Mark Armitage, supervisor of a laboratory, and widely published scientist of more than 30 years, was fired over dinosaur discovery by California State University of Northridge (CSUN) after publishing evidence of soft tissue extracted from a dinosaur fossil in a peer-reviewed journal.
Why did CSUN fire the scientist? Because the evidence undermines the long-standing dogma of the evolution industry. The dinosaur soft tissue, according to the prevailing dogma, should have died at least 60 million years ago. “This find cannot agree with an old earth,” an astute Examiner reporter explains:
“Even an old-earth creationist couldn’t explain it. But a young-earth creationist can.”
Armitage’s report published in the July 2013 issue of Acta Histochemica entitled “Soft sheets of fibrillar bone from a fossil of the supraorbital horn of the dinosaur Triceratops horridus (pictured)” species was co-authored by professor Kevin Lee Anderson of the Department of Biology at Arkansas State University (ASU) Beebe. Anderson has not been fired.
Armitage is a member of several scientific organizations, including the Microscopy Society of America, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences.
Christian News Network reports the crux of the issue:
“Evolutionists at the university were evidently displeased by Armitage’s discovery since they were convinced that the fossil was tens of millions of years old.”
After the release of the publication, according to Armitage, his supervisor entered his laboratory with the proclamation: “We will not tolerate religion in this department.” The paper, though, makes no reference to religion nor criticizes evolution.
Fired over dinosaur discovery, Armitage has subsequently pursued legal action. Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) now represents the scientist. “Terminating an employee because of their religious views is completely inappropriate and illegal,” stated PJI President Brad Dacus in a press release.
“But doing so in an attempt to silence scientific speech at a public university is even more alarming. This should be a wake-up call and warning to the entire world of academia.”
Fired Over Dinosaur Discovery
The finding of soft tissue in dinosaur fossils, ironically, is nothing new in the world of paleontology. In December 2011, CBS 60 Minutes news reporter Leslie Stahl in the story “B-REX” interviewed paleontologists Jack Horner in Montana and Mary Schweitzer in North Carolina on B-rex findings initially reported in 2005. B-rex is actually Tyrannosaurus rex, otherwise known as T-rex. Horner and Schweitzer published their paper in the journal Science entitled “Soft-Tissue Vessels and Cellular Preservation in Tyrannosaurus rex.”
Stahl’s 60 Minutes interview nearly three years ago focused on the discovery of soft tissue along with blood vessels in the estimated 68-million-year-old dinosaur. Apparently, the CSUN biology department was not aware of the report – nor of an MSNBC report hosted by Ron Reagan.
“I am quite aware that according to conventional wisdom and models of fossilization, these structures aren’t supposed to be there, but there they are,” said Schweitzer in a News Service interview. “I was pretty shocked.”
Horner, expanding on Schweitzer’s comments, said –
“I see this as a really important discovery that will change our methods of collecting and study. We can truly begin asking biomolecular questions. The discovery also means that our preconceived ideas about preservation were wrong.”
Soft Tissues in the Eocene Epoch
Apparently, the CSUN faculty have been unaware of the soft tissue discoveries in the Eocene epoch fossil record allegedly around 45 million years ago in the Messel pit located in Germany. The infamously over-hyped Ida fossil was reported from this site in 2009.
“Complete, fully articulated skeletons of vertebrates, mothers with fetuses, gut contents and soft tissue preservation including hairs and feathers,” according to their official website, “make Messel fossils unique amongst all fossil collections.”
Soft Tissues in the Jurassic Period
Over the past two decades, a treasure trove of fossils has been unearthed in China. Some of the world’s most exquisitely preserved feathered dinosaurs, birds, reptiles, and mammals have been recovered near the quiet northeastern China village of Daohugou. The now infamous fossil site has been named the Daohugou Biota and has yielded more than 30 different vertebrate taxa (groups).
In an interview, Corwin Sullivan of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China notes “The Daohugou Biota gives us a look at a rarely glimpsed side of the Middle to Late Jurassic.”
“More impressive than the diversity of the biota,” ScienceDaily notes, “vertebrate specimens, including complete or nearly-complete skeletons associated with preserved soft tissues such as feathers, fur, skin or even, in some of the salamanders, external gills.”
Soft Tissues in the Cambrian Period
The strange three to six-foot-long Cambrian shrimp-like animal known as Anomalocaris has been found preserved with soft eye tissue. “Acute vision in the giant Cambrian predator Anomalocaris and the origin of compound eyes” paper published in the December 2011 edition of the journal Nature, describes the soft eye tissues in the Anomalocaris. These complex eyes have more than 16,000 lenses in each eye.
Not only is the preservation of soft tissue over the purported millions of years a problem for the evolution industry dogma, but so is the number of lenses.
In an interview, New Scientist quoted Paterson: “Very few modern animals, particularly arthropods, have eyes as sophisticated as this.” With at least 16,000 lenses on each eye, “This is a lot,” says John R. Paterson, a paleontologist at the University of New England in Australia. “The common housefly has only 3,200 and most ants have fewer than 1,000.”
Robert Gaines, a palaeobiologist at Pomona College in Claremont, California, who was not involved in the Anomalocaris study, noted the clear-fired over dinosaur discovery implications: “This could stir up a debate” – no doubt.
Dating; Thousands, Not Millions
The worldwide preservation of soft tissues from all periods of time undermines estimates of the earth’s age. The evidence is compatible with the age of the earth in thousands of years – not millions of years. What CSUN acutely understands, though – preservation of soft tissue in dinosaur fossils is only compatible with a young age of the earth. Armitage’s saga highlights how evolution entrenched academia continues to follow dogma while ignoring the scientific evidence.
Genesis
Scientific evidence supports the Genesis account of creation. Evolution was once a theory in crisis, now evolution dogma is in crisis without even a scientific consensus on any natural mechanism.
Refer to the Glossary for the definition of terms and to Understanding Evolution to gain insights into understanding evolution.
