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Results of BDISTMDS and BARCLAY are may have revealed significant correlation patterns undetectable
Generally Similar and Confirm Baraminological in the complete dataset (Wood, 2005). Unexpectedly, several
BARCLAY results support and strengthen Brophy and Mullis’s
Conclusions for the Landfowl (Aves: Galliformes)
(in press) modified conclusion, based on hybridization results,
T.R. Brophy
Liberty University that there are only two landfowl holobaramins: 1) Spearman-
based BDC analysis of complete dataset shows less significant
Wood (2020a, b) recently introduced BARCLAY, a statistical negative correlation between the cracid (4/5) and phasianoid taxa
baraminology web application designed to revise and replace as well as more significant positive correlation between one of the
BDISTMDS (Wood 2008). Revisions included use of Jaccard cracids (Ortalis) and the phasianoids; 2) Spearman-based BDC
distances in addition to classical “baraminic distances,” analysis of two partial datasets reveal less significant negative
replacement of parametric Pearson correlations with the correlation between the numidids (4/4) and other phasianoids
nonparametric Spearman, and addition of medoid partitioning and, one of these analyses, also shows more significant positive
(PAM) and fuzzy analysis (FANNY) clustering techniques correlation between the numidids (4/4) and other phasianoids; 3)
(Kaufman and Rousseeuw 1990). A BDISTMDS analysis of the Spearman-based BDC analysis of two other partial datasets reveal
landfowl (Aves: Gallifomes) suggested the possibility of four greater significant positive correlation within the megapodes, in
holobaramins within this order (Brophy and Mullis in press). one case, and slightly greater significant negative correlation
Hybridization, however, connected three of these holobaramins between the megapodes and cracids in the other (Megapodius
and the authors ultimately concluded that the landfowl were vs. Aburria); 4) One of the cracids (Ortalis) in the two cluster
composed of only two holobaramins (Megapodiidae and PAM analysis of the complete dataset clustered weakly (i.e.
[Cracidae + Phasianoidea]). The present study reanalyzes these negative silhouette width) with the phasianoids; 5) None of the
same data using BARCLAY and compares them to the original PAM and FANNY results from relevant partial datasets support
results produced by BDISTMDS. In general, the two sets of the discontinuity of the numidids from other phasianoids. The
statistical results are remarkably similar and lead to the same results of this study highlight the general usefulness of the
types of conclusions regarding the baraminological status of the revisions made in BARCLAY and hint at its potential to confirm,
landfowl. Baraminic Distance Correlation (BDC) analyses using and even strengthen, previous baraminological conclusions.
Pearson and Spearman correlations (character relevance=0.95), of They also reinforce the continued value of hybridization data in
the original complete and partial datasets, generally give similar baraminological research and use of subsets of large data matrices
results. BDC analyses utilizing Spearman correlations tend to in future analyses. Additional comparisons of BARCLAY and
produce very similar patterns and quantities of significant positive BDISTMDS will undoubtedly need to be made to understand the
correlation within groups compared to their Pearson counterparts. full extent of BARCLAY’s value to future baraminologists.
Use of Spearman correlations also lead to similar patterns of
Brophy, T.R. and M. Mullis. In press. A baraminological analysis of the landfowl
significant negative correlation between groups compared to (Aves: Galliformes). Journal of Creation Theology and Science Series B: Life
Pearson, albeit in slightly lower amounts. The original 3D MDS Sciences.
results of the complete dataset revealed the possibility of four Cavanaugh, D.P., T.C. Wood, and K.P Wise. 2003. Fossil Equidae: a
monobaraminic, stratomorphic series. In: Ivey, R.L., ed. Proceedings of the
landfowl holobaramins whereas the corresponding BDC results
Fifth international Conference on Creationism. Creation Science Fellowship,
(Pearson correlation) suggested only two (Phasianoidea and Pittsburgh, pp. 143-153.
[Cracoidea + Anseriformes]). This discordance may have been Kaufman, L. and P.J. Rousseeuw. 1990. Finding Groups in Data: An Introduction
due to the fact that the geometry of taxic patterns can adversely to Cluster Analysis. John Wiley & Sons: New York.
