray sandstone is covered with ornate, detailed carvings. These depict familiar animals like monkeys, deer, water buffalo, parrots, and lizards. However, one column contains an intricate carving of a stegosaur-like creature. But how could artisans decorating an 800 year old Buddhist temple know what a dinosaur looked like? Western science only began assembling dinosaurs skeletons in the past two centuries. (Pictures are courtesy of Don Patton.)
 European reports of flying serpent living in Egypt persist through the 1600's. The Italian naturalist Prosper Alpin wrote a fascinating natural history of Egypt in the 1580's. He describes their crest, a small piece of skin on the head, their tail being "thick as a finger," their length being "as long as a palm branch," and their leaf-shaped tail. (Alpin, P., Histoire Naturelle de l'Egypte, tr. by R. de Fenoyl, 1979, pp. 407-409.) All is precisely like modern fossil reconstructions. A French wooden image, dating from the 16th century, also displays remarkable features of a pterosaur. There are two wings that clearly appear to have ribbed membranes rather than feathers. There appears to be a small head crest above and slightly in front of the eyes, the distinctive tail vane, and a hint of the twin skin flap above and behind the bony crest that is quite like the Egyptian seal.
 The next drawing is from a 17th century German tract about the dangers of witches and witchcraft. Witches are accused of causing houses to spontaneously combust. The pterosaurs depicted flying in the background, with characteristic headcrests and tails, were apparently associated with witches. (Trevor-Roper, "The Persecution of Witches," 1965.) Many accounts from that time period describe creatures that sound suspiciously like pterodactyls. An official government report from 1793 states: "In the end of November and beginning of December last, many of the country people observed dragons appearing in the north and flying rapidly towards the east; from which they concluded, and their conjectures were right, that...boisterous weather would follow." ("Flying Dragons at Aberdeen," A Statistical Account of Scotland, 1793, p. 467.)
 A dragon was said to live in the wetlands near Rome in December of 1691. This creature lived in a cave and supposedly terrorized the local population. A sketch of the skeleton has survived in the possession of Ingegniero Cornelio Meyer (right). The most remarkable thing about the animal is the clear head crest and the dual piece of skin from the crest. Five digits were clearly visible for each foot, of the proper length and with the first shorter and offset from the rest as is proper for the Scaphognathus. There is a hint of a wing claw on the far wing where it curves forward. The membraned wings are in front of the legs, on the vertebrae, matching the fossils. The femur is properly shown as a single bone. The tibia and fibula, the twin lower leg bones, are visible too. Although some have suggested that it could be a fossil or a faked composite, it is much too accurate to be a fabrication. The survival of the skin suggests that it is not a fossil since it includes accurate wing features, a head crest, and the ears. (Goertzen, John, "The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A 'Living Fossil' Until the 17th Century," 1998 ICC Paper.)
"A fantastic mystery has developed over a set of cave paintings found in the Gorozomzi Hills, 25 miles from Salisbury. For the paintings include a brontosaurus - the 67-foot, 30-ton-like creature scientists believed became extinct millions of years before man appeared on earth. Yet the bushmen who did the paintings ruled Rhodesia from only 1500 b.c. until a couple of hundred years ago. And the experts agree that the bushmen always painted from life.  This belief is borne out by other Gorozomzi Hills cave paintings - accurate representations of the elephant, hippo, buck and giraffe. The mysterious pictures were found by Bevan Parkes, who owns the land the caves are on. Adding to the puzzle of the rock paintings found by Parkes is a drawing of a dancing bear. As far as scientists know, bears have never lived in Africa." (Anonymous, "Bushmen's Paintings Baffling to Scientists," Evening News, January 1, 1970, London Express Service, printed in Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, January 7, 1970.) To the left is just such a rock painting from a cave at Nachikufu near Mpika in northern Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). It shows three long-necked, long-tailed creatures sketched in white. (Clark, Desmond J., The Rock Paintings of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in Summers, Rogers, Rock Art of Central Africa, 1959, pp. 28-29, 194.)
  Iron sculptures made by the Bambara peoples of Mali Africa in the 1800's display a three-horned creature with what appears to be a neck frill. The specimens shown here, part of Genesis Park's collection, exhibit dinosaurian characteristics. One shows top horns pointed forward and the neck frill extending halfway down the animal's back, much like the ceratopsian dinosaur Chasmosaurus. The long tail, squat arched body, and sprawled legs also give it the appearance of a ceratopsian dinosaur. The second, entitled "dinosaurian sculpture," by the exhibiting gallery shows a four-legged creature with a long neck and tail like a sauropod dinosaur. The neck has a slight widening and a ridged frill that makes it a fascinating depiction.
