Texas Citizens Stand Up For Paluxysaurus

Earlier this year Texas updated the name of its official state dinosaur, a sauropod dinosaur previously called Pleurocoelus but recently renamed Paluxysaurus. To celebrate the name change, a team of scientists is creating a full restoration of the dinosaur's skeleton for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, but not everyone was happy about the announcement of this plan in the Star-Telegram newspaper.

In a letter to the editor, Richard Hollerman of Richland Hills, Texas, took offense that the newspaper did not pay heed to his personal beliefs, namely that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time less than 10,000 years ago. There is no evidence to support this claim, but Mr. Hollerman chastised the paper for "blindly accepting unfounded assertions by unbelieving paleontologists."

This triggered an overwhelming response from Hollerman's neighbors in the state. The paper printed at least seven replies that picked apart Hollerman's anti-science tirade. Said Mark Stevens from Forth Worth:

According to creationists, science is correct about the following:

Chemistry, computer science, mathematics, engineering, sociology, systems science, psychology, medicine, nuclear science, agronomy, astronomy, nanotechnology, acoustics, biophysics, condensed matter physics, electronics, fluid dynamics, geophysics, plasma physics, vehicle dynamics, solar astronomy, meteorology, limnology, soil science, toxicology, marine biology, parasitology, anatomy, biochemistry, structural biology, entomology, cetology, phylogeny, algebra, calculus, cartography, geopolitics, criminology, agriculture, language engineering, pathology, pediatrics, nutrition, physical therapy and dermatology.

But for some reason, according to creationists, science is wrong about evolution. How is that even possible?

Another commenter, Charlie Rodriguez from the city of Arlington, replied that Hollerman's assertions would be a joke if not for the many others who believe the Bible should be read as a science book. There has been a proliferation of "creation museums" over the past several years, and "evolution" is still a dirty word in some places in the country. Even so, it was heartening to see so many people stand up for paleontology, evolution, and good science.

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.