Wood, T.C. 2005. A creationist review and preliminary analysis of the history,
influence baraminic distance correlation results (Cavanaugh et al. geology, climate, and biology of the Galápagos Islands. Core Issues in Creation
2003). Perhaps not surprisingly, then, PAM and FANNY results 1:1-241.
of the complete dataset are more similar to the original BDC than Wood, T.C. 2008. Baraminic distance, bootstrap, and BDISTMDS. Occasional
the 3D MDS results, with the two cluster arrangement having Papers of the BSG 12:1-17.
Wood, T.C. 2020a. BARCLAY software, v. 1.0. Core Academy of Science,
the highest average silhouette width of 0.52 in both cases. PAM Distributed online at coresci.org/barclay.
and FANNY results of the various partial datasets, on the other Wood, T.C. 2020b. Expanding the toolkit of statistical baraminology with
hand, tend to correspond better with both BDC and 3D MDS BARCLAY: baraminology and cluster analysis. Journal of Creation Theology
because removal of the taxa dominating correlation calculations and Science Series B: Life Sciences 10:7.

©2021 The authors. These abstracts are open access and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium as long as the original author and medium are credited.
Citation: Journal of Creation Theology and Science Series B: Life Sciences 11:1-7.
Interpreting Confusing Results in Pterosaur anhanguerians were. These surprising results occurred because
Baraminology Research the dataset was derived from a study designed to investigate
C. Clausen and M.A. McLain anhanguerian relationships (Holgado et al., 2019). Many
The Master’s University anhanguerian characters are found in the teeth and mandibles,
which explains why the toothless pteranodontians positively
Pterosaurs are a group of extinct flying reptiles found worldwide correlated with the toothless azhdarchoids. A particular focus on
in Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous rocks. Pterosauria has anhanguerians also explains the lack of characters distinguishing
over twenty families split into two major groups: the big-headed, pterosaurs from non-pterosaurs and the fact that Anhangueria is
short-tailed Pterodactyloidea, and the short-headed, long-tailed, the only pterosaur group with strong evidence of discontinuity.
paraphyletic “Rhamphorhynchoidea.” The pterodactyloids are A first glance at these BDC results would lead to incorrect
the most diverse group, including four major groups of families: assumptions about pterosaur baraminology because of spurious
Ctenochasmatoidea, Pteranodontoidea, Dsungaripteroidea, and correlations due to the dataset’s design. Anhangueria may be
Azhdarchoidea. Most pterosaurs possess teeth, but toothless a holobaramin, but further work on other datasets needs to be
families can be found among the Azhdarchoidea (Azhdarchidae, conducted. The MDS results in particular show clear clusters that
Tapejaridae, Thalassodromidae, and Chaoyangopteridae) and can be identified as evidence for continuity, and thus monobaramins
among the Pteranodontoidea (Pteranodontidae and Nyctosauridae). (e.g., Tapejaridae, Istiodactylidae, Dsungaripteridae). Some of
All azhdarchoids are toothless, whereas some pteranodontoids these monobaramins may turn out to be holobaramins in future
(Anhangueria, Istiodactylidae, and Boreopteridae) possessed teeth. analyses. Regardless, this study emphasizes the need for further
Because pterosaurs are very diverse, we suspect that there are work in pterosaur baraminology.
multiple created kinds in this group. To test this hypothesis, we
Holgado, B., R.V. Pêgas, J.I. Canudo, J. Fortuny, T. Rodgrigues, J. Company,
analyzed a pterosaur dataset (Zhou et al., 2019) using the software
and A.W.A Kellner. 2019. On a new crested pterodactyloid from the Early
BARCLAY (Wood, 2020) to conduct statistical baraminological Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula and the radiation of the clade Anhangueria.
analysis including baraminic distance correlation (BDC) and 3D Scientific Reports 9(1):4940.
multidimensional scaling (MDS). The character dataset contained Wood, T.C. 2008. Baraminic distance, bootstraps, and BDISTMDS. Occasional
Papers of the Baraminology Study Group 12:1-17.
151 characters (85 craniomandibular, 18 dental, and 47 postcranial)
Wood, T.C. 2020. BARCLAY. Software made available by Core Academy of
and 59 taxa (3 non-pterosaur outgroup, 6 non-pterodactyloid Science.
pterosaurs, and 50 pterodactyloids), and with a character relevance Zhou, X., R.V. Pêgas, M.E.C. Leal, and N. Bonde,. 2019. Nurhachius lieu, a
cutoff of 0.75, 45 taxa and 80 characters were retained for new istiodactylid pterosaur (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Early
Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province (China)
baraminological analysis. BDC results were bootstrapped using
and comments on the Istiodactylidae. PeerJ 7:e7688.
