Why do we only find fossils?

Ok, I got one for all you creationists out there.If all the fossils we find are only 6,000 years old, then how come we always find them as fossils?That is to say, we never find any non-fossilized dinosaur bones, trilobite shells, pakicitus skeletons. If these fossil creatures once lived along side our modern animals, how come all these ancient remains are always found as fossils. What are the chances that none NONE of their skeletons actually survived over the years?Some extra data to think about:Bones don't last for ever. They will break down in about 12 years when exposed to moist, humid, environments. However certain conditions will see the bones last much longer.Deserts, for example, will likely yeild bones many thousands of years old. Places like the labrea tarpits caught dozens of ancient mamals and perserved the bones (NOTE: It didn't catch any dinosaurs oddly, wonder why?).So it is concivable that 6000 year old bones would survive, at least in some environments. So how come all we see are fossils?This message has been edited by Yaro, 11-09-2005 08:06 PM

Bio Evo.

*poot*

Actually, I got a good point to back me up here:La Brea Tar Pits - WikipediaThe La Brea Tar Pits have the following animals represented in them in great quantity:

quote:

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Mammals

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* American Camel (Camelops hesterus)
* American Lion (Panthera atrox)
* American Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
* Bobcat
* Capromeryx minor
* Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
* Cougar
* Coyote
* Dire Wolf (Canis dirus)
* Giant Bison (Bison antiquus)
* Harlan's Ground Sloth (Glossiotherium harlani)
* Jaguar
* Llama
* Peccary
* Raccoon
* Saber-Toothed Cat (Smilodon fatalis)
* Scimitar Cat (Homotherium serum)
* Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis)
* Skunk
* Tapir
* Weasel
* Western Horse (Equus occidentalis)

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Birds

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* California Condor
* Eagle
* Falcon
* Teratorn
* Turkey
* Vulture

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Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish

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* Arroyo Chub
* Garter Snake
* Gopher Snake
* Kingsnake
* Pond Turtle
* Rainbow Trout
* Rattlesnake
* Salamander
* Three-Spined Stickleback
* Tree Frog
* Toad

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Invertabrates

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* Fly
* Dung Beetle
* Grasshopper
* Pill Bug
* Scorpion
* Termite
* Water Flea

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Plants

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* California Juniper
* Coast Live Oak
* Poison Oak
* Ragweed
* Raspberry
* Red Cedar
* Redwood tree
* Sagebrush
* Sycamore
* Thistle
* Walnut tree

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The tarpits only apeard after the last ice age, so they are rather recent geologicaly. Notice, NOT ONE SINGLE pre-ice age species was trapped in the pit.If dinos lived along side all these other animals, how come not a single specimen is represented in the Tar Pits?

Hey randman,Ya, it could be a few years given the right conditions. As I understand it, some bits (like the soft-tissue in T-Rex) aren't like pure protein. I mean, its not like you cracked the bone and there is the marrow.Think of it as like supper old jerkey or something Where the proteins have they themselves become different, yet organic, compounds. Kind of like the process of mummification, or turning something into leather. There are profound changes going on to the structure of the material.In any case, I think the Tar Pits, as mentioned above, is a better example of my point. Here we have a structure around since only the last ice age, which contains only creatures we find AFTER the ice age, yet no creatures before it!How come?

Ok, compare the list to La Brea's homepage:http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/flora/index.htmlLooks pretty much the same to me. How come we don't have any remains of dinos?

PS. Who is that in your newest avatar?B-Ko, from the Project A-Ko cartoons

Ya, in the case of the dino teeth like yours, all I could say is that enamel may be capable of surviving long periods of time. I would imagine that certain bits of creature minneralize better than others.I'll dredge up some info on it, thoug I'm into this labrea kick now

Ok.So how come no dions or pre-ice age fauna are in the tarpit?Do you expect us to belive that a structure that captured such a large segment of the eras biota somehow failed to capture any samples of dionosaurs?Dino fossils are found all over the west. So whats up with La Brea?This message has been edited by Yaro, 11-09-2005 08:50 PM

http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/flora/biodiv.html So, why is an entire ancient ecosystem preserved yet shows no representation of a huge group of animals that supposedly co-existed with them?No dinos, no ancient bugs, no prehistoric plants. NOTHING.Only post ice age creatures.

http://www.sjgs.com/tarpits_geol.html So we are taling real bone material here! Pretty awsome Still no dinosaurs.

Good info. randman, but it's not the same thing as what we see in La Brea. While fosilized bones may still contain traces of their past, the La Brea bones are pretty much fully preserved.In any case, we don't find any dinos in the tar pit, nor have we ever found a dino bone that hasn't been substantualy mineralized.The point is, if dinos lived only 6000 years ago we should have at least some skeletal specimins of the quality found in La Brea, if not skeletons in the tar pit as well.This message has been edited by Yaro, 11-09-2005 10:10 PM

The fossilization at La Brea did not work as descrbed a this website. I belive the site is asuming some sort of permineralization which is not the case with the tarpit. From the labrea home page the process is described like this:
http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/geology/fossil.html from another section: http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/geology/fcondit.html Acording to the site an animal may have been exposed for a matter of weaks or years before finaly being coevered over. Indeed that seems consistent with the data in the OP concerning bone decay.Bone, in even moist/humid climate, may take as many as a dozen years to decompose 100%. So rapid buirial doesn't have to be so... rapid... This message has been edited by Yaro, 11-09-2005 10:21 PM

A very good point!It seems to me La Brea is air tight evidence against the YEC possition. Any way you slice it, it's contents are anomalus by YEC standards.

Ah! But you see, there is the rub. Dinosaurs were litteraly everywhere! And california and the rest of the southwest contain huge fossil beds of dinos. There is no reason to assume that such a group as diverse and large as dinosaurs would not be represented by at least one member.It would be like having a tarpit today, yet it has failed to capture any member of the rodent family. And dinos, as a whole, were more plentifull than rodents. They were everywhere! Yet somehow, every extant species, somehow avoided to get stuck in the tar?Heck, what about pre-ice age insects, reptiles, mammals, and other crits we know about. How come they aren't represented? It seems like La Brea is a well defined time capsule which describes the ecosystem of an age long past, and that age is over 72,005 years ago.Strangely to YEC's, that ecosystem features no dinos, or other fauna which pre-exited the ice age. I agree. I just have not seen any dinos wandering around lately, though it would be really cool if we found a group of long lost dinos.I don't think it's an impossibility.