What Happened to Pterosaurs

back cover of the nonfiction book Searching for Ropens

Jonathan Whitcomb near Gomlongon Village, Papua New Guinea

What Happened

To Pterosaurs?

Why believe in extinction?

Introduction

A) Reasoning on the belief that pterosaurs

became extinct many millions of years ago

B) Reasoning on evidences that pterosaurs lived

on earth within the last few thousand years

C) Reasoning on evidences that pterosaurs are

still living in various parts of the world

It’s important to include the word “reasoning” when referring to

evidence, for each scientist brings personal assumptions into any

scientific investigation. It’s normal for a person to bring personal

opinions into any examination of evidence. The objectivity which

is expected of science is usually only obtained through uncensored

communication, including ideas from those with different points

of view. When minority opinions are covered up, objectivity is

smothered and science itself may be in danger of being supplanted

by official dogma or pseudo-science. This is no idle warning but a

plea for your attention to what may very well be a distorted view

of this subject, caused by repeated assertions that have little if any

sound scientific basis. You are invited to use your own reasoning

while evaluating the following unusual ideas about pterosaurs.

This is not a treatise on pterosaur biology nor a detailed history

of scientific discoveries. It is an investigation of why the idea of

ancient pterosaur extinction (millions of years ago) is so prevalent

in Western society and why alternate ideas should be considered.

It is more of a study of human mentality and reasoning than it is

a study of pterosaur biology.

Did Pterosaurs Become Extinct Long Ago?

Mention the word “pterodactyl*” or “dinosaur”** to a kindergartner

and you’ll quite likely get a response like “A comet . .” or “Millions

of years ago . . . . ”, or “They died a long time ago.” Ask the same

child, “How do we know they all died millions of years ago?” and

the answer may not come as quickly. When the kindergartner does

answer, it will probably be a personal reference such as, “My book

says . . .” or “My teacher told me.”

Ask an adult “How do we know pterodactyls all died millions of

years ago?” and the response might be different but one thing will

surely be the same: The answer will not be any sound reasoning

or explanation of evidence for their extinction. It will most likely

be something like this:

1) I don’t know.

2) Science tells us . . .

3) All the books say so.

4) They are no longer with us.

5) Scientists (say/believe/know . . . )

6) Maybe some still live somewhere.

How is it that so many people in the Western world are so familiar

with an idea without knowing why so many believe it? Why is this

belief repeated so often (as fact) by authors in the U.S.?

Open almost any textbook that refers to the creatures. Most likely

you’ll find their extinction (many millions of years ago) is treated

as if it were indisputable. Why is this idea so prevalent? Is this a

scientific “fact” that has been proven? If so, when was it proven?

If true, the veracity of this claim will not be damaged by a careful

examination of its source and substance. Let’s see how it stands up

to critical analysis. If pterosaurs became extinct many millions of

years ago, analyzing why this “fact” is so widely believed shouldn’t

hurt its reputation. If, however, there are flaws in the rationale for

this belief, it’s better to uncover as much relevant truth as possible

so we may consider the ideas of those who claim that pterosaurs

have lived more recently or are still living.

The belief that pterosaurs became extinct many millions of years ago

is almost always based on one or more of the following “points”:

1) The fossils have been dated. This proves, or at least suggests

that pterosaurs lived until 65 million years ago, and not after.

2) Pterosaurs are never seen by humans, so they’re extinct.

3) The idea that they have been extinct for millions of years fits

the requirements of the General Theory of Evolution. In other

words, it supports (gives credence to) G.T.E.

4) The claim for very ancient extinction is repeated continuously

in the media, textbooks, classrooms, television, movies, etc.

It’s very likely that the third “point” is one primary reason many

western scientists support the idea that pterosaurs became extinct

many millions of years ago. Those who believe or assume GTE

(The General Theory of Evolution) to be true feel comfortable

with any hypothesis or theory that seems to support GTE. When

such ideas have no obvious flaws, they’re accepted uncritically.

The main reason most non-scientists in Western countries believe

in this ancient extinction, however, is probably because of “point”

number four. Few people consider investigating a claim that is so

widely disseminated. But let’s start at the beginning:

The first “point” seems ironclad. The remains of pterosaurs are

dated scientifically. Does this close the case? “Point” #2 seems

to nail shut the coffin on any notion that pterosaurs still live. But

let’s look a little deeper. Sound scientific investigations thrive

on details, not generalities. What about dating pterosaur fossils?

Before proceeding, we need to clear up a misunderstand many

people have about “dating” dinosaur and pterosaur fossils. The

fossils which many scientists believe or assume to be millions

of years old are not usually dated directly by any radiometric

technique. They’ve been put into ancient time frames based on

assumptions related to Geologic-Column and General-Theory-

of-Evolution beliefs. We’ll not go into much detail on these

assumptions here. We shall look at one of the unexpected results

of the dating of a fish known as the Coelacanth.

