Posted by Jurassosaurus [63.191.9.30 - sdn-ap-014caburbP0284.dialsprint.net] on 03 September 2002 at 23.42.37 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: Re: THIS JUST IN: EARTH FLAT DISC, PI 3.00, ALL SCIENCE WRONG! posted by Andy on 03 September 2002 at 14.20.04 ZuluTime:

BTW, as a onlooker to Palenteology, I have yet to see anything in palenteology to be PROVEN. I will admit that the evidence fits in most cases with a few exceptions, but proving something that happened a few million years ago is a bit difficult to do.

     Well, after getting such a rousing intro, I suppose I can't help but jump into this one. >:)

While I'm usually hesitant to use the term "prove" in any scientific field, I can say that we have many cases where the evidence has essentially sealed shut, any arguments to the contrary.

For instance, it is practically "proven" that pelycosaurs (Dimetrodon and its ilk) were the precursors to mammals, and that they were more closely related to us, than they were to any reptile.

The evolution of the horse, from Hyracotherium to Equus, is essentially proven as well.

The same can be said for whales, and probably birds.

Though there are still those that fight vehemently against it, and others still that suggest that birds came first, the descendency of class Aves, from (deserving) class Dinosauria, is all but proven. Hell, we even have a growing assortment of feathered dinosaurs.

We can also, essentially prove that dinosaurs walked upright, Quinkana held its neck up high, pterosaurs were capable ornithopters (flapping flyers), T.rex ate meat, sauropods had an air sac system, Icarosaurus was an extremely agile glider, ankylosaurs had bony eyelids, mosasaurs were viviparous, and a 6 mile wide asteroid slammed into the Yucatan of Mexico roughly 65 mya.

Considering the scenario in which this subject was brought up, I figured that the evolution of one group into another was where your real qualm lied. Hopefully you can see that while paleontology does have "proof" for certain groups evolving into the extant forms that we all know and love, it also has "proofs" for many many other things.

Another prime example: does anyone really doubt that dinosaurs once lived on this planet?