Copyright ©  2008  Jerome Albert Cook

 

 

Mystery Solved!

 

Creationists’ Nile Mosaic “Dinosaur” Exposed

 

 

 

 

The famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina*, was found in the Roman city of Palestrina (ancient Praeneste); a very ancient city of Latium (modern Lazio); which lies 23 miles (37 km) just east of Rome. * (ancient Praeneste in central Italy, a town founded by c.800 B.C; Praeneste was later destroyed (and rebuilt) by the Romans in the 1st century B.C.)

The large mosaic is one of the earliest preserved from the Classical world, and it illustrates an exceptional set of Roman perspective snapshots of the landscapes, buildings and animals of the northern and eastern African continent.

 

Credited to Demetrius the Topographer, an artist from Alexandria, Egypt, the montage contains exceptionally meticulous and distinct depictions of known creatures, including Egyptian crocodiles, hippos, horses, peccary, bull, leopard, cow, snake, lion, monkey, gazelle, ibis, native inhabitants, buildings and boats.

(Finley, The Light of the Past, 1965, p. 93.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tiled representations also contain, however, a creature that which is not, at once, known to us. The creature in question can be seen in the top half of the mosaic, above an Egyptian temple structure, just above the three human figures holding shields.

This animal shown on the Nile mosaic of Palestrina has been interpreted as a dinosaur and cited in the literature of new earth creationists and intelligent design supporters, as evidence that humans and dinosaurs coexisted.

http://creationwiki.org/Dinosaur

 

 

 

The Greek wording set just to the left of the mosaic animal is: KrokodiLopardalis- “Crocodile-Leopard”

 

(The illustration is touted, in some Creationism publications, as a proof of the co-existence of modern humans and dinosaurs. Young Earth Creationists interpret the creation account of Genesis as historically, factually correct. The defining characteristic of this belief is that the Earth is "young", on the order of only 6,000 to 10,000 years old (rather than the age of 4.5 billion years estimated by a variety of scientific methods including radiometric dating) which would mean that man and dinosaurs lived at the same time.

 

Though the animal image could, be construed to have a saurian shape, it seems unconvincing, that it was intended to depict a gigantic reptilian; especially within the context of the tile’s historicity and schema.

 

This gorilla size creature was apparently known to the mosaic’s author, as an animal that existed in Africa, at that time.

What! then,…… Is a “Crocodile-Leopard” ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first impression it appears to be a portrayal of one of an extinct Giant Ground Sloth: Megatherium or Eremotherium. However, these sloths only existed in South America, Hispaniola, Cuba and Florida and they died out 11,000 years ago, immediately after the North American post-glacial human migration and probable predation. So, the Sloth were an ocean away and a millennium or so off.

 

 

 

 

 

Incredibly, there is another mysterious, unique creature, just as strange as the Sloth, which lived in eastern Africa that was the focus of Roman explorations at the turn of the 1^st millennium. This giant creature possessed features were highly similar in basic appearance to the Giant Sloth.

Non-homologous similarities, of this kind, are examples of homoplasy ( parallelism or convergent evolution) and occurs when animals from separate species evolve independently much the same way in response to environmental conditions.

 

 

The animal is called the Giant Lemur (Megaladapis), and was also known as the “Lost Lemur”

 

Megaladapis, a relatively recently extinct mammal, is the ideal candidate for the “Crocodile-Leopard”; It was still living around the time of European re-discovery of Madagascar in 1504 AD. around time to have been witnessed by Romans and made a part of the Nile mosaic.

 

 

Natural History Museum, London

 

 

 

Megaladapis is the genus of three extinct species of primates that once inhabited the island of Madagascar. Fossils of Giant Lemur Megaladapis are common in sub-fossil sites along the western shore of Madagascar facing Africa.

The world’s fourth largest island, Madagascar lies east of Africa, located in the Indian Ocean. One of the planet’s richest hotspots of biodiversity, it is home to five percent of the world's plant and animal species, 80 percent of which are endemic to Madagascar. Some biogeographers refer to the island as the "eighth continent", in recognition of its uniqueness and diversity.

Megaladapis was far different from any lemur. Its huge almost 200 pound oddly proportioned body was about the size of a female gorilla was squat and built like that of the modern koala. Its extraordinarily long forelimbs and huge feet, and fingers were specialized for grasping trees, while its legs were splayed for vertical climbing, but they could also descend to the ground where they moved quadrupedally.

