Welcome TTBL,
A quick suggestion. You should provide a source(s) for you rebuttal information. I would do it this way:
Let's start with the 'vertical whale' [source of claim]. Despite the name... thus, the odd angle of the fossil.
[source(s) of rebuttal]
Provide a url link when possible. See
help with dBcodes for how to format links.
You referred to them as "some of the more famous talking points," however, I had not heard these particular claims before. It would be interesting to read more about them.
If you have more, keep 'em comin'
HBD
Whoever calls me ignorant shares my own opinion. Sorrowfully and tacitly I recognize my ignorance, when I consider how much I lack of what my mind in its craving for knowledge is sighing for... I console myself with the consideration that this belongs to our common nature. - Francesco Petrarca
"Nothing is easier than to persuade people who want to be persuaded and already believe." - another Petrarca gem.
Ignorance is a most formidable opponent rivaled only by arrogance; but when the two join forces, one is all but invincible.