Marknis wrote:
Society still has a hard time accepting that birds are dinosaurs. Society also wants the cultural image of dinosaurs to be like how they are portrayed in Jurassic Park and will use the "It's just a movie!" excuse as a crutch. Dinosaurs are not fantasy or science fiction creatures, they are real creatures.
A couple of years ago, I was browsing YouTube comments. One idiot on YouTube said "Archaeopteryx wasn't real! It was just a prank by a Chinese farmer!"
There are so many things wrong with that statement.
1. Whoever made that comment was obviously thinking about Archaeoraptor.
2. Archaeoraptor wasn't a prank. It was an honest mistake by an uneducated Chinese bloke who didn't know any better.
3. The scientific community thought that Archaeoraptor was fake from the get-go. Nevertheless, the National Geographic Society jumped all over Archaeoraptor. This is because National Geographic is a popular science magazine and not a formal scientific journal. Popular science magazines are generally untrustworthy since they rely on sensationalism in order to make money. Meanwhile, formal scientific journals are created by people who are on an honest quest for truth.
4. Even if Archaeopteryx,
was a fake, that wouldn't really matter. Archaeopteryx wasn't the only dinosaurian proto-bird. What about Microraptor? What about Avisaurus? What about Hesperornis? What about Icthyornis? What about Confuciusornis? I could go on like this all day. One fake is somewhat understandable. Am I seriously supposed to believe that every single one of these fossils is a fake?
The scientific illiteracy of some people is truly revolting.
I'm sure there are nuts who say those others were fakes, as well.