Dino-bird link fails as Archeoraptor is removed from public display. Larry Martin of University of Kansas commented to Science News vol 156, p328 “Archeoraptor is one of the worst preserved specimens in a long line of poorly preserved specimens.” Archeoraptor is fossil with a bird-like upper torso and the tail and feet of a raptor (a type of dinosaur). It was on display at the National Geographic Society building in Washington until mid-January 2000 in spite of several warnings that the fossil is a fake. An article in National Geographic November 1999 described the fossil as a “true missing link in the complex chain that connects dinosaurs and birds.”
Prior to publication, curator of birds at the Smithsonian Institution’s Natural History Museum, Storrs Olson, warned National Geographic there were serious problems with the fossil but he was ignored. The editor of National Geographic has since been notified by a Chinese doctoral student and a member of the National Geographic team that the fossil was actually a ‘fake’. It turns out it is a composite made from two different fossils. The Science News report above dates from November 1999.
Editorial Comment: If National Geographic wasn’t so determined to push evolution they would have taken the advice on the fossil and wouldn’t have to be running for cover now. Look for the March 2000 issue of National Geographic where they plan to publish a correction of their story. Hopefully it will be big enough to see – at least the size of the January 25 USA Today article exposing them. (Ref. Dinosaurs, Archaeoraptor Fraud)