 Another African tribe from the Mali region is known for producing dinosaurian objects in the mid-1800's . This is the same timeframe when Sir Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur in England. The bronze artifact to the left shows a Dogon tribesman riding a long-necked, long-tailed reptilian creature. The oddly bird-like head with strong jawline is reminiscent of the "duck bill" on certain Ornithopod dinosaurs. The diamond-shaped pattern on the skin matches fossilized skin impressions discovered on a hadrosaur in southern Utah.
  In 1924 some Roman style lead artifacts were excavated near Tucson, AZ (see right). Described on p. 331 of David Hatcher's book The Lost Cities of North & Central America is the unique carvings on these implements, particularly a clear dinosaur depiction on a sword. The Arizona Historical Society still has the sword.
  A plated and horned creature has also been discovered in Cree Indian art (far left) on the Agawa Rock at Misshepezhieu, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Also to the left is pictured an Inca Ceremonial Burial Stones that is likely from the Nazca culture. In 1571 the Spanish conquistadors brought back stories that there were stones with strange creatures carved on them found in this region of Peru. Today, over 1100 such stones were found by Dr. Javier Cabrera.    In the early 1930's, his father found many of these ceremonial burial stones in Ica's numerous Peruvian tombs and noted that dinosaur-like creatures were represented on some of them. Retired from the University of Lima, Dr. Cabrera had focused upon validating these finds within the scientific community. His credibility was strengthened by long-necked creatures displayed on pottery in the museum of Lima and beautiful tapestries from the Nazca tombs (ca 700 AD) with a repeating pattern that looks like dinosaurs. Indeed, the depictions on some of the Ica Stones show the sauropod dinosaurs with a crest of spines much like that discovered by Paleontologist Stephen Czerkas.   "Recent discovery of fossilized sauropod (diplodocid) skin impressions reveals a significantly different appearance for these dinosaurs. The fossilized skin demonstrates that a median row of spines was present... Some are quite narrow, and others are broader and more conical." (Geology, "New Look for Sauropod Dinosaurs," December, 1992, p. 1,068.)" Also, of interest is the fact that the skin of many of the carved dinosaurs resembled bumpy rosettes. Some scientists had pointed to this as evidence that these stones were not scientifically accurate. However, more recent discoveries of fossilized dinosaur skin and embryos have silenced these same critics. For example, Luis Chiappe and colleagues discussed certain sauropod dinosaur embryos found in South America: "The general skin pattern consists of round, non-overlapping, tubercle-like scales.... A rosette pattern of scales is present in PVPH-130" (Chiappe, et al., 1998, p. 259).
  Not far from the South American Nazca sites are the Moche Indian archaeological locations. These Moche tribes inhabited northern Peru about 100-800AD. Among the artifacts currently in the Lima museum are the Mocha stirrup-spout pots and vases. Their main artistic medium was the red & white ceramic pots, which depict with singular realism medical acts, combative events, musical instruments, plants and animals. In the Larco Herrera Museum in Peru there are vases that clearly depict dinosaurs. Some of these same types of dinosaurs are shown on the Ica stones, including the dermal frills. The pictures here were taken by Dr. Dennis Swift.
   In 1945 archeologist Waldemar Julsrud discovered clay figurines buried at the foot of El Toro Mountain on the outskirts of Acambaro, Mexico. Eventually over 33,000 ceramic figurines were found in the area and identified with the Pre-classical Chupicuaro Culture (800 BC to 200 AD). The authenticity of Julsrud's find has been challenged because the huge collection included dinosaurs. In 1954 the Mexican government sent a team of archeologists to investigate. In 1955 Charles Hapgood, professor of Anthropology at UNH, conducted an elaborate investigation including extensive radiometric dating and thermoluminescent testing by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990 an investigation was conducted by Neal Steedy, an archeologist who works with the Mexican government. Thus Julsrud's work has survived numerous tests and the Mexican government has even imprisoned two men for selling these artifacts on the black market. Moreover, the dinosaurs are modeled in very agile, active poses, fitting well with the latest scientific evidence and lending credence to the artists having actually observed these creatures. Like the Ica Stones, some sauropod's are depicted with a distinctive spinal frill. There was extinct ice-age horse remains, the skeleton of a woolly mammoth, and a number of ancient human skulls found at the same location as the ceramic artifacts, validating the antiquity of the site (Hapgood, Charles, 2000, p.82). Further evidence of the authenticity of Julsrud's finds is the Iguanodon dinosaur figurine. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Iguanodon was completely unknown. No hoaxer could have known of the Iguanodon's existence, much less made a model, for it wasn't until 1978 or 1979 that skeletons of adult Iguanodons were found with nests and babies.
