Are Dinosaurs Really Millions of Years Old? Nope, and here’s why…

Since we were young, the books that we read, the movies that we watch and even commercials about “the most ferocious animal that ever walked the earth” tell us that dinosaurs are 65 million years old. However, scientific evidence has, for some time now, shown that this is not the case. In fact, there is evidence to support the Bible’s view of an earth that is just thousands of years old (between 6,000 to 10,000 years old). In this post, we’ll answer some questions such as

1. What are the assumptions used in the dating of dinosaur fossils?
2. What fossil evidence shows that dinosaurs cannot be millions of years old?
3. Did man lived together with dinosaurs?
4. What does the bible say about dinosaurs?
5. So what happened to the dinosaurs?

So let’s jump right in!

Uranium-lead (or U-Pb) radioisotope dating is one of the preferred methods of dating of dinosaur fossils where Pb isotopes are produced from the produced by radiometric decay of mainly Uranium (U) and Thorium (Th). However, there are several assumptions when using this method

1. Uranium decay constants (half-life) are not accurately known. Remember the study of half-life in school? If a substance takes 100 years to decay to half of its original value, the half-life (also known as decay constant) is 100 years. The problem with U-Pb dating method is that its half-life or decay constant is not accurately known. There is an assumption here that radioisotope decay rates are constant today as compared to when the dinosaurs lived. This may not be the case.

2. The Problem with Zircons. Zircon (ZrSiO4) is a common mineral, especially in granites and sandstones that is used in U-Pb radioisotope dating because it is claimed that Pb cannot be incorporated into the crystal lattice structure (at this point, I’m just as surprised as you that I actually caught something in my chemistry classes way back in JC). Essentially, it is assumed that since Zircons do not contain Pb, all decay must be from Uranium or Thorium. However, as Pb is naturally occurring, Zircons could be easily contaminated with Pb through inclusions (defects on Zircon), chemical processing or simply from airborne particles while handling in the lab. As there are no standards with the initial Pb isotope ratios, one of the ways to meet “millions of years old” model, is to use suitable standards that would attain this outcome. Well, you know what they say when you ASS-U-ME…

1. Presence of Carbon-14 in Dinosaur Fossils. Carbon-14 actually has a half-life of 5,730 years. However, Carbon-14 is routinely found in fossils, which is counter-intuitive, if in fact dinosaurs are “millions of years old”. If they are, Carbon-14 would not be found in fossils. Check out this video to find out more

2. Presence of Red Blood Cells, Soft Tissues in Dinosaur Fossils. There are in fact bio-organic material that have been found on in dinosaur fossils. If there are indeed “millions of years old”, these bio-organic material would not be present. Their presence lends to the mounting evidence that dinosaurs could be thousands of years old instead. Check out this video to find out more

Across the world, you’d find dragon folklore in nearly every culture. You’ll find it in Chinese, English, Norway, French and even Indonesian cultures. Even today, we have country flags such as Wales, Bhutan and Malta with dragons on it. Like the dinosaurs, dragons are a type of reptiles that could have existed with humans thousands of years ago. There are of course many art that depicted the presence of dragons throughout the world such as this 5000 years old Mesopotamia art that depicts a fight between a hero/king and a 7-headed dragon

Or this depiction of Sauropod Dinosaur on Bishop Richard Bell’s Tomb from the 1500s…

Or this Narmer Palette depicting 2 dinosaurs from around 3000BC

Despite the different geographical locations and cultures, dragons (and dinosaurs) have been depicted in art all around the world. Could humans have existed with dinosaurs before? Here’s what the bible says…

1. The Flood of the Bible Resulted in the Dinosaur Fossils Found Today. Most people think that fossilization can only take place over a long period of time – like “millions of years”. However, according to Currie and Koppelhus, in 101 Questions about Dinosaurs, they pointed out that

“The amount of time that it takes for a bone to become completely permineralized is highly variable. If the groundwater is heavily laden with minerals in solution, the process can happen rapidly. Modern bones that fall into mineral springs can become permineralized within a matter of weeks”

Actually, when an animal dies, fossilisation does not take place. It is thought that over “millions of years”, when bones are buried, molecule by molecule, the minerals can replace the original bone with rock minerals. However, what the experts are saying is that permineralisation or the deposition of minerals into the spaces of the original bone can also happen with the bone is immersed in a solution that is laden with minerals. And this can take place in a matter of weeks. A catastrophic event such as the flood in the bible would have done that. In fact, the “dinosaur graveyards” in Canada, USA and Chile suggests that dinosaurs were running away from an impending flood and fossils such as this (see below) with arched-back, curved tail and open mouth suggests that the dinosaur had died from asphyxiation – another evidence pointing to the flood that had occurred.

2. Man Existed with Dinosaurs in the Bible. In the book of Job and Psalms, the Behemoth and Leviathan are both mentioned. The Behemoth in Job 40 and Leviathan in Job 41, Psalm 74/104 closely resembles the description of huge creatures such as the dinosaur. Specifically, Job 41, describes the Leviathan as multi-headed and fire-breathing. Hm…now doesn’t that sound like the Mesopotamia Art above?

Conclusion: So what happened to the dinosaurs?

The reason why we wrote this article, was really to bridge what we have know about dinosaurs through our educational/entertainment system vis-a-vis what the bible says. We’ve discussed that

• The dating of fossils to be “millions of years old” could be problematic due to what U-Pb radioactive decay and Carbon-14 found on fossils have revealed.
• There are many cultures and evidence around the world that have revealed evidence of dinosaurs and dragons that have existed together with humans.
• The flood of the bible explains how fossilisation can take place in a very short period of time and also explains the presence of “dinosaur graveyards” across the world. The bible also depicts the presence of dinosaurs and dragons.

With this, a couple of questions still remain.

1. Didn’t Noah bring all kinds of animals onboard including the dinosaurs?

Firstly, Noah didn’t bring all dinosaurs but all kinds of dinosaurs. According to some analysis of the types of dinosaurs we know today, this would translate to approximately 55 kinds or 55 pairs of dinosaurs. Secondly, Noah would have taken the younger (and smaller) dinosaurs to fully utilise the space onboard. Yup, T-rex babies and not T-rex parents. Otherwise, there would have been some lodging issues if all the huge adult animals went onboard.

2. If so, why didn’t the dinosaurs survive?

There are several possible explanations. Firstly, due to the flood, traditional feeding grounds of the dinosaurs could have been destroyed. Hence, dinosaurs would have started to face extinction since after the flood. Secondly, as with how modern animals such as the Dodo become extinct due to hunting, dinosaurs could have faced a similar eventuality. It was after all a large animal with a large source of food reserve for humans. Ultimately, even though dinosaurs had survived the flood, like many other animals that had gone extinct due to various reasons, the dinosaurs could have gone extinct due to a similar manner.

In essence, the Bible is true, explains the evidence that we see in the world and has stood the test of time. This also explains why it is perennially the best-selling book of all time. As a “manual for life”, would you also start reading the bible to learn how to navigate the challenges that life presents?

For more information, do refer to AIG, ICR and Creation Museum to find out more!