For the past seventy years, palaeontologists have been uncovering dinosaur fossils at high latitudes. These discoveries are both remarkable and perplexing. How could these animals have survived in such cold climates with prolonged periods of darkness?
Polar region dinosaurs
Fossils of dinosaurs and their eggshells have been discovered in northeastern Russia, about 70–75 degrees north of the equator. Living at this latitude means enduring about 45 days of complete darkness each year.1
Dinosaurs were recently discovered in southeastern Australia at a latitude of 76 degrees south of the equator.2 Patrick Druckenmiller of the University of Alaska Museum told New Scientist: ‘We knew dinosaurs inhabited these regions, but it remained unclear whether they could withstand the cold or cope with the prolonged winter darkness’.3
Previously, most evolutionary paleontologists assumed that dinosaurs migrated to extremely high latitudes during the long summer and returned south during the winter months. Recent discoveries, however, have debunked this assumption.
Dinosaurs in Alaska
Eight species of dinosaurs have recently been discovered in the Prince Creek Formation of northern Alaska.4 According to Current Biology, these bones were buried in Cretaceous sediments near the North Pole, about 80–85 degrees north latitude.4 This means that the region experienced approximately 120 days of complete darkness each year, making it extremely challenging for dinosaurs to survive in such a harsh, cold climate.4
This dilemma cannot be explained by annual reptilian migrations. Why? The discovery included many eggs, hatchlings, and juvenile specimens, definitively proving that these dinosaurs could not migrate.4
Patrick Druckenmiller stated: ‘There is good evidence that these dinosaurs had incubation periods lasting over five months’.3 This means that if dinosaurs laid eggs in the spring, the young would hatch only in autumn. The hatchlings would be too small to travel long distances to escape the cold and darkness of winter. Thus, these dinosaurs must have inhabited the region year-round.
Is it truly possible that they lived at such high latitudes, where the average annual temperature was around 10 degrees Celsius or lower? Secular science offers no clear explanation. There is, however, a compelling alternative that accounts for these findings.
A plausible explanation
The prevailing scientific theory is that of the supercontinent Pangaea, as we have discussed here before. It was the original landmass that broke apart into the continents we see today. The Bible attributes the breakup of this supercontinent to a global flood.
A team of scientists from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) created a map of sedimentary rocks on the continents, reconstructing landmasses and their environments. This reconstruction placed Pangaea centered on the equator.5 The researchers discovered that nearly all the land was once located at latitudes below 45 degrees north or south of the equator.
This reconstruction places the Alaskan dinosaur discoveries at about 35–40 degrees north latitude in the pre-Flood world. This means that the regions of Alaska were not in the far north at that time, and dinosaurs did not live in the far north but in an area with a much more temperate climate. However, during the rapid tectonic movements of the Flood, these buried dinosaurs were transported to their current locations.
Reconstructions by ICR scientists also place dinosaurs found in Russia and Australia at temperate latitudes in the pre-Flood world.2,5
Conclusion
At the time of creation, God placed dinosaurs in warm, temperate regions. It was the Flood that transported their remains to the far north. The biblical account provides a credible and logical explanation.
Footnotes
- Godefroit, P., Lauters, P., Bolotsky, Y.L. and Bolotsky, I.Y., 2009. The last polar dinosaurs: high diversity of latest Cretaceous Arctic dinosaurs in Russia. Naturwissenschaften, 96, pp.495–501. doi:10.1007/s00114-008-0499-0.
- Clarey, T., 2020. New Australian dinosaur surprises evolutionists. Creation Science Update, 27 May.
- Duke, C., 2021. Dinosaurs lived in the Arctic around 70 million years ago. New Scientist, 3341, 3 July.
- Druckenmiller, P.S., Fiorillo, A.R., Gangloff, R.A. and Zakrzewski, R.J., 2021. Nesting at extreme polar latitudes by non-avian dinosaurs. Current Biology, 31. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.041.
- Clarey, T., 2020. Carved in Stone: Geological Evidence of the Worldwide Flood. Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research, pp.178–179.
Based on: T. Clarey, North pole dinosaurs point to the flood, published on ICR.org, August 12, 2021.
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