Pterodactyls

A Living Rhamphorhynchoid Pterodactyl

 

According to the book Searching for Ropens, there are many eyewitness of creatures that are described like long-tailed pterosaurs. On Umboi Island, in Papua New Guinea, it is called “ropen.” This creature, however, seemed to eat more than just fish: One old man saw it come to a human grave and dig up the body of the recently deceased man. In 2004, an American forensic videographer visited Umboi Island and interviewed the old man in Opai Village. Another man recounted his sighting of the creature as it flew low over the surface of a reef at the southern part of the island.

 

Searching for Ropens has one chapter devoted to the account of an American World War II veteran, Duane Hodgkinson. In 1944, he entered a jungle clearing not far from Finschhafen, New Guinea. A large creature flew into the air and circled the clearing, giving a clear view of its features. The veteran was interviewed in 2005 and still maintained that he saw a pterodactyl. It is interesting to note that the man is a flight instructor with over 13,000 hours of flight experience.

 

Another chapter of the book is devoted to a sighting by a married couple as they were strolling along a highway in Perth, Australia. According to the wife: . . . “we do know that it was definitely a living creature . . . I never believed these things existed until that night.” . . .  The husband gave more details about the huge apparent pterosaur:  . . . “estimated the size to be in excess of thirty foot, possibly as great as fifty foot. My eyes told me it was nearer the greater of these, my rational mind wants me to believe the lesser, since either of these is astounding for a flying creature” . . .

 

Several chapters are devoted to the 2004 expedition of the author, Jonathan Whitcomb. He left the mainland of Papua New Guinea (city of Lae) with his interpreter. They sailed to Umboi Island, where they interviewed many native eyewitnesses of the ropen. What kind of evidence is that for living pterosaurs? Aren’t natives superstitious? The point is that the islanders who have seen the ropen do not recite legends or superstitious stories; they simply tell the investigators what they saw. On Umboi Island, Whitcomb estimates hundreds of people have seen the ropen. Although most of them have only seen a distant fleeting view of the creature, a few have seen it up close. These are the eyewitness testimonies of a living creature whose description suggests a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

Introduction to Living Pterodactyls

 

Pterosaurs, the technically correct name for what many call pterodactyls, are known by Western scientists through their fossils. Text books and children’s books declare that they all became extinct many millions of years ago. (A commonly- published phrase is “by 65 million years ago.”) But where is the evidence for the extinction of all pterosaurs? Why do so many publications proclaim their ancient demise, yet fail to give any reason for the belief that they all died.

 

The idea that some pterodactyls are still alive is controversial, to be sure, for where is the photograph to prove such a bold idea? But wait a moment. What does photography have to do with it? Where is photographic evidence that every kind of pterodactyl became extinct millions of years ago? The fossils say nothing about extinction. A fossil only shows that one particular organism once lived and died. Photographing and analyzing fossils has nothing to do with extinction, so what is this controversy about living pterodactyls?

 

In Searching for Ropens, there is an explanation for the widespread Western belief in pterosaur extinction. It is not complimentary to “standard models” but seems to expose a superstitious nature to the belief in “universal pterosaur extinction.” Apparently human nature often causes bias when a person’s philosophy is involved. According to this book, the General Theory of Evolution is based on philosophical axioms or assumptions. The idea that all dinosaurs and pterosaurs became extinct many millions of years ago may have come from a desire to shore up a philosophy, namely atheism. This is controversial!

Are they still alive? Are the reports

of live pterosaurs only legends?

Do legends of dragons come from living pterosaurs?

How does this relate to Creation versus Evolution?

How do Mesozoic strata relate to living pterosaurs?

Circular reasoning results from trying to use the

“Mesozoic objection” as if it were evidence against

modern extant pterosaurs. Most fossils have no

direct way of being dated, without extensive use

of assumptions based on  Darwin’s General Theory

of Evolution (GTE).

 

What is the bioluminescence of the ropen?

 

Is the duah the same creature as the ropen?

 

Where, online, can I learn more

about living pterosaurs?

The many reports of living pterosaurs could not all

have been influenced by old legends or superstition.