David A. Thomas

About the author: David A. Thomas is a professional sculptor who has produced detailed scientific replicas of dinosaurs and other ancient life forms for museums all over the world. An avid fossil enthusiast, he described his study of a Paluxy River trackway showing a theropod attack on a sauropod dinosaur in a feature article in the December 1997 Scientific American.

The argument by creationists that gaps in the fossil record invalidate the concept of evolution has little merit. For one thing, fossils are not plentiful since fossilization is dependent upon a complicated series of steps occurring in sequence. However, the relative shortage of fossils should not invalidate the merit and value of those fossils that we do find. The Morrison Formation in the western United States is one example of a fossil preserve that offers a...