BARCLAY following Wood (2008).
The BDC results show three blocks of shared positive
correlation. The bottom left block consists of anhanguerian Understanding Stratomorphic Series
taxa, which show no correlation or negative correlation with all N.A. Doran1, P. Garner2, and M.A. McLain3
1Bryan College
other taxa in the BDC plot (except Hamipterus, which positively 2Biblical Creation Trust
correlates with some upper right block taxa). The other two 3The Master’s University
blocks show some instances of shared positive correlation,
although with low bootstrap values. The middle block contains One prediction of macroevolutionary theory is the existence
azhdarchoids, pteranodontians (Pteranodon + Nyctosauridae), and of stratomorphic series in the fossil record. Stratomorphic series
dsungaripterids. The upper right block contains the outgroup taxa, consist of morphologically intermediate species or higher groups
the non-pterodactyloids, Pterodactylus, and some pteranodontoids in stratigraphic succession (Wise 1995). The creation model
(including istiodactylids). predicts that stratomorphic series are rare in the fossil record (Wise
The MDS results show the anhanguerians clustering closely 1994), though more probable in post-Flood sediments. Cenozoic
together and far away from all other taxa in the analysis, with mammal series, such as the horse series (e.g., Cavanaugh et al.
Hamipterus as the closest anhanguerian to the other taxa. 2003), most likely reflect post-Flood intrabaraminic diversification.
Additionally, the anhanguerian cluster is on a different plane from But although stratomorphic series in Flood sediments should
the rest of the taxa. The remaining taxa form three groups of clusters, be rare there are no metrics to help us characterize the nature,
each with its own trajectory. One group contains the outgroup frequency, or interpretation of these series. Even rare patterns
taxa and the two non-monofenestratan pterosaurs. Another group offer creation model opportunities. Preliminary investigations of
contains the istiodactylids and their close relatives, Pterodactylus, Paleozoic invertebrates (e.g., trilobites) and Mesozoic terrestrial
and the wukongopterids. The final group contains Azhdarchoidea, faunas (e.g., Doran et al. 2018) raise questions about the frequency
Pteranodontia, and Dsungaripteridae. The azhdarchoids are and interpretation of these series. Here we apply complementary
split up into three clusters: Azhdarchidae + Chaoyangopterus, approaches to test these patterns.
Thalassodromidae + Shenzhoupterus, and Tapejaridae. One null hypothesis for the Flood is that the first-appearance
These results are perplexing when it comes to pteranodontoid relationships of morphospatial characteristics of marine and
relationships. The anhanguerians are discontinuous from the terrestrial faunas will be randomly distributed stratigraphically.
other pterosaur taxa, whereas, the pteranodontians clustered Two methods were employed to assess first-appearance patterns in
with Azhdarchoidea, and the istiodactylids with Pterodactylus relation to morphology. The first is stratigraphic-clade congruence
and the non-pterodactyloids. Additionally, the results indicated testing (e.g., Wise n.d.). This involves a statistical comparison of
non-pterosaur taxa were more similar to some pterosaurs than

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the branching order of cladograms with known First Appearance Pittsburgh, PA, pp.143-153.
Datums (FADs). Associations were analyzed with simple least- Doran, N.A., M.A. McLain, N. Young, and A. Sanderson. 2018. The Dinosauria:
baraminological and multivariate patterns. In: Whitmore, J.A., ed. Proceedings
squares regression for significance of slope (p-value), difference of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism. Creation Science
relative to variation (t-value), fraction of variation of dependent Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp.404-457.
variable (R2), and residuals. Spearman’s Rank Correlation (SRC) Madiza, D., C.A. Boyd, and M. Mazuch. 2017. A basal ornithopod dinosaur from
was used to compare the order of first appearances in the fossil the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic. Journal of Systematic Paleontology.
doi: 10.1080/14772019.2017.1371258.
record with the branching order in the cladograms for all the fossil McClennen M., J. Jenkins, M. Uhen. 2017. Paleobiology Database. Occurrence
series. dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/jfqhiu accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-06-05
A second approach compared group morphospatial differences Wise, K.P. 1994. Australopithecus ramidus and the fossil record. Creation Ex
against FADs. Cluster analysis by medoid partitioning (Wood Nihilo Technical Journal 8(2):160-165.
