| [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Thread Index] | [Date Prev] | [Date Next] | [Date Index] |
This is a copy of a message I tried to send (unsuccessfully) earlier today. I hope it goes through this time. > >Dear friends: > > Many of you were rightly disturbed with the very unscientific NBC >television special on human origins that aired last Sunday evening. > I myself was particularly displeased with the promotions of alleged >human and dinosaur footprints from Glen Rose, Texas--a subject on which >I have worked and written extensively. In response, I have written a >review of several of the specific claims in the show, which you should >find in the enclosed attachment. > I also want to announce that I have recently installed a Web site >containing several articles on the Paluxy "man track" controversy and >related subjects. It includes my review of the NBC show (which may be >handy if your system does not allow you to view the attachment). Also >included is an article specifically addressing the loose "Burdick >Print" promoted as a genuine human track in the NBC program, an article >on the claimed credentials of Carl Baugh and Don Patton (two of the >show's participants), a topical overview of the "man track" >controversy, and an article on the history of the controversy. The Web >site address is: > >http://members.aol.com/Paluxy2/paluxy.htm > >I plan to add illustrations and additional articles in the near future. >I would be grateful for any comments, suggestions, or questions >visitors to the site may have. > >Thank you very much. > >Glen J. Kuban >paleo@ix.netcom.com >President, The Fossil Society >Cleveland, OH >Fax 216-749-7386 >
<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Alleged Out-of-Order fossil claims on NBC TV show </TITLE> <CENTER><H2>A Review of NBC's "The Mysterious Origins of Man" </H2></CENTER> </HEAD> <P> <CENTER>(C) 1996, Glen J, Kuban</CENTER> <P> On Sunday, February 25, 1996 at 7:00 pm EST NBC aired a one-hour TV special hosted by Charton Heston entitled "The Mysterious Origins of Man." A "promo" Web page at http://www.bcvideo.com/bcvideo descriped the program as "Controversial Evidence That Cou ld Rewrite Man's History" <P> Rather than being an objective documentary on human origins, or legitimate scientific debate about the subject, the show promoted many unfounded and pseudoscientific claims, presented a very misleading picture of the way science works, and largely ignored what mainstream scientists have to say on these subjects. <P> The program was particularly unscientific in its endorsement of alleged evidence that humans and dinosaurs lived together. In advancing this concept (rejected by all mainstream workers to my knowledge), the program presented the following three items of evidence, all implied to have come from the Paluxy Riverbed near Glen Rose Texas (an area famous for fossil dinosaur tracks): <P> 1. The "<B>Burdick Print</B>," a supposed giant man track on a loose block of rock<BR> 2. A photo supposedly showing a<B> striding trail of human tracks</B> in the Paluxy<BR> 3. An alleged <B>fossilized human finger</B>. <PRE> </PRE> However, none of these claims can be substantiated. I have spent over fifteen years investigating the Paluxy "man tracks" and related claims, and have written extensively on the subject. I would like to address each of these claims as examples of the s hallow research and credibility of the show. <P> In the program, "Dr. Carl Baugh" and "Don Patton" advocated the authenticity of the Burdick print, claiming that the subsurface features demonstrated that was real, and that it was known to have come from the Paluxy riverbed. In reality, the Burdick pri nt (named after creationist Clifford Burdick,[1] who first publicly promoted it) is considered by most researchers to be one of several loose "man tracks" carved by Glen Rose residents during the 1930's. Besides being very large (over 15 inches heel to toe) it shows severe anatomic problems, including an excessively wide ball area, misplaced arch, and excessively long and misshapen toes. Contrary to Baugh and Patton's claims, the subsurface features in the cross sections do not prove it's authenticit y, but actually confirm the carved origin-- showing many features that truncate abruptly at the depression rather than being deformed by or conformed to them.[2,3] A final important point about the Burdick print is that it was not found or documented <I >in situ</I>, and is thus of no antievolutionary value. <P> The photo presented as evidence of a striding trail of human prints excavated by Baugh, is nothing of the sort. First, it is not a photo taken during one of Baugh's excavations, but shows the Taylor Trai" on the Taylor Site, as photographed by Fredrick B eierle[4] in the late 1970's--over a decade before Baugh started working in the Paluxy. Second, the Taylor Trail is not a human trackway, but is one of many trackways of elongate, metatarsal dinosaur tracks that have been mistaken for giant human tracks in the Paluxy. Such tracks were made by dinosaurs which walked, at least at times, in a plantigrade-like manner, impressing their soles and heels as they walked (rather than in a more common digitigrade locomotion of most bipedal dinsosaurs). When the d igits of such tracks are subdued by erosion, mud-collapse, infilling, or a combination of factors, they often resemble large human footprints. On the Taylor Site, infilling and mud-collapse were the major factors.