Southwestern Adventist University to Establish a Dinosaur Museum
by Adventist Today News Team
A donation of $250,000 has been received to exhibit the collection of dinosaur bones and fossils that has resulted from summer field trips since 1996. University president Eric Anderson discussed the project at a local Rotary Club meeting last week according to the Cleburne Times Review. Julie Roberts, a Southwestern alumna “who has spearheaded fund raising and grant efforts on behalf of the City of Cleburne” has agreed to coordinate efforts to raise the additional funds needed.
Dr. Art Chadwick, professor of biology and geology at Southwestern, told the Rotary Club about “Dinodig” which is scheduled for May 31 through June 29 in 2012. Students, teachers looking for in-service education credits and anyone interested in hands-on experience with the excavation of ancient remains can register for the summer course.
Last summer the participants found “about 2,000 bones” at the site near Newcastle, Wyoming, which the university web site describes as “one of the largest dinosaur sites in the world.” The program includes “lectures on paleontology, biology of dinosaurs, geology and taphonomy,” the newspaper reported. It explained that “taphonomy” is “the science of figuring out how the bones of fossils came to be the way they are by concentrating on what happened between the time the animal was alive and the discovery of its bone or fossil remains.”
“Chadwick hypothesized that a single catastrophic event likely killed the dinosaurs in the area and an encroaching sea subsequently deposited and buried their carcasses en masse deep beneath waters, which has long since receded. Being encased underground left the bones relatively intact, Chadwick said.” As evidence he cited “irregularities within sedimentary formations throughout the area and other anomalies, such as the fact that while about 95 percent of the dinosaur bones found in the area come from duckbill dinosaurs, one site in the same area contained about 500 bones of numerous dinosaur breeds, but no duckbills.”
13 April 2012 @ 6:05 pm
We should congratulate Southwestern Adventist University on obtaining funds for its dinosaur museum and Dr. Art Chadwick for his excavations which uncovered additional scientific evidence for a catastrophic event which was the principal factor which killed off the dinosaurs.
Dr. Chadwick has provided scientific data explaining what happened at the time paleontologists call the world-wide Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event which occurred about 65.5 million years ago. At this time, an asteroid as large as 10-15 km (6-90 miles) in diameter impacted the earth at a point where the Yucatan peninsula is now located. The impact released massive amounts of dust and ash into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight, and in thereby reducing photosynthesis which in turn eliminated large amounts of biomass required to sustain the dinosaurs. It also perhaps created a wall of water hundreds of feet high which would have caused massive flooding of coastal areas.
13 April 2012 @ 6:23 pm
My late father often told us stories of finding bone structures of what appeared to be massive heads of horrific creatures, in the Badlands region of South Dakota, where he grew up. He and his brother wanted to show these presumably petrified remains to their parents, and would take their red wagons with them en route to school, near these fossils. While they were able to load the bones intact onto the wagons, the jostling over the pathway home reduced the fossils to heaps of debris, much to the boys' lament.
I'm not sure whether Dad and his older brother were actually breaking the laws of the land as they tried to transport their curiosities to a wider audience, in the very depths of the Great Depression, but their earnest desire to share their findings was undoubtedly of the highest order. Dad never mentioned that he felt the remains, in his mind, either proved or disproved Darwin's views—Dad was simply interested in the physical properties of life forms, dead and alive, and went on to a long career in medical missionary work. His spiritual life was apparently not undermined by his early exposure to fossils. These fossils were treasures to him, and are to be treasured today by scientists who through them seek to trace back the history of life on earth, however long that history may be… …
14 April 2012 @ 6:40 pm
"Dr. Chadwick has provided scientific data explaining what happened at the time paleontologists call the world-wide Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event which occurred about 65.5 million years ago.
Erv- contact me as I have an old bridge to sell. A real bargain for you if you snap it up!
14 April 2012 @ 6:56 pm
I've got a nice piece of "prime" real estate I'd like to sell him, too. This just shows that people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of the evidence. This is the same thing that they throw at us, of course, but it's a two way street. They dish it out, and should be able to take it. The evidence is what it is. I see that it fits in with the Biblical narrative very nicely. Others, finding fault with the plain reading of Scripture, attempt to adapt the meaning of the Bible to fit the latest scientific theories. Time will tell who is correct. I'll go with the tried and true. Scientists have a habit of failing us time and again. Scripture never has. I know one of the responses to this will be a straw man argument, usually an out-of-context verse that is made to look rediculous, unless it is understood as part of the context.of Scripture as a whole. So be it. The authorities thought Paul and Jesus were either insane or demon possessed. Truth is never popular.
14 April 2012 @ 9:40 pm
That's what I like about the comments of "Truth Seeker" (I wonder why he/she does not use his/her real name) and Mr. Butler. They consistently provide classical statements reflecting the beliefs associated with traditional folk Adventism. This is a real service to anyone interested in the diversity of views of contemporary Adventism.