 "In the 1960's, a leading jewel designer called Emanuel Staub was commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania...to produce replicas of a series of small gold weights obtained in Ghana. ...So well crafted were they that the animals that they depicted could be instantly identified by zoologists--all but one, that is, which could not be satisfactorily reconciled with any known animal, until Staub saw it." (Shuker, Dr. Karl P.N., In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, 1995, p. 20.) Originally photographed resting on its hind legs (as if bipedal), this enigmatic Ashanti gold figurine was difficult to identify. Once properly positioned, Staub noted that the mysterious artifact bears a striking resemblance to a dinosaur. Perhaps this figurine was an attempt to model the sauropod Mokele-mbembe creature that is said to inhabit remote regions of equatorial Africa still today.
At a museum in Manitou Springs, Colorado, there is an unusual carved artifact. It is an Indian prayer stick (see below left), roughly a foot long, with a crested head, eyes on both sides, and beaked mouth. The beautiful artistic work stands out as strikingly like a pterodactyl! This portrayal from a Saxon shield mount reveals a pterosaur-like creature at rest. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling.The flying reptile widfloga (or far-ranging flyer) was known to the Saxons and this shield-boss came from the Sutton Hoo burial site. It is displayed at the British Museum (click to enlarge).
  Some of the beautiful French chateaus built at the close of the Middle Ages and early 1500's have dramatic dragon illustrations carved into their walls, ceilings, and furniture. These include Château de Chambord, Château de Blois, and Château Azay-le-Rideau. Note the similarities in the dinosaurian-like dragons and their resemblance to the dinosaur Plateosaurus. The Château Azay-le-Rideau also displays a fascinating tapestry depicting what looks like a pterosaur fighting a lion (click to enlarge). A tapestry at Château de Blois portrays a dragon (and its baby) with gnarly horns on its head that are reminiscent of the dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia (click to enlarge).  Another pterosaur-like depiction from the Middle Ages is shown in Athanasius Kircher's 1678 book Mundus Subterraneus. This drawing is so compelling that Peter Wellnhofer (The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs, 1991, p. 20.) suggests it might have been based on fossil finds. But it is more likely based on even more ancient reports.  In Kircher's book, the character Winkelried was supposed to have killed the dragon in Switzerland during the earliest days of his particular settlement. The most obvious anatomical discrepancy with pterosaurs (the front feet) was a more recent addition to dragon depictions. G. E. Smith's 1919 book The Evolution of the Dragon explains that ancient notions only included a snake-like body, leathery wings like a bat, and two legs. The front legs were not added till the 16th century. Kircher also includes a picture of a dragon (on left) that resembles the rhamphorynchoid pterosaurs.
 According to the Greek mythology a heroic figure named Jason, son of Aeson, captured a golden fleece that was guarded by a hissing dragon. This legend of Jason charming the Dragon is memorialized in a beautiful painting (see left) by the multi-talented European artist Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). It is remarkable in its likeness to a pterosaurian. From where did Rosa get this inspiration?
  In 1496 the Bishop of Carlisle, Richard Bell, was buried in Carlisle Cathedral in the U.K. The tomb is inlaid with brass, with various animals engraved upon it (see right). Although worn by the countless feet that walked over it since the Middle Ages, a particular depiction is unmistakable in its similarity to a dinosaur. Amongst the birds, dog, eel, etc. this clear representation of two long-necked creatures should be considered evidence that man and dinosaurs co-existed.
One would think that such hard evidence would be highly problematic for evolutionary theory. Indeed Dr. Philip Kitcher, in his anti-creationist book Abusing Science, claims that solid evidence that dinosaurs and man co-existed would "shake the foundations of evolutionary theory." (1998, p. 121) Likewise, Strahler insists that "it is conceivable that a scientist will some day discover human bones among dinosaur bones in such a relationship that it is judged highly likely that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time. Such a finding would deal a crushing blow to the widely favored hypothesis of a unique evolutionary sequence. In Popper language, the hypothesis of evolution would be falsified." (Strahler, Arthur N., Science and Earth History: The Evolution /Creation Controversy, 1999, p. 17.) Unfortunately the history of Darwinian theories suggests that all such evidence would quickly be assimilated into evolution theory. But one can at least hope that as more evidence comes to light, the credibility of the evolutionary story-tellers will at last wear thin!
