Pterodactyls

Pterosaurs, the technically correct name for what many call pterodactyls, are known by Western scientists through their fossils. Textbooks 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.

Are some pterodactyls still living? That idea 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?

The book "Searching for Ropens," explains the widespread Western belief in pterosaur extinction. It is not complimentary to “standard models” but seems to expose a superstitious nature within 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. That is controversial, and how!

Do legends of dragons come from living pterosaurs? The many reports of living pterosaurs could not all have been influenced by old legends or by superstition (in modern times, similar reports come from eyewitnesses of different cultural and language backgrounds: Australians, North Americans, Europeans, and natives of third-world countries). What is the bioluminescence of the ropen? Does it relate to old legends of fire-breathing dragons? Many ancient peoples (and many modern natives) would assume that a glow at night comes from fire. Perhaps the legend of the "Wawanar" (a legend of a flying dragon talked about in the Pilio Island area south of West New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea) comes from sightings of the ropen, for "ropen" is the name used on Umboi Island, just west of West New Britain. And is "duah" another name (in another native language) for the same flying creature (ropen)? Perhaps this dragon is more than just a legend.

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). And how does all this relate to Creation versus Evolution?

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According to one news report, strange featherless flying creatures fly over a valley in the center of New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea. The "pterodactyl-like creatures" have pointed head crests and "leathery" skin. And they were seen to fly, sometimes in single file (according to Whitcomb's book "Searching for Ropens"), toward the coast, perhaps to catch fish. If the report is true, these would be Pterodactyloids.

Also according to the book "Searching for Ropens," some eyewitnesses report a creature described like a long-tailed (Rhamphorhynchoid) pterosaur; some have even seen a nocturnal ropen in daylight. On Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, they call it “ropen,” but other tribes on other islands have different names. Ropens seem to eat fish, but they're said to have eaten more than just fish: Michael, an old man, saw it, many years earlier, 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 a ropen as it flew low over the surface of a reef at the southern part of Umboi, apparently fishing. (See also the David Moke eyewitness account.)

"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 "pterodactyl" flew into the air and circled the clearing, giving a clear view of its features. The veteran was interviewed in 2005, by Garth Guessman, and still maintained that he saw a pterodactyl. It's 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 near 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 searched for ropens and later interviewed many native eyewitnesses. But what kind of evidence is that? (Aren’t natives superstitious?) The point is this: 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, a few have seen it up close. These are the eyewitness testimonies of a living creature whose description suggests a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.