     

Its head was unlike any other primate. It had a highly elongate skull, more like a crocodile than any primate. Megaladapis had long canine teeth and an extremely robust, cow-like muzzle, forming a tapering, mobile snout. Its jaw muscles were powerful for chewing through the tough native vegetation.

Like the leopard and the extant relative sportive lemur, Lepilemu, the Giant Lemur was nocturnal, furry, arboreal and had nearly a 90 degree angled limbs splayed for tree climbing. The elongated canines can be seen as analogous to those on both leopard and crocodiles. Many lemurs also were quite at home in the water.

Unfortunately, its tree-grasping attributes made Megaladapis vulnerable to changes to the forests of Madagascar. Upon human arrival 2,000 years ago, the forests of Madagascar were cleared to make farmland. Recent radiocarbon dates establish that this lemur was still living around the time of European discovery of Madagascar  Megaladapis, unable to adapt to these new environmental changes imposed by man and being a tempting target for hunters. They were apparently easy, meaty targets for early Madagascans, as were other large extinct species like the pygmy hippo and elephant birds. The other islands of the Madagascan region also suffered from waves of extinctions as a result of human arrival on the islands. Numerous bird species, including the famous Dodo of Mauritius, also became extinct after the arrival of human settlers. Most of the islands also had one or more species of giant tortoise before humans arrived; 19 of 20 giant tortoise species are presently extinct, and only the Aldabra Giant Tortoise still survives. Researchers (Nov. 2005) have identified definitive tool induced evidence of butchery on the extinct lemurs' bones. Megaladapis became extinct approximately 500 years ago, around the time of European discovery of Madagascar.

Another giant lemur candidate, the largest lemur that existed--is called Archaeoindri. It also was rather like a giant ground sloth. palaeopropithecids or "sloth lemurs": Mesopropithecus (three species), Babakotia (one species), Palaeopropithecus (three species), and Archaeoindris (one species). This mini-radiation of now extinct ("subfossil") lemurs is most closely related to the living indrids (Indri, Propithecus, and Avahi). Whereas the extant indrids are known for their leaping acrobatics, the palaeopropithecids (except perhaps for the poorly known giant Archaeoindris) exhibit numerous skeletal design features for antipronograde or suspensory positional behaviors (e.g., high intermembral indices and mobile joints)

The extinct lemurs Hadropithecus stenognathus, Pachylemur insignis, Mesopropithecus pithecoides, and Daubentonia robusta, and the elephant birds Aepyornis spp. and Mullerornis spp., were still present near the end of the First Millennium AD. Palaeopropithecus ingens, Megaladapis edwardsi, and Archaeolemur sp. (cf. edwardsi) may have survived until the middle of the Second Millennium. A.D.

Remaining extant Lemurs are only found in Madagascar and are considered extremely endangered due to the pressures of human encroachment and loss of habitat.

Indri Lemur

Patchwork multi-coloring facial and body hair is handy for nocturnal camouflage as it appears as indistinct and amorphous in shape

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lepilemur

The closest living relatives of the Giant genus Megaladapisare are the sportive lemurs (genus Lepilemur), and together these two genera make up the Lepilemuridae family. Superficially sportive lemurs appear very unlike Megaladapis. Sportive lemurs are solitary but defend their territory vehemently against intruders. They are mainly herbivores and their diet consists predominantly of leaves.                          

It was often believed that Malagasy legends of the tretretretre, an extinct animal, refer to Megaladapis, but the details of these tales, notably the "human-like" face of the animal, match a related lemur Palaeopropithecus much better.

       

Most giant lemurs belong to one of three families the Megaladapidae, Palaeopropithecidae (the "sloth" lemurs), and the Archaeolemuridae. All of the extinct giant lemurs are larger than any modern lemur and may have weighed 440 pounds.. Megaladapis was an orangutan-sized lemur with teeth very like those of the living sportive lemur (Lepilemur). Unlike the Lepilemur, however, Megaladapis had a long muzzle and widely separated eyes --very uncharacteristic of primates! Its feet were enormous pincer-like grasping devices. Its forelimbs were long and robust. The “Sloth” lemurs, so named because of its remarkable convergences with tree-dwelling sloth of South and Central America, had crania and teeth that suggest a close relationship with some living lemurs (indris, sifakas, and avahis). The largest of the sloth lemurs was the gorilla-sized Archaeoindris, which probably spent a large amount of time on the ground.

