Where did dinosaurs come from? Evolutionists believe they developed from a primitive reptilian that was also ancestral to the mammals. But evolutionists can’t agree on the ancestors to the dinosaurs. “Dinosaurs are one of the most successful groups of animals to have roamed the planet…from small creatures just a few feet long to some of the largest animals ever to have walked Earth. But despite their long evolutionary history, the origin of dinosaurs remains shrouded in mystery…when they first appeared, they were already recognisably dinosaurs.” (Davis, Josh, “Where Did Dinosaurs Come From?,” The British Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs, August 27, 2019.) The actual fossil evidence doesn’t show evolution from a stem reptile. “But paleontologists are equally concerned with puzzling out how these mighty beasts got their start. Who were their ancestors? … Tracing the origins of the earliest dinosaurs has been a major challenge for paleontologists because there are no uncontested fossils from their earliest days on Earth.” (Balter, Michael, “Ping-sized Predator Rattles the Dinosaur Family Tree,” Science, 2011, p. 134.)

Most of the better known species of dinosaurs are said to have appeared in the Jurassic period, approximately 200 million years ago. According to evolutionary theorists, the dinosaurs flourished through the Cretaceous period, becoming extinct about 60 million years ago. Could random mutations and natural selection turn a fish into an Apatosaur, even granting the millions of years? There are serious problems with the naturalistic Darwinian scenarios and the accompanying probability challenges. Dinosaur evolution scenarios are further complicated because the diverse kinds of dinosaurs elude all attempts to construct a clear lineage back to a common type (phylogeny) and transitional candidates are rare.

The Bible states that on the fifth day of creation God created great sea monsters and flying creatures. This would have included the great swimming and flying reptiles (like the plesiosaurs and pterosaurs mentioned at our Genesis Park website). On the sixth day God created the land animals, which would have included all of the dinosaur kinds (Genesis 1:20-25). The scriptures are clear that everything was made in six days and therefore dinosaurs and man came into existence at the same time. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” (Exodus 20:11) Naturalists would exclude the consideration of such a view of origins, regardless of the evidence for intelligent design. They wrongly claim that science cannot consider supernatural explanations. Nonetheless there are several compelling lines of evidence that the Bible is God’s Word.

Some have speculated that the 7 Genesis Days of Creation are, in fact, long periods of time. This strained interpretation is an attempt to harmonize the Bible with the darwinian theory that dinosaurs lived millions of years before man evolved. But a straightforward reading of Genesis 1 and 2 leaves one with the distinct impression that the Author is discussing literal, 24-hour days (“evening and morning”). Moreover, the Jews and the Early Church for thousands of years have understood Genesis to be saying that God made everything in one week. If God intended to convey the idea that men were made millions of years after the dinosaurs, He could certainly have used a term like “ages” rather than “days.” The literal interpretation of Genesis is clearly affirmed by Jesus himself, who stated that man was made in the beginning (Mark 19:4), not millions of years after the beginning. Moreover, there is abundant evidence that men and dinosaurs did coexist.