One of the most obvious flaws in the belief that pterosaurs have

been “dated” (and lived no more recently than 65 million years

ago) is the Coelacanth. This fish was long thought to have died out

with dinosaurs, millions of years ago. In fact, they’re still alive and

surviving quite well. This alone is enough to discount any similar

claim that creatures must be extinct because some fossils are

thought to be extremely old. Whether we believe the scientists

who trust these dating methods, or other scientists who claim the

earth itself isn’t that old, there is no method of dating pterosaur

extinction. (Whether they lived long ago or not is irrelevant.)

Why was the discovery of living Coelacanth fishes so shocking

to western scientists? The supposedly ancient fossils were not

likely ever dated by any radiometric dating method. Actually, it

is a little-known fact that fossils are not often dated by methods

that relate to millions of years ago. When fossils are dated, it

is by Carbon-14 techniques, which can date organic materials

to a maximum age of about 50,000 years. The great majority of

organic specimens dated by Carbon-14 are far younger than the

50,000-year ceiling of measuring-accuracy. This even includes

carbon residue on dinosaur bones! Perhaps one reason not many

museum curators have their “ancient” specimens dated is that

it’s so likely to show them to be younger than their theories say

they should be. In reply to the scientists who say that Carbon-

14 dating should not be used on specimens that are “known”

to be “millions of years old,” it’s now obvious that their ideas

are hardly infallible. The discovery of living Coelacanths is

sufficient to convince objective researchers to use Carbon-14

dating on all organic specimens. The fact that so many of the

results show younger ages than is expected may be due to the

errors of 19th Century theories. Why shouldn’t all fossils be

dated by Carbon-14 first, before assuming extreme age? This

type of dating is more accurate than potassium-argon dating.

(Carbon dating is not infallible. Errors are not uncommon.

An important point about this measuring process is that

Carbon-14 dating sometimes gives dates that are too OLD:

The creature or plant was actually living more RECENTLY,

especially when dated over 4000 years old before present.)

The reason it was so shocking to many scientists to discover the

living Coelacanths was that the ideas of their ancient extinction

were so widely published. These ideas seemed to fit very well

into the popular General Theory of Evolution. It seemed very

useful (to some scientists) to imagine the fins of the Coelacanths

changing into feet over many generations. This was theorized

to be how ocean creatures gradually changed into land creatures.

This specific evolutionary idea is now obviously wrong. Their

fins are still fins, not legs. They didn’t change into land animals.

They're still fish. But is there more to this mistake than just a

misunderstanding about a fish?

What do Coelacanths have to do with pterosaurs? Consider this:

Were the errors in Coelacanth evolution/extinction theory only

a shallow or narrow flaw? Could there be a deeper weakness

in evolutionary theories? Is it possible that the General Theory

of Evolution (with the conclusions relating to the Geologic

Column ideas) be built on a sandy foundation?

(We’ll not go into details about all the evidences against the

General Theory of Evolution or the Geologic Column ideas

in this investigation. It is enough to concentrate on how the

pterosaurs fit into this controversy.)

To sum up the case against the first “point”: pterosaur extinction

has not been “dated”. Even the belief that they lived 65+ million

years ago is disputed by some scientists.

Let’s examine the second assumption. Is a lack of publicity about

a creature, evidence of its non-existence? Before looking further

into this angle, let’s take a different approach:

From about the 1980’s until the present time, how would most

Americans react to someone who reported seeing a pterodactyl?

How would the person report the sighting? (to news media or

a university professor?) Most Americans (late 20th Century)

have only heard or read about these dinosaur-like creatures in

terms of ancient pre-human life. It has been consistently drilled

into us since early childhood. (that dinosaurs and pterodactyls

are dead and have been dead for millions . . . ) When we see

any indication of the creatures living with humans, it’s usually

in fictions such as movies or science fiction books. How would

a news reporter react to an individual who claimed to have seen

a live pterodactyl? Who would take such a claim seriously?

(There are, in fact, reports of living pterosaurs.)

The fact is, certain aspects of western culture make it almost

impossible for an individual (in the United States) to make a

believable report of any sighting of a living pterosaur. Strange

accounts from third-world countries are routinely dismissed in

western cultures as superstition or folk tales. Therefore assump-

tion number two is not a valid reason for believing in the extinct-

tion of pterosaurs. (Reports are not given and/or are not believed.)

Under these conditions, an absence or small number of witnesses

of living pterosaurs cannot be taken as evidence for the extinction

of pterosaurs. On the other hand, no number of “non-witnesses”

(those millions or billions who have not seen a living pterosaur)

can be taken as evidence that there are no living pterosaurs in any

habitat, anywhere on the earth.

Media and textbooks declarations may outnumber the eyewitnesses

accounts, but that hardly counts as scientific evidence that pterosaurs

have been extinct for many ages. Much of what is promulgated is

simply multi-generational regurgitation of what others have written.

In other words, authors simply repeat the standard dogma uncritically.

They repeat numbers like “65 million” without considering even the

possibility that their sources are simply repeating what many other

authors are repeating. How often textbooks give dates for dinosaur

and pterosaur life without any details about how they were dated!

Even more rare is a book that mentions there are alternate ideas on

such dating! Where is objectiveness in reasoning?