[5,6] However, all of the trails on the Taylor Site show indications of dinosaurian digits when the substrate is well cleaned.[7] In Beierle's photo the track surface was not well cleaned, and the individual prints were selectively moistended with water to encourage human shapes. <P> After I and others published extensive evidence of these findings in the mid-1980's, most creationists abandoned the Paluxy claims. Baugh, however, began claiming that the prints were dinosaur tracks with human tracks _within_ them--an assertion as emp ty as the original "man track" claims.[8,9,10] <BR> <P> Other alleged human tracks near Glen Rose that have been promoted by Baugh and others over the years include partial metatarsal dinsosaur tracks, erosional markings (often selectively highlighted with water or oil for photography), and various indistinct depressions of uncertain origin. I do not know of any reliable evidence of genuine human footprints in the Paluxy or any other Mesozoic formation. By the way, the age of the Glen Rose Formation is lower Cretaceous (approximately at the Aptian/Albian bou ndary), or 110-115 million years old (not 135 million as stated in the show).[11] <P> The alleged<B> fossilized finger</B> promoted by Baugh and associates is more likely just an interesting shaped rock. I was allowed to personally examine the "finger" several years ago, and saw nothing in it to suggest it is a fossil of any sort. Nor d o I know any mainstream scientist or regards it as a fossilized finger. Contrary to the suggestions in the NBC show, it does not show bones in the CT scans. The dark area in the center of the scans are not well defined and are expected because of the gr eater mass of rock the rays must penetrate toward the center of the object. Last, a key point that Baugh did not reveal in the show is that the "finger" was not found <I>in situ</I>, but rather in a loose gravel pit some distance from Glen Rose. Theref ore, like the Burdick print it cannot be reliably linked to an ancient formation, and is of no antievolutionary value, even if it were a real fossilized finger. <P> It should also be mentioned that "Dr." Baugh misrepresented his credentials on the show and on numerous prior occassions. He has claimed several advanced degrees in several fields of science, but in actually has no valid degrees whatsoever. [12] <P> Not only are Baugh and Patton's claims usupported by the evidence and rejected by mainstream scientists, but both are widely considered to be disreputable even by many creationists. In a Web page response to questions about Baugh the Creation Science Fou ndation listed numerous unsubstantiated claims by Baugh, and stated, "All creationist scientists that we have spoken to regard Dr. [sic] Baugh's treaching as a serious embarassment.[13] <P> It is hard to understand how the producers could have done even a small amount of research and not found out many of these things. But then, from from all indications the aim of the show was not education or accuracy, but sensationalism. Shame on the producers for making such pseudoscientific mush, on NBC for airing it, and on Charleton Heston for giving it sound of authority. <P> Glen J. Kuban<BR> President, The Fossil Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History<BR> paleo@ix.netcom.com <BR> P.O. Box 33232, North Royalton, OH 44133<BR> <P> <CENTER><H4><B>References</B></H4></CENTER> <P> [1] Burdick, Clifford C., "When Giants Roamed the Earth," Signs of the Times, July 25, 1950; Morris, Henry M., and John C. Whitcomb, 1961, The Genesis Flood, Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI, pp. 173-175 <P> [2] Neufeld, Berney, 1975, "Dinosaur Tracks and Giant Men", Origins, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 64-76. <P> [3] Cole, John R., and Laurie R. Godfrey, eds., 1985, Creation/Evolution, Issue 15, Vol. 5, No. 1, pages 16-21. <P> [4] Beierle, Fred, 1977, Man, Dinosaurs, and History, Prosser, WA: Perfect Printing Co. <P> [5] Kuban, Glen, 1986a, The Taylor Site "Man Tracks," Origins, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-9 <P> [6] Kuban, Glen, 1986b, Elongate Dinosaur Tracks, In: Gillette, David D. and Martin G. Lockley, eds., Dinosaur Tracks and Traces, 1989, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 57-72; <P> [7] Kuban, Glen, 1986c, Color Distinctions and Other Curious Features of Dinosaur Tracks Near Glen Rose, Texas, In: Gillette, David D. and Martin G. Lockley, eds., Dinosaur Tracks and Traces, 1989, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 427-440 <P> [8] Hastings, Ronnie J., 1987, New Observations on Paluxy Tracks Confirm Their Dinosaurian Origin, Journal of Geological Education, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 4-15. <P> [9] Hastings, Ronnie J., 1988, Rise and Fall of the Paluxy Man Tracks, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (Journal of the ASA), Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 144-155. <P> [10] Kuban, Glen J., 1989, Retracking Those Incredible Man Tracks, NCSE Reports, Vol. 9, No. 4, Special Section. <P> [11] Farlow, James O., 1987, Lower Cretaceous Dinosaur Tracks, Paluxy River Valley, Texas, SCGSA, Waco, Tx. <P> [12] Kuban, Glen J. 1989, A Matter of Degree, NCSE Reports, Vol. 9, No. 6,, pp. 15-18. <P> [13] Web page of Creation Science Foundation, at URL http://www.christiananswers.net/aig/baugh.html .. </HTML>
Partial index: