Dinosaur Evolution – From Five Fingers To Two Fingers?
This two-fingered dinosaur is said to evolved from three fingered dinosaurs, who evolved from four fingered dinosaurs, who evolved from five fingered dinosaurs. (Artist’s impression by Masato Hattori). Did dinosaur evolution really work this way?
A BBC article was published on March 25,2025, under the title of: “Unique two-clawed dinosaur discovered”
Some excerpts from the article are, as follows:
“At nearly a foot long, the claws themselves were much larger than their underlying bone, the study revealed.
Besides better grasping, the two-fingered hands may have been used for display, digging, or as formidable weapons.
The most famous two-fingered theropods are species within the group tyrannosaurids, which includes Tyrannosaurus rex, but Duonychus evolved its two-fingered hands separately from them and from other two-fingered theropods.
The specimen also preserves the first keratinous sheath of a therizinosaur, an element that covers the claw much like human fingernails, aiding defence, movement, or prey catching.
A similar NBC article, under the title of: “Scientists Discover Weird Mongolian Dinosaur That Wielded ‘Sharp, Huge’ Claws”, was also published. Here are some excerpts:
“‘Dinosaurs weren’t just stuck in one body plan — they were constantly experimenting, evolving, doing weird stuff ‘. . .’It’s a “great new discovery, and the two claws is interesting,’ said Michael Benton, professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., who was not involved in the study.
Dinosaurs used to have five fingers, just like human beings, but they quickly lost two over time, with most dinosaurs having three fingers, Benton said Wednesday.
“So, to go down to two was unusual,” he said.”
Similarly the following scientific website commented:
“Take a look at the number of fingers dinosaurs have, he said. Ancestrally, dinosaurs had five fingers and as they went up through the evolutionary history for therapods, they lose their pinky, then fourth finger, ending up with three fingers.The Tyrannosaurus rex is more advanced, it only has two fingers.”—Helix, June 8,2008
We notice that this recently discovered dinosaur is said to be, “within the group tyrannosaurids, which includes Tyrannosaurus rex, but Duonychus evolved its two-fingered hands separately from them and from other two-fingered theropods.”
Did it ‘evolve separately’, or was it created ‘separately’?
“The wisdom of the world is folly in God’s sight. Scripture says, ‘He traps the wise in their own cunning'”—1 Corinthians 3:19 REB
We also cannot help but notice, that, “Dinosaurs . . . they were constantly evolving . . . used to have five fingers, just like human beings, but they quickly lost two over time, with most dinosaurs having three fingers . . . So, to go down to two was unusual”.
So, just to be sure we have this straight, dinosaurs are said to have evolved from “five fingers, just like human beings”, down to four fingers, down to three fingers, and then, finally, when they become “more advanced”, they go down to “two fingers.”
Thus, evolutionists are caught in a trap. Evolution isn’t supposed to go backward, only forward. Why could the two fingered dinosaurs not have been created that way?
“And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.'”—Genesis 1:24,25 NIV
Land dwelling dinosaurs, such as the one discussed in this article, would be included in the ‘wild animals’ that God made “good”, in fact, perfect, from the start. There was no gradual evolution from earlier forms, etc.
The fact is that God made them “according to their kinds”, and they reproduced “according to their kinds”. The genetic boundaries that God set cannot be crossed. The fossil record supports this type of reproduction, and does not support Darwinian evolution.
13 thoughts on “Dinosaur Evolution – From Five Fingers To Two Fingers?”
BA: Did it ‘evolve separately’, or was it created ‘separately’?
GW: It evolved separately, of course. There s no good evidence that any animal was ever created by God.
BA: “The wisdom of the world is folly in God’s sight. Scripture says, ‘He traps the wise in their own cunning'”—1 Corinthians 3:19 REB
GW: What is the REB? Because God does not exist (proven), God has no sight.
BA: We also cannot help but notice, that, “Dinosaurs . . . they were constantly evolving . . . used to have five fingers, just like human beings, but they quickly lost two over time, with most dinosaurs having three fingers . . . So, to go down to two was unusual”.
BA: So, just to be sure we have this straight, dinosaurs are said to have evolved from “five fingers, just like human beings”, down to four fingers, down to three fingers, and then, finally, when they become “more advanced”, they go down to “two fingers.”
GW: No, you don’t have it straight. You added “when they become more advanced,” which is your distortion of evolution.
BA: Thus, evolutionists are caught in a trap. Evolution isn’t supposed to go backward, only forward. Why could the two fingered dinosaurs not have been created that way?
GW: There is no trap. Evolution does not have a goal, purpose, or direction. There is no good evidence that God created any animal. God does not exist (proven), so he can’t do anything. He is merely hypothetical.
BA: “Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce every type of living creature: every type of domestic animal, crawling animal, and wild animal.’ And so it was. God made every type of wild animal . . . God saw that they were good'”—Genesis 1:24,25 GWT
GW: What is the GWT? Why are you using it? News flash: Ancient peoples believed in God. They were mistaken. It has now been proven that God does not exist!