The point is: the popularity of an idea is not scientific evidence.

Point number four is not evidence for extinction.

This leaves us with point # Three: It supports the General Theory

of Evolution (GTE). For many generations the idea that dinosaurs

and pterosaurs became extinct many millions of years ago has

been used as evidence for GTE. We need to understand that this

assumption is not evidence for the extinction of pterosaurs but it

is an explanation of why it is so popular in the western world. In

other words, this connection (with General Theory of Evolution

ideas) is not scientific evidence for pterosaur extinction. It just

makes it easier to promote evolutionary ideas.

If Point #1 and #2 are not solid evidence and Points #3 and #4

are not really evidence, is it possible pterosaurs did not become

extinct in the distant past? Let’s move on to evidences from

human history and Western dogmatism related to ideas about

pterosaur extinction.

(See Part Two: A Weakness in Western Mentality)

* “pterodactyl” is the name many use

for the flying creatures scientists call

pterosaurs. “Pterodactyl” is more properly

used for a particular type of pterosaur.

A less common spelling is “pteradactyl”.

Papua New Guinea and the “ropen”

** Pterosaurs are associated with dinosaurs

but are not considered dinosaurs themselves,

regardless of ones position on extinction.

Non-western traditions and testimonies are

often not considered in scientific studies.

In some areas of Africa and Papua New

Guinea there are not only traditions that

pterosaur-type creatures have lived in the

past alongside humans, but eyewitnesses

have seen them in the 21st Century.

According to Jonathan Whitcomb, the

many eyewitnesses of the ropen and the

indava have nothing to do with any hoax.

“Living Fossils”

The Coelacanth was discovered to be living

in the deep waters east of Africa in 1938.

Previous to this discovery, it was assumed

that they became extinct 65 million to 80

million years ago.

An obvious evidence of the connection bet-

ween evolutionary assumptions and fossil

evidence is this: It was believed by some of

the scientists that the Coelacanth evolved

into land animals. When it was discovered

that they were still living (and in the same

form as the fossils) this idea became extinct.

The Coelacanth was never evolving into any

land creature millions of years ago. In fact,

this fish is no more ancient than any other

presently living fish.

There are indications that many sound

scientific investigations are ignored by

the major journals simply because they

openly contradict the General Theory

of Evolution. Some of these studies that

are not published elsewhere, are pub-

lished by the Creation Research Society.

The idea that radiometric dating such as the

potassium/argon method is accurate and

consistent is false. Some volcanic rocks that

are known to be only a few decades old have

been dated up to millions of years old:

Mt Etna basalt (Sicily, May 1964 A.D.)

dated at 0.7 +/- 0.01 millions of yrs old

Mt Saint Helens (1986 A.D.)

dated at 0.35 to 2.8 millions of yrs old

Kilauea Iki basalt (Hawaii, 1959 A.D.)

dated at 8.5 +/- 6.8 millions of yrs old

The rubidium-strontium isochron technique

has been to used with astonishing results:

The youngest volcanic rock from the top of

the Grand Canyon has been dated at millions

of years older than the oldest rocks at the

bottom! Obviously this casts doubt on the

dating method itself.

The first published description of a pterosaur

fossil was in 1784. (a specimen from Bavaria,

Germany) At first it was thought to be the

remains of a marine creature. Not until well

into the 19th Century was it recognized (by

many people) that pterodactyls were flyers.

Through the early 20th Century, it was thought

that they were cold-blooded and gliders rather

than flyers. More recent opinions are that the

pterosaurs were warm-blooded and adept at

flying. Late in the 20th Century a few of the

scientists began suspecting the word “were”

should be replaced with the word “are”.

What scientific test could indicate the

extinction of any creature outside of

observations by human witnesses?

Even when there seems to be an

obvious extinction in modern times,

how do we know there are not a few

stragglers hiding somewhere? (There

are still places on this earth that are

not thoroughly explored.)

There is no fossil that proves

any evolutionary development

of pterosaurs from non-pterosaurs.

Highly developed structures for

flight are shown in all types of

pterosaurs. When any scientist

makes a specific case for pterosaur

evolution, it is made with the

assumption that the General Theory

of Evolution is true. Even other

scientists who believe in GTE come

to different conclusions about

pterosaurs sometimes. Although

G.T.E. ideas may be used in formu-

lating hypotheses about pterosaur

origins, this has no evidential value

concerning extinction.

Whitcomb visited Papua

New Guinea in late 2004 and

interviewed eyewitnesses.

The pterosaur is sometimes called “pterodactyl,” but the general type (long-tailed or short) is “pterosaur.”

There are evidences humans have lived with dinosaurs and pterosaurs (They never became extinct.) Consider the case of the Ogopogo of Canada. (another cryptid, but unlike the ropen)

updated April 10, 2008

Cryptozoology and a living pterosaur

Creation, Evolution, and

living pterosaurs

World War II sighting by American veteran, Duane Hodgkinson—this

is no hoax, according to experts.

Dragon legends and pterosaurs

http://members.aol.com/Cypressall/pterosaurs-pg-01