Seven ways that fossils are evidence for the Flood

According to the Bible, there was a worldwide deluge that destroyed all terrestrial life. Genesis 7:18-24 describes the effects of the Flood this way:

And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

This passage is unambiguous. All land-dwelling, air-breathing creatures that were outside of the Ark were buried beneath water and mud. This event, known commonly as Noah's Flood, would have radically changed the earth's topography and is believed by creationists to have created most of the fossils we find in the so called, “geological column.”

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A popular meme used by evolutionists has the caption, “We have the fossils. We win.” The truth is that fossils are best explained as being products of the Flood. Following are seven ways that fossils are better interpreted from the perspective of a global flood.

#1: Abundance

Evolutionists advance the idea that fossils are created gradually as creatures die, are buried, and their bones become mineralized over millions of years. The reality is that fossilization is normally an extremely rare event. When a creature dies, its carcass is usually gone in a matter of weeks or maybe days, the result of scavenging and decay. There is very seldom enough carcass left to even become a fossil.

The best chance for an animal's remains to become fossilized is if the poor critter is buried immediately. As we observe the world, we see there are literally trillions of fossils buried everywhere. You can hardly turn over a shovel of dirt without finding one. Seeing that there are so many fossils everywhere and knowing that virtually none are being created now, our observations fit well with the idea that the creatures were buried in the catastrophic flood described in the Bible.

#2: Sudden Burials

Numerous examples have been found of animals fossils in the middle of the act of doing something. For example, the Creation Museum, in Petersburg, KY, has a fossil on display that clearly shows a fish eating another fish! An ichthyosaur has been found in the act of giving birth. These fossils and others further attest to the fact that these creatures were buried suddenly in some disaster – even before having time to swallow – and preserved as fossils.

#3: Polystrate Fossils

The common evolutionary assumption is that rock layers are laid down gradually with each stratum representing some amount of time, similar to the rings of a tree. The lower the layer, the older the fossils in it are believed to be. Often, though, we will find fossils that intrude through several layers. Fossil tree trunks are a common example, where a trunk, several feet tall, stands upright through several strata. Obviously, the tree could not have stood upright for millions of years while sediment was deposited around it. Neither could it have been driven down into the rock like a nail. The more reasonable explanation is that the successive layers were laid down rapidly before the trunk had time to decompose.

Trying doing a Google search for 'polystrate fossils' and see how many examples you can find from all over the world. Go ahead, do it now. I dare you!

#4: Preserved Details

Completely intact, larger animals are more scarce in the fossil record. However, an abundance of smaller fossils exist. Something striking about many are the exquisite details that have been preserved – the fragile wings of insects, the scales of fish, leaves (which begin to wilt almost immediately after falling from the tree), and even the soft bodies of jellyfish have all been preserved. Since all of these things would begin to shrivel and decay within hours, the remarkable details could have only been made if the creature was buried immediately upon death. Again, this fits well with the biblical flood.

#5: Ubiquitous Marine Animals

If you've ever found a fossil, I'll bet I can guess what it was. //RKBentley thinks hard// It was a shell!! Am I right? It's not hard to guess, really, because nearly the entire fossil record (some 95%) is comprised of marine animals, primarily shellfish. Most of what is left are plants and algae. Insects make up about .25% of all fossils. Only the tiniest fraction of fossils are of terrestrial vertebrates.

Every fossil ever found is found in the same layers as marine fossils. Always! Even dinosaur and primate fossils are found with marine fossils. There are marine fossils found from top to bottom in the geological column. Marine fossils cover nearly the entire earth's surface including the tops of the highest mountains. The fossil record does not show a history of simple to complex; a more accurate description would be marine animals, amphibians with marine animals, plants with marine animals, reptiles with marine animals, dinosaurs with marine animals, and birds and mammals with marine animals. It is entirely consistent with a worldwide flood.

#6: Out of Sequence Fossils

Richard Dawkins once told a great lie when he said, “Evolution could so easily be disproved if just a single fossil turned up in the wrong date order. Evolution has passed this test with flying colours.”

Live Science once reported about some “controversial footprints” found in Mexico. The fossil prints looked distinctly human but were believed to be about 40,000 years old which would have been much earlier than when humans were believed to have existed there. When they performed radiometric dating on the ash where the footprints were found, it came back as 1.3 million years old! Needless to say, this wasn't compatible with secular theories of human evolution. What would they do? From the article, “After visiting the site, Renne believes the markings are not really human footprints at all, but rather impressions left by machines or animals that have passed through the quarry in recent times.” But what kind of machine or animal might leave tracks that look like a human human footprints? "You have to remember this is a public area," Renne said in a telephone interview. "Vehicles drive across it, you can see tire tracks on the surface. There are cows and other animals grazing nearby." Cows? Cars? I'm not even kidding – they actually said that!

Several years ago, The Atlantic reported a remarkable find of “dinosaur feathers found in amber.” Amber is fossilized tree sap. The researchers admitted, “They can't determine which feathers belonged to birds or dinosaurs yet.” Here's a thought, maybe none of them belonged to dinosaurs! Any way, many of the feathers found, “are nearly identical to those of modern birds.” If dinosaurs are supposed to have evolved to become birds, don't they see a problem with modern bird feathers existing at the same time as their supposed ancestors?!

We find out of sequence fossils all the time. Just Google the words, “fossil redraws evolution” and see how many results you get. Dawkins said just one would disprove evolution!

Creationists believe the order in the fossil record depicts better where the creatures lived rather than when they lived. In a universal flood, the bottom-dwelling sea creatures would be buried first, then swimming marine creatures, amphibians and reptiles further up, with mammals and birds at the top. That's roughly what we observe. “Out of place” fossils are only a problem for the evolutionary theory which claims the creatures were separated by eons rather than environments.

# 7: The Dinosaur Death Pose

When scientists are lucky enough to find the complete skeleton of a dinosaur, there's a good chance it will have its head thrown backward and its tail arched upward. The position is so common, it has earned its own name, the “opisthotonic death pose.” What causes the pose has been much speculated. An enduring opinion had been that the pose is the result of the dying creature's death throes.

An article from New Scientist reports how a team from Brigham Young University attempted to recreate the condition. Leaving the carcasses of plucked chickens on a bed of sand for three months did not produce the muscle contortions. However, when the scientists placed seven chickens in cool, fresh water, their head was thrown back in seconds. The article ends saying, “Cutler has confidence in her freshwater study: "Although the roads to the opisthotonic death pose are many, immersion in water is the simplest explanation.”

These results seem to support the creationists' model. It could be that the dinosaurs were immersed in water (the Flood), their muscles contorted as did the chickens, then they were buried rapidly in sediment – forever preserving their grim posture. And since the pose is so usual and is found everywhere in the world, it suggests the cause was global. I like NewScientist's opening line, “Recreating the spectacular pose many dinosaurs adopted in death might involve following the simplest of instructions: just add water.” That should be on the mind of every scientist as they examine the world around us. As they consider why the world is as it is, they need to add water to the equation. They need to add the Flood!