BA: Land dwelling dinosaurs, such as the one discussed in this article, would be included in the ‘wild animals’ that God made “good”, in fact, perfect, from the start. There was no gradual evolution from earlier forms, etc.
GW: God didn’t make anything because God does not exist. This has been proven. I have even presented two of the proofs to you, and you found no errors in them. Also, you have not defined “gradual” here. The speed of evolution varies depending on the speed of mutations and changes in the environment. Evolution is a fact. Get over it. From this we know that Genesis cannot be the Word of God because if it were, then it would describe evolution there.
GW: You are trying to sell a life insurance policy that will never pay off.
“And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.'”—Genesis 1:24,25 NIV
Land dwelling dinosaurs, such as the one discussed in this article, would be included in the ‘wild animals’ that God made “good”, in fact, perfect, from the start. There was no gradual evolution from earlier forms, etc.
The fact is that God made them “according to their kinds”, and they reproduced “according to their kinds”. The genetic boundaries that God set cannot be crossed. The fossil record supports this type of reproduction, and does not support Darwinian evolution.
But the Genesis author was incorrect. God did not say anything because God does not exist. We already know this. It has been proven. In addition, evolution is the reason for the diversity of species, and this has been proven.
God made neither wild nor domesticated animals. Evolution is a fact. If the Bible was the Word of God, then this fact would have been included in the Genesis account. Duh.
Kinds of living organisms do, in general, reproduce according to their kinds. But organisms have mutations in their DNA and these mutations produce new or different biological structures, processes, and behaviors. In the environment in which they live, these new or different things will be favorable, unfavorable, or neutral with respect to the organism’s survival and reproduction. And so, we have “natural selection.” With time the changes produce new kinds, species, or varieties of organisms. That’s how evolution works, in a general way.
The fossil record, and many other types of evidence, supports evolution. It is a fact. Read this book: “Why Evolution is True” by Jerry Coyne. Or read “The Language of God” by Francis Collins, who is a Christian and accepts evolution.
You are trying to sell an 18th century horse and buggy in the 21st world of electric cars. You won’t be successful at that.
GW—Evolution is a fact.
BA—The present is different from the past. No sane person disputes that.
Darwin’s claim that all species are modified descendants of a common ancestor, and Coyne’s claim that DNA mutations and natural selection have produced those modifications, are not so undeniably true.
“The manner in which whole species belonging to several of main divisions of the animal kingdom suddenly appear in the lowest known fossiliferous rocks may be truly urged as a valid argument against my theory”—Charles Darwin, Origin of Species
The fossil record is highly discontinuous and strongly contradicts Darwin’s prediction of gradualism. Even Darwin himself was quite aware of this problem for his theory and therefore tried to explain it away as a mere artifact of undersampling of a very incomplete fossil record. The famous vertebrate paleontologist Philip Gingerich once irritably remarked that “gaps of evidence are gaps of evidence and not evidence of gaps.”
GW—Evolution is a fact.
BA—The present is different from the past. No sane person disputes that.
GW: The fact of evolution includes far more than the fact that the present is different from the past. Don’t forget the facts of living organisms, reproduction, DNA, mutations, natural selection, changes in species over time, and original common ancestor.
BA: Darwin’s claim that all species are modified descendants of a common ancestor, and Coyne’s claim that DNA mutations and natural selection have produced those modifications, are not so undeniably true.
GW: They are undeniably true. You would know this if you used Reason in studying all the relevant evidence.
BA: “The manner in which whole species belonging to several of main divisions of the animal kingdom suddenly appear in the lowest known fossiliferous rocks may be truly urged as a valid argument against my theory”—Charles Darwin, Origin of Species
GW: Darwin was just being appropriately humble at the time when he first proposed his theory. Now we have much more knowledge of the mechanisms and timing of evolution.
BA: The fossil record is highly discontinuous and strongly contradicts Darwin’s prediction of gradualism.
GW: On the premise of naturalism, we would expect the fossil record to be discontinuous. Why? Because fossils may be buried. Fossils may be damaged on destroyed. The outer crust of the Earth is thick. People may produce fake fossils. You are making a non sequitur error here. Just because the fossil record is discontinuous, it does not follow that Darwin’s prediction of gradualism is wrong. In fact, it is right.
BA: Even Darwin himself was quite aware of this problem for his theory and therefore tried to explain it away as a mere artifact of undersampling of a very incomplete fossil record.
GW: The sample of fossils now is far greater than it was in Darwin’s time, maybe a thousand fold.
BA: The famous vertebrate paleontologist Philip Gingerich once irritably remarked that “gaps of evidence are gaps of evidence and not evidence of gaps.”
GW: Sounds like nonsense to me! Please explain how that applies to evolution.
GW: On the other hand, there is a huge gap of evidence in communication. There is no good evidence that any deity has ever communicated to all living persons as the same time. This gap indicates another gap – the absence of God from reality.
