Why do we only find fossils?

Randman writes:The idea that even small amounts of blood say could survive that length of time does not appear to me to be plausible, but then again, I have never really heard or seen any peer-reviewed analysis by evos that explain the issue one way or the other.

randman writes:I do think there is evidence dinosaurs lived longer than people think and some have been around in modern times. Wasn't there that species found a few years back that scientists had said had been extinct for 65 million years?

RM writes:Wasn't there that species found a few years back that scientists had said had been extinct for 65 million years?

One of the most extraordinary aspects of the fossil deposits at Rancho La Brea is the preservation of not just a few fossils, but instead an entire prehistoric ecosystem. From the smallest plant fragments to the largest mammals, the fossilized remains of Rancho La Brea number well into the millions. The evidence is complete enough that scientists can reconstruct the environment that existed in Los Angeles 12-40,000 years ago.Fossils from Rancho La Brea can be organized into categories according to what they ate, how they produced food and how they relate to each other. These nutrient categories are "trophic levels" in a food pyramid or "links" in a food chain. There are producers (green plants that manufacture their own food through photosynthesis); herbivores (plant eaters); carnivores (meat eaters) and scavengers and decomposers that reduce and recycle organic remains at all trophic levels.

After death, the skin, muscles, fur, feathers, and other soft parts of trapped animals decayed, whereas the bones and teeth remained intact. The bone in particular soaked up asphalt into its pores, thereby aiding in its preservation. Later, sediment brought in during the rainy season by streams and lakes rapidly buried the asphalt to prevent further decay of the asphalt-saturated bones. Unlike most fossils, those from the tar pits are unchanged, original bone material.

It is commonly alleged that the animal victims of the La Brea pits wandered into the sticky area a few at a time. These creatures became fixed in the tar and were unable to extract themselves. This procedure was repeated countless times over the centuries until the current effect resulted.
But this theory does not account for the true facts. First of all, it is conceded by virtually every “fossil” expert that fossilization requires rapid burial. Ordinarily a dead animal is consumed by scavengers, or it decays into oblivion. In fact, the major book dealing with the La Brea fossils, published by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, states:“A prerequisite for the preservation of bones, shells, and plants is rapid burial. For this reason, most fossils are found in sediments that accumulated in water (the deposits of ancient rivers, lakes, or oceans) where rapid burial can occur. The Rancho La Brea fossils appear to have been preserved by a unique combination of rapid sedimentation and asphalt impregnation” (Harris,12; emp. WJ).
Note that concession - that the La Brea fossils “appear to have been preserved by a unique combination of rapid sedimentation and asphalt impregnation” (emp. WJ). That is much more consistent with a “Catastrophic” explanation, than it is with a “Uniformitarian” presumption.

But this common picture is misleading. A recent book, co-authored by a world expert on dinosaurs, points out some things about dinosaur bones that are of great interest to creationists.1For one thing, it says:”Bones do not have to be “turned into stone” to be fossils, and usually most of the original bone is still present in a dinosaur fossil.’2Ok, but even if the actual bone is not replaced by rock minerals, some fossil dinosaur bones are rock-hard, and show under the microscope when cut that they have been thoroughly ”permineralized.’ This means that rock minerals have been deposited into all the spaces within the original bone. Doesn’t this show that the formation of these fossils, at least, must represent a long time? Think again. The same authoritative work also tells us:”The amount of time that it takes for a bone to become completely permineralized is highly variable. If the groundwater is heavily laden with minerals in solution, the process can happen rapidly. Modern bones that fall into mineral springs can become permineralized within a matter of weeks.’So even a rock-solid, hard shiny fossil dinosaur bone, showing under the microscope that all available spaces have been totally filled with rock minerals, does not indicate that it necessarily took millions of years to form at all.