DINOSAURS IN THE BIBLE There are a number of places where it appears that dinosaurs or other similar creatures are mentioned in the scriptures.  Remember that the Bible was translated into English long before the word "dinosaur" was coined. However, the word "dragon" appears 21 times in the Old Testament alone. "You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet" (Psalm 91:13). From the context it is clearly speaking about a real creature that it would be impressive and intimidating to step on! Jeremiah 51:34 tells, "he has swallowed me up like a dragon..." which brings to mind the way many carnivorous reptiles swallow their prey whole. Both dragons of the sea (Psalm 74:13) and field (Isaiah 43:20) are mentioned. Indeed, Genesis 1:21 can best be translated: "And God created great sea monsters..." One such sea monster became sufficiently well-known to the ancients to be given the special name "Rahab" (Isaiah 51:9). The prophet Ezekiel likens Pharaoh to a sea monster that invaded the Nile river and stirred up the mud (32:2). The Hebrew word, "Tannin," is from the root meaning "to extend." The language conjures up an image of a long-necked plesiosaur-like creature paddling up the river and stirring up mud from the Nile delta with its flippers. Just such a creature is depicted by the ancient Egyptians who may have netted one just as Ezekiel describes in verse 3. See the plesiosaur-like hieroglyphic (to the left) currently displayed in the London Museum.
Job is the oldest book in the Bible. This book is very interesting from a scientific perspective because of the many natural phenomena that are addressed by God, Job, and his friends. Along the way, God points Job to two special creatures. The first, mentioned in Job 40:15, is usually translated "behemoth" in the English Bible. Some commentators have suggested that behemoth was a hippo or elephant. But the passage makes clear that this herbivorous animal was "chief of the ways of God." Certainly the hippo and elephant (which had other Hebrew names) don't qualify as the biggest land animal, nor does their anatomy fit the clear language of verse 17. A cedar tree brings to mind a dinosaur's huge tail! In fact, pygmy peoples in equatorial Africa tell stories of a ferocious dinosaurian creature that occupies their swamps and rivers and lashes its opponents with its tail. It becomes fascinating, as one considers the tail as an offensive weapon, to review the description of Satan as a dragon: "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon ...And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:" (Revelation 12:3-4).
 Job 41 portrays yet another awe-inspiring creature: Leviathan. While clearly one of the fiercest creatures that God made, it is difficult to establish exactly what Leviathan was. The Bible describes a sharp-toothed, scaled creature whose habitat is the mire and deep waters. Ken Ham suggests the ferocious kronosaur as a candidate. Others have suggested that this fire-breathing monster was a land-dweller that merely spent much of its time in the water. Perhaps leviathan was a dinosaur with armor or claws whose "sharp stones" were employed to destroy ancient weapons. Maybe we have yet to discover the remains of a leviathan!
The "unicorn," mentioned nine times in the KJV Bible, is the Hebrew word "Re-em." The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated it "Monokeros" (one-horn) which was used in Bibles until the 19th century when Akkadian and Ugaritic records were found that mentioned the "Re-em" being hunted like a wild ox. However, their early pictograph for the "Re-em" shows an animal head with three horns, like a Triceratops. In Psalm 92:10 the "Re-em" has but one horn, while the language or Deuteronomy 33:17 implies two horns. Although most commentators and modern versions translate it as a bull or rhino, some have theorized that "Re-em" might be a Monoclonius (single horned dinosaur like Triceratops). In Job 39:9-12 God asks, "Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib? Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after you? Wilt you trust him, because his strength is great?" This passage shows that the unicorn, whatever it was, could not be tamed to be used in farming, as could an ox. In his classic work Naturalis Historia the first century author Pliny the Elder described "an exceedingly wild beast called the Monoceros [one-horned]. ...It makes a deep lowing noise, and one black horn two cubits long projects from the middle of its forehead." He describes it as like an elephant in length, but with much shorter legs. Other classical authors like Aelian, Oppian, and Martial also mention a "nose-horn" creature (a "Rinokeros"). Some claim that the "Rinokeros" sharpens his horn on a rock and utilizes it in fighting elephants. This is the root word from which we get the modern name rhinoceros. But a rhino does not stab with its horn, which is actually composed of keratin (hair). The correlation between the classical authors and some modern cryptozoological reports is striking. Dr. Roy Mackal's explorations in the Congo brought back reports of a rare, single-horned animal called "Emela-ntouka" or "killer of elephants." In a recent expedition, pygmies in Cameroon identified the horned creature (there called "Ngoubou") with a Ceratopsian dinosaur and claimed it could sport from one to four horns. Indeed, modern researchers believe that the ceratopsian dinosaurs likely did use their great horn for combat (Dodson, Peter, The Horned Dinosaurs:A Natural History, 1996, p.123.)