 

The most specialized was Palaeopropithecus, a chimpanzee-sized lemur with teeth like those of the sifaka, but bodies like those of arboreal sloths. he 33 known living species of lemur—from the Latin word for spirits of the dead—haunt only one enigmatic place: the mysterious island nation of Madagascar The island’s incredible diversity of life has evolved in creative isolation since Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent broke off from mainland Africa more than 120 million years ago. Palms, euphorbias, aloes, and more than 1,000 orchid species enrich the dwindling forests of this Texas-sized island. Six of the world’s seven species of baobab tree spread their roots only here. Half of the worlds Chameleons with their extraordinary ability to change color skin changes in response to temperature, light, and mood.; their extremely extensile tongue can be up to twice the length of a chameleon’s body. Also distinctive are the independently moveable eyes, which allow chameleons the ability to survey the world with nearly 360-degree vision. The fossil evidence suggests that there was an abundance of megafunga (animals weighing more than about 100 pounds) on the island until around 200 AD. extinct elephant bird giant tortoises and pygmy hippopotami,

Palaeopropithecus (Hapalemur griseus alaotrensis)Gentle lemur One of the rarest primates in the world - and the only one which lives in a swamp, the reedbeds around Lake Alaotra in Madagascar. Lake Alaotra, also Lac Alaotra, is Madagascar's largest lake.
 

Sloth lemurs ranged in body weights from 100 to 150 pounds, as compared to the largest living lemur, Indri indri, which weighs in at fewer than 15 to 17 pounds. Palaeopropithecus ingens and closely related P. maximus (weighing as much as 100-120 pounds) were two of the more unusual members of Madagascar's recently extinct mammal fauna. They are called "sloth lemurs" because their skeletons are massively convergent on those of living tree sloth. In addition to several other sloth-like specializations, the forearms were greatly elongated and the digits of both the hands and feet were long and strongly bowed -- indeed, so bowed that the animals would not have been capable of fine grasping movements. Scientists believe that Palaeopropithecus moved upside down, using its hands and feet as grappling hooks to inch along under branches as it searched for edible fruits and leaves. This behavior would presumably have made it an easy target for hunters, although there is no evidence that humans preyed on this (or any other) extinct lemur. It has long been known that Palaeopropithecus ingens died out very recently; new radiocarbon dates indicate that it may have still been living around AD 1500. Southwestern Madagascar is an area of great significance because it documents both the earliest arrival of humans to Madagascar (~2000

Extinct Sloth

giant ground sloth disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene period (about 10,000 years ago), Megatherium grew to the size of a modern elephant     Jefferson's ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii Not until 7000 years ago, for example, did Cuba lose its half dozen species of sloth    Eremotherium

Giant Lemur

 

 

The oldest radiocarbon-dated bones of extinct lemurs are about 12,000-26,000 years old. The most recent are only 1000-500 years old -- proof that giant lemurs survived human occupation of the island by at least 1,500 years

Fossil studies have concluded that the giant extinct lemurs of Madagascar were an extraordinarily diverse group. There was a giant aye-aye, a relative of the living aye-aye, but three to five times as heavy. Both living and extinct aye-ayes possess an elongated third digit and enormous rodent-like incisors — adaptations for extracting grubs and insect larvae from tunnels in dead wood. The robust extinct aye-aye is the only extinct lemur that clearly belongs to a non-extinct genus.

Megaladapis was an orangutan-sized lemur with teeth very like those of the living sportive lemur (Lepilemur). Unlike the Lepilemur, however, Megaladapis had a long muzzle and widely separated eyes --very uncharacteristic of primates! Its feet were enormous pincer-like grasping devices. Its forelimbs were long and robust. Paleontologists believe that it climbed trees like koalas and subsisted almost entirely on a diet of leaves.

The “Sloth” lemurs, so named because of its remarkable convergences with tree-dwelling sloth of South and Central America, had crania and teeth that suggest a close relationship with some living lemurs (indris, sifakas, and avahis). The largest of the sloth lemurs was the gorilla-sized Archaeoindris, which probably spent a large amount of time on the ground. The most specialized was Palaeopropithecus, a chimpanzee-sized lemur with teeth like those of the sifaka, but bodies like those of arboreal sloth. These upside-down animals had long forelimbs and short hind limbs, and enormous, hook-like hands and feet.

This giant lemur that existed--it's called Archaeoindri, which was rather like a giant ground sloth from the Americas, a now extinct species.