Wise, K.P. 1995. Towards a creationist understanding of transitional forms.
2020) was applied to character-taxon datasets for potentially Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 9(2):216-222.
stratomorphic groups. As an example, basal Ornithopoda (Madiza Wise, K.P. n.d. First appearances of higher taxa: a preliminary study of order in the
et al. 2017) were divided into two sets: (1) a 0.50 character fossil record. Unpublished study.
relevance set containing 34 characters and 70 taxa, and (2) a 0.70 Wood, T.C. 2020. Expanding the toolkit of statistical baraminology with
BARCLAY: baraminology and cluster analysis. Journal of Creation Theology
taxon relevance set with 135 characters and 18 taxa and grouped and Sciences Series B: Life Sciences 10:7.
by medoids. Groups were examined with principal component
analysis (PCA), classical multidimensional scaling (3D cMDS),
non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS, with both Euclidean
The Ornithomimosauria Holobaramin in
and Bray-Curtis metrics), and detrended correspondence analysis Stratigraphic Perspective
(DCA). Members of potential stratomorphic series revealed N.A. Doran1 and M.A. McLain2
1Bryan College
by multivariate analyses were regressed against their FAD. For 2The Master’s University
this initial report, Axis 1 of cMDS was employed to represent
morphological rank. FAD values were obtained from the Ornithomimosauria is a taxonomic group of “bird mimic”
Paleobiology Database (McClennen et al. 2021) and used as a theropods that range through much of the Cretaceous and
relative chronometer of stratigraphic appearance. represent late-Flood burial. As a sister clade to the maniraptorans,
The fit of cladogram branching order (e.g., trilobites and understanding the Ornithomimosauria is one step toward clarifying
saurischian dinosaurs), and multivariate approximations of complex baraminic relationships within the non-avialan dinosaurs,
morphology against FAD yielded a range of results. Clade- non-avialan avians, and avians. Ornithomimosauria traditionally
congruence results revealed significant slopes but often had contains two families: Deinocheiridae and Ornithomimidae.
poor fits to slopes. Additionally, of the eight stratomorphic series Doran et al. (2018) and McLain et al. (2018) identified the
identified by PCA in Doran et al (2018), results ranged from poor to Ornithomimosauria as a holobaramin and a stratomorphic series.
strong (e.g., one of two ornithopod series: p-value 0.0267, t-value This study evaluates the morphospatial relationships within the
4.063, R2 0.79). At least one stratomorphic series appears to be Ornithomimosauria in order to test both its potential holobaraminic
included within the maniraptorans, thyreophorans, hadrosaurs, status and apparent stratomorphic series.
ankylosaurids, and ornithopods (with additional work ongoing). In order to better understand morphospatial continuity and
Although this is only an initial report, we encourage follow- discontinuity in relation to the Ornithomimosauria, a character
up studies in other groups. These stratomorphic series might be set (Chinzorig et al. 2018) containing 567 characters and 37 taxa
explained in the creation model in at least three ways: was analyzed. Two sets of analyses included: (1) a 0.65 character
(1) As combinatorial artifacts of large, randomly-distributed relevance cutoff (retaining 292 characters and all taxa) and (2)
populations. A small percentage of ordered series is a low- a 0.50 taxonomic relevance cutoff (retaining all 567 characters
probability expectation within a large number of randomly-sorted and all 37 taxa). Resulting datasets were divided into groups
series. A small degree of order is a potential null expectation within by cluster analysis on medoid partitions (Wood, 2020) with
large-scale chaotic systems. group assignments examined by principal component analysis
(2) As underlying paleogeographic or biogeographic realities. (PCA), classic multidimensional scaling (3D cMDS), non-metric
For example, burial of communities along an environmental axis multidimensional scaling (NMDS, with both Euclidean and
secondarily records the morphology of inhabitants existing along Bray-Curtis metrics), and detrended correspondence analysis
that gradient. Populations buried along transects in the direction (DCA). Members within morphospatially-identified groups were
of pre-Flood clinal variation will reflect stratomorphic variation. binned to stage-level first appearances to elucidate multivariate
(3) By reconsidering the location of the Flood/post-Flood and stratigraphic relationships. A numerical summary for
boundary. The ubiquitous presence of stratomorphic mammal morphological representation was regressed against conventional
series in the Cenozoic reflect post-Flood temporal burial of first appearance datums (FAD) in order to test for stratomorphic
populations undergoing intrabaraminic diversification. As in other series. FAD values were obtained from the Paleobiology Database
boundary debates, however, the latter consideration must not take (McClennen et al. 2021) and used as a relative chronometer of
place in isolation but within holistic biological/geological contexts. appearance sequence.