In the Authorized version of scripture we find Isaiah twice mentioning the "fiery flying serpent." Egypt is called the place of the "lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent," (30:6). This fits with classical authors describing pterosaur populations in Egypt and Arabia. Goertzen notes: "The Hebrew word, m'opheph Jpvfm, is a polal participle; a form used only by Isaiah when describing the reptilian saraph. The polal indicates an intensive of the root pvf ooph that means to fly or flutter. The imperfect form of the polal is found in Genesis 1:20, ‘flying creatures that flutter to and fro' and Isaiah 6:2 ‘seraphim' (the same word as the reptiles here used for angelic creatures) that fly to and fro.'" (Goertzen, John, "The Bible and Pterosaurs," 1998.) This same word is employed in Numbers 21:6 to describe the poisonous reptiles that bit the murmuring Israelites. Indeed it is easier to envision an attack of nimble flying snakes (pterosaurs) killing many of the children of Israel rather than them being surprised and killed by snakes on the ground. The pterosaur becoming a type of Christ (John 3:14) seems more appropriate than the snake, which from Genesis to Revelation is a symbol of Satan. In addition, the spread wings on the top of the pole would form a cross. In fact, a plate found with Sennacherib's booty at Calah (from the conquest of Palestine) depicts such a winged serpent on a pole that would seems to match the Nehushtan or brazen saraph of Moses that had become a symbol of worship by Hezekiah's reign (II Kings 18:4). The "fiery" flying snake even matches some cryptozoological reports from New Guinea, which attribute to alleged living pterosaurs a bioluminescent capability like a firefly.
While some of this remains merely speculation, it becomes clear that some very fascinating animals have become extinct since Biblical times. But some might object to using arguments from the Bible, claiming that it is not a reliable resource. There are several lines of evidence that the Bible is God's Word. Skeptics respond that there are supposed to be a great many contradictions in the Bible. Again the facts come down on the side of God's Word being consistent, entirely without error in the original, and remarkably preserved.
CRYPTOZOOLOGYCryptozoology is literally "the study of hidden creatures." The word was coined by a zoologist, Bernard Heuvelmans. There are a number of species that were thought to be extinct that have been found in recent history. Some of these formerly "hidden creatures" include the megamouth shark and the coelacanth (below). In 1976, a naval research vessel working in the Hawaiian Islands caught a previously unknown animal when it hauled in its large anchor. The 1,653 pound shark was called "megamouth" because of its large, toothy mouth. The coelacanth was supposed to have been extinct for 70 million years until a fisherman caught one in 1939. In the last decade new species of deer, lemur, and marmoset have been found. Only discovered by western science in 1992, the Saola, or forest-dwelling ox, is so different from any currently known species that a separate genus has had to be constructed. The giant squid that attacked sailing ships in the annals of ancient maritime lore was believed by many to be mythological. Numerous modern research efforts have tried to substantiate its existence. But in the fall of 2004 a live giant squid (Architeuthis) measuring roughly 25 feet (8 meters) long attacked a baited fishing line off the Ogasawara Islands. (Owen, James, National Geographic News, September 27, 2005.) Japanese scientists released still pictures of the bus-sized creature with eyes as large as dinner plates.
Although cryptozoology is not yet taught as an official discipline in universities, the word "cryptozoology" can be found in scientific articles, and in many encyclopedias. A cryptozoologist is one who systematically seeks to track down species or sub-species that are still unknown to science. French cryptozoologist Michel Raynal developed from Heuvelmans a methodology for how the existence of a particular kind of plant or animal can be established on testimonial evidence (sightings), circumstantial evidence (indirect evidence), or even autoptical evidence (which anybody can see). While skeptics are dubious of this kind of evidence, it would be well to remember that it was not that many years ago that the elusive creature we now call Okapi (right) was only known to science through the stories of tribal peoples. Cryptozoologists not only seek to establish the existence of famous "hidden creatures," like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot, but also pursue stories of common animals in unexpected places and new varieties of plants.
[ 本帖最后由 落魄狭 于 2008-12-18 13:41 编辑 ] |
在Baidu搜索相关信息：
龙在China+China龙就是恐龙？
|
狗仔卡
发表于 2008-12-18 13:30:29
分享
收藏
赞
踩
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
喧嚣卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