Survey for Biology Professors
I sent out a survey form to biology professors, from January 30 to February 7 (this year), with less than 2% responding (with any meaningful response) as of early this morning; I doubt that any more will be coming in. Four large universities in the Western USA were selected for the survey, with no surprises in the results. (No university with significant YEC influence was chosen for this survey, but I’m open to suggestions.)
It was short:
Subject: Ropen of Papua New Guinea
Reports of apparent living pterosaurs have been getting into the news and into television adventure-discovery shows. I now invite you to give your opinion on the possibility of the existence of at least one species of extant pterosaur in Papua New Guinea.
Your name will be kept out of all reports that will be made from the compiled data.
Thank you for participating.
1) Before receiving this survey, did you know of the word “ropen” in relation to a reported flying creature? (Y/N)
2) Before receiving this survey, did you know anything about any expedition or research in Papua New Guinea, related to the idea that at least one species of extant pterosaur might live there? (Y/N)
3) How would you rate your belief in the possibility of one or more species of extant pterosaur living in Papua New Guinea? You may use a number, 0-100, to rate your belief in relation to these examples: 0 = sure all species of pterosaurs are extinct 100 = sure at least one species is still living
You may reply to any or all three of the above questions in your own words, if you choose. You may also answer less than all three of them.
This survey sent to, but is not limited to, biology faculty members of colleges and universities in the United States.
Thank you.
It seems that most university biology professors are ignorant of the detailed investigations that my associates and I have conducted over many years (Nobody answered “yes” to the first two questions). For the great majority of professors who did not respond, it seems unlikely that many of them knew about ropen expeditions in Papua New Guinea, or the response would have been more than 2%.
Putting the third question into percentage form, the average belief in the possibility of extant pterosaurs was 1.5%, with a range from 0% to 5%. I found one response quite interesting:
I would LOVE it if there were living pterosaurs, that would simply be one of the coolest things ever, like finding a coelacanth. But as far as I know there is zero scientific evidence to support their existence. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist, just means we don’t have any evidence that they do. Sort of like bigfoot and the loch ness monster.
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Mount Sual, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea (still from video recorded by Jonathan Whitcomb during the first ropen expedition of 2004)
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Had an estimated wingspan of 8-12 feet and a tail as long as its torso with a large bulb or lump at the tail very diamond shaped, no feathers . . .
Extinct or a Pterosaur Sighting?
Why emphasize old hoaxes [like the 1856 hoax in Europe] irrelevant to critical new sighting reports?
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Searching for Ropens and Finding God has been called the “Bible of modern pterosaurs”
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