GW: You should really read the Francis Collins book I recommended before you read the Jerry Coyne book. You need to see that a strong Christian accepts evolution as fact. Buy the book, read cover to cover, then write an essay on it here in your forum. Here is the link to the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Language-God-Scientist-Presents-Evidence/dp/1416542744/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36E2B3GD7LTW1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NoSfZu86rJKERZD83dfko6bqYreHn0c7nLlNmSUYQMuOHBbsQN1VSsfGlg5Bd6zesoACF5anB6V44Uus4y9sJaQ-iSkmS6-_R1eYzZhz4YwUnW3WnpINkzSwO6u_NJvM5Gj5YvdD5782WKorQZP5x6l5ftkVE_Qs50OU6p5-ud9youpd8xqb8AK3YTiNa3a3oxYi1H0if4RoOSJoGLS-592dv66HE9SbZHBSfNqPJHQ.c41Qrm2oBeIXLOYMRgtnkhWHI5wb_IY5G1PdIk4U_2I&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Language+of+God&qid=1743112738&s=books&sprefix=the+language+of+god%2Cstripbooks%2C174&sr=1-1
BA: The famous vertebrate paleontologist Philip Gingerich once irritably remarked that “gaps of evidence are gaps of evidence and not evidence of gaps.”
GW: Sounds like nonsense to me! Please explain how that applies to evolution.
BA—He was irritated at the huge gaps in the fossil record, that is, the lack of fossils of “transitional” creatures. In other words, he wanted to believe there weren’t yet enough extant fossils to fill in the gaps, and like, Darwin, there eventually would be.
Problem is, that hasn’t happened despite the plethora of extant fossils.
Yep, that is nonsense, just as I expected. All organisms are transitional! When we die, we will become transitional fossils, if we are not cremated.
Last time I explained why not all fossils of all organisms are found.
“The extreme rarity of fossil transitional forms between the various fossil types of plants, and the various types of animals, is a vexing problem for Darwinian thought “—Of Pandas and People, the Central Question of Biological Origins, 2nd edition, p. 96
It might have been a “vexing problem” in 1993 (32 years ago) when that book was written, but it is not vexing or a problem any longer. See my last post.
Also, that book is a intelligent design propaganda book, which was rejected by most biologists and biology teachers, when it was first published.
Why do you wish to continue to debate evolution? It is a fact. Get over it and move on. Start by reading “The Language of God” by Christian and scientist Francis Collins. It will open your eyes.
Paleontologists and scientists in general need to embrace the fossil record and accept the fossil record for what it is saying today. But doing so raises a conundrum for the evolutionist: the higher the fidelity of the record (of fossil species richness) is, the less evolutionists can appeal to the incompleteness of the fossil record to explain away the morphological gaps between fossil taxa.
If the fossil record is so good, why have these gaps not been filled after 165 years more of collecting fossils, if evolution is true? The lack of intermediates, the gaps, are not only real and universal, but they are even more glaring after so many years of digging up fossils.
Michael Denton documents that 100,000 taxon-defining novelties are “not led up to gradually from some antecedent form, and which remain invariant after their actualization for vast periods of time.”—Evolution: A Theory Still In Crisis, 2016
The glaring, universal gaps in the fossil record should easily be enough to reject evolution
BA: Paleontologists and scientists in general need to embrace the fossil record and accept the fossil record for what it is saying today.
GW: The record doesn’t say anything. Scientists interpret data.
BA: But doing so raises a conundrum for the evolutionist: the higher the fidelity of the record (of fossil species richness) is, the less evolutionists can appeal to the incompleteness of the fossil record to explain away the morphological gaps between fossil taxa.
GW: Scientists interpret the data as they get it and see it. You religious people and creationists complain about the incompleteness of the fossil record. I don’t. It is what it is.
BA: If the fossil record is so good, why have these gaps not been filled after 165 years more of collecting fossils, if evolution is true?
GW: Evolution has always been true. As more and more fossils are found, they are seen to support evolution. Where’s the problem?
BA: The lack of intermediates, the gaps, are not only real and universal, but they are even more glaring after so many years of digging up fossils.
GW: The fossil record and other kinds of data support evolution and not creationism. Evolution is a fact. All species are all intermediate species except for the very first one on Earth. Get over it. Read Collins’ book; it will help you understand and help you update your worldview.
BA: Michael Denton documents that 100,000 taxon-defining novelties are “not led up to gradually from some antecedent form, and which remain invariant after their actualization for vast periods of time.”—Evolution: A Theory Still In Crisis, 2016
GW: Denton is a creationist or intelligent design advocate. Most biologists do not take him seriously. He believes in God of all things! Can you believe that a scientist in the 21st century believes in God?
BA: The glaring, universal gaps in the fossil record should easily be enough to reject evolution.
GW: You are not going to find fossils of every species that ever existed! Get real!
The more fossils discovered as time goes by, the worse it gets for evolutionists trying to support Darwinism.
Michael Denton is agnostic about many religious claims, but finds the innumerable inferences of intelligent design in the natural world impossible to deny.
The more fossils discovered as time goes by, the better it gets for evolutionists.
Denton is an intelligent design advocate. He is outside the consensus of biologists. His conclusions are not based in Reason.
God does not exist. We now know this. It has been proven. I have many proofs of this. I presented two to you, and you found no errors in them. I am happy to discuss them with you again.