Regardless, stratomorphic series may provide useful information Morphospatial separation between Ornithomimosauria and
in discussions on the Flood/post-Flood boundary. eumaniraptorans is consistently maintained, while there are
Cavanaugh, D.P., T.C. Wood, and K.P. Wise. 2003. Fossil Equidae: a close family-level associations between the Deinocheiridae
monobaraminic, stratomorphic series. In: Ivey, R.L., ed. Proceedings of the and Ornithomimidae within the Ornithomimosauria. The
Fifth International Conference on Creationism. Creation Science Fellowship,

JCTS B: Life Sciences www.coresci.org/jcts Volume 11:3

Ornithomimosauria show greater morphological distance lack of angiosperms below the Cretaceous is an “abominable
from Avialae than do the Deinonychosauria; but like the mystery” (Friedman 2009). Paleobotanists generally admit that
Deinonychosauria, ornithomimids have two distinct but closely- this problem is still a mystery, even though claims have been
related subgroups. made that this mystery is partially solved (Frohlich and Chase
These findings raise two issues. First, they confirm Doran 2007). Currently, fossil leaves, flowers, stems, and pollen yield
et al. (2018) and McLain et al (2018) on the holobaraminic no credible evidence for the existence of angiosperms below the
status of Ornithomimosauria but suggest that subgroups may Lower Cretaceous anywhere in the world (Herendeen B.S., Friis
be evident in some fossil holobaramins. The ornithomimosaurs, E.M., Pedersen K.R., and Crane P.R. 2017). For creationists the
like the Deinonychosauria, contain two well-defined subgroups. Grand Canyon is the focal point for the discovery of angiosperms
Intrabaraminic subgroups display a small degree of spatial below the Cretaceous in view of the fact that the highest geological
separation while, as paired groups, sharing the morphological era represented on the canyon’s north plateau is the Permian,
distinctness of a holobaramin. A second question tested within which is at or near the top of the Paleozoic and well below the
Doran et al. (2018) was the claim of stratomorphic series within Cretaceous, which forms the highest major strata of the Mesozoic.
several dinosaur lineages. Stratomorphic series are sequences of Creationist Clifford Burdick first raised the possibility of finding
morphologically intermediate species or higher taxa in stratigraphic angiosperm pollen in Grand Canyon sediments as low as the pre-
succession (Wise 1995). Stratomorphic series in Flood rocks are Cambrian with an article in CRSQ (Burdick 1966). His findings
not a prediction of the creation model and are rare in the fossil were rebutted by Loma Linda creationists Chadwick, Debord,
record (Wise 1994), but are expected in post-Flood sediments and Fisk (1973) after they processed Grand Canyon samples in
(e.g., Cavanaugh et al. 2003). Our study found a moderately strong their palynological lab. Their main argument was based on sample
stratomorphic series within Ornthiomimosauria (linear regression, contamination (Chadwick 1991). The CRS Quarterly continued
FAD vs. cMDS axis 1, p-value 0.057, R-squared 0.67). We the debate by publishing articles arguing against contamination
propose that stratomorphic series within Flood sediments warrant (Howe 1986, Lammerts and Howe 1987, and Howe et al. 1988).
additional study. Stratomorphic series within the Mesozoic The goal of this presentation is to settle the question of pollen in
may reflect unique taphonomic, environmental gradients (e.g., Grand Canyon geological strata by someone trained in palynology.
members within a cline), or other spatial realities unique to the The solution is simple and obvious when one understands the
groups in question. nature of both fossil and modern pollen. Pollen is easily carried
by ground water through very small cleavages in rocks, such as in
Cavanaugh, D.P., T.C. Wood, and K.P. Wise. 2003. Fossil Equidae: a
shale. The only Grand Canyon rocks where Burdick, Lammerts,
monobaraminic, stratomorphic series. In: Ivey, R.L., ed. Proceedings of the and Howe et al. found pollen are shales and shaly sandstone or
Fifth International Conference on Creationism. Creation Science Fellowship, shaly limestone—rocks that formed from water-laid sediments.
Pittsburgh, PA, pp