pterosaurs | Live Pterosaur

July 6, 2010July 6, 2010

Fossils are evidence of life, not extinction

I know of three paleontologists who have openly criticized living-pterosaur investigations. So how do I answer the Mesozoic objection? Let’s examine specific comments from specific paleontologists.

Darren Naish criticized the idea of extant pterosaurs in a late-2007 online post. He believes that there are “no indications from the fossil record that pterosaurs survived beyond the end of the Cretaceous . . .” He also proclaims that “the fossil record convincingly demonstrates that pterosaurs became extinct . . .” What he fails to include in his long post, however, is an explanation for how any fossils can demonstrate the extinction of even one species, let alone all species of a general type.

Mr. Naish seems to have failed to apply simple clear reasoning. Fossils tell us nothing about true extinction, notwithstanding one worldwide catastrophe that killed many individual creatures; near-extinction is a world apart from true extinction. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the difference between extinction and near-extinction is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.

But Naish is not the only paleontologist to miss this critical point. Glen Kuban also appears dedicated to ridiculing living-pterosaur investigators or at least actively fighting against any hope that pterosaurs still live; he also appears to believe that fossils are evidence for the extinction of all species of pterosaurs. But his long web page bears a striking resemblance to the one written by Naish: Both paleontologists concentrate on old questionable accounts, avoiding the critical eyewitness sightings that most heavily support the concept of modern extant pterosaurs.

See “Extinction or Near-Extinction, What Distinction?”

Nonfiction cryptozoology books on extant pterosaurs

Four notable non-fiction cryptozoology books (with at least some emphasis on sightings of apparent living pterosaurs) are in print or available by publishing-on-demand. I list them here in order of Amazon sales for the combined months of May-June, 2010, with “market share” under the assumption that non-Amazon sales are similar and referring to these four books as if they’re the only ones with special emphasis on extant pterosaurs.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no cryptozoology book, as of July 1, 2010, primarily about living-pterosaur sightings around the world. Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive is about worldwide sightings, but dinosaurs, not pterosaurs, are the main topic; Searching for Ropens (second edition) is only about pterosaur sightings, but refers almost exclusively to the Southwest Pacific; Live Pterosaurs in America is only about pterosaur sightings, but relates only to the forty-eight states of the U.S.A.; Big Bird is about large flying creatures, be they bird-like or pterosaur-like, and emphasizes sightings in Texas.

Descriptions of these cryptozoology books are from Amazon.

Live Pterosaurs in America

LPA was by far the best-seller, with 47% of the sales for these four nonfiction books (Amazon.com sales for the combined months of May and June). On Amazon, it is categorized in Nature / Wildlife

Live “pterodactyls!” In the United States? Prepare for a shock if you thought they all died millions of years ago. In California, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many other states, eyewitnesses have been shocked by featherless creatures flying overhead. Many of the apparent living pterosaurs are much larger than any bat; Many have long tails; many have head crests. Where are the news headlines? How did living pterosaurs avoid the media spotlight? Rare and nocturnal, they have always lived here.

Big Bird

BB had 26% of the sales for these four non-fiction books.

A LEGEND ON LEATHER WINGS! The Indians called it the Thunderbird, a winged monster so vast that the beating of its mighty pinions sounded like thunder. But this ancient beast is not to be held in the cage of mythology. Today, from all over the dusty U.S. / Mexican border come hair-raising stories of modern day encounters with winged monsters of immense size and terrifying appearance.

Searching for Ropens, second edition

SFR-2 had 15% of the sales for these four non-fiction books.

Expanded second edition: An American flight instructor, an Australian psychologist, many natives on tropical islands, an Australian couple, a Baptist minister, a teenaged farm-boy–each saw a giant living pterosaur. Each was amazed, or terrified, or shocked by a brown or dark-colored featherless creature: long-tailed and with a wingspan as great as fifty feet.

Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive

DDA had 12% of the sales. (No Amazon.com description is available.)

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Cryptozoology Book

Living pterosaurs have been reported in the United States, for years. Astonishing! Eyewitnesses had been afraid to come forward, for the most part; now those who choose can remain anonymous and tell of their encounters. Read the many astonishing eyewitness sighting reports by purchasing your own copy of this amazing nonfiction, yes NON-FICTION, book directly from the publisher: Live Pterosaurs in America, expanded third edition.

For the second edition of this book, one reader wrote the following review on Amazon: “I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! The way that our school systems and scientists alike are indoctrinated is sad. There is so much money out there being used for research, if only they would use it for good. I highly recommend this book to anyone! People should know the truth about what is going on. No one ever hears anything about this unless they conduct extremely specific internet searches, even then, information is minimal. Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books!” (review by “StrangeDream”)

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April 19, 2010January 10, 2017

Scientific paper on living pterosaurs

Creation Research Society Quarterly - cover

The peer-reviewed Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ), Volume 45, Number 3, contains the article “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” by Jonathan D. Whitcomb.

Included was the eyewitness account of the Umboi Island native Gideon Koro, interviewed in 2004 by Whitcomb:

“In about 1994, at Lake Pung, Umboi, and in daylight, seven boys, aged about eleven to sixteen, saw what three of them (in 2004) told me was a ropen . . . Their testimonies were videotaped during an interview in the Awelkon Village area . . .

“According to Gideon Koro, who speaks some English, a few minutes after they had arrived at the lake, ‘it came down.’ . . . When I asked about the tail length, he pondered, seeming to recall and estimate; then he said, “seven meetuh.” [seven meters or about twenty-two feet]

“Gideon was sure that the creature was a ropen. . . . When I asked about feathers, he at first appeared to be puzzled; his answer and mannerisms then seemed to me to reveal that he was surprised that I should ask that question: ‘There’s no feathers’ . . . I then asked, ‘Was there just skin?’ The Kovai word ‘byung’ came up as did the English term ‘flying fox.’ Gideon agreed that the skin was like that of a fruit bat.”

More: Credibility of the Umboi Island Eyewitnesses

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From Chapter Two of “Live Pterosaurs in America” (nonfiction book on Amazon.com)

“The greatest danger facing innovators, rebels, and those who search for living pterosaurs—that’s a newspaper. National newspapers ignored the success of the Wright Brothers (their December, 1903, successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina). News reporters and editors, many of them, assumed that the controlled powered-flight of two bicycle mechanics was a lie, that it never happened. Even as late as 1908, many newspaper professionals thought the Wright Brothers ‘better liars than flyers.’ After all, a well-funded government-sponsored flying machine had crashed only a few days before the Wright Brothers were said to have first flown. But lack of news reporting and abundance of lie-insinuations can relate to both flying machines and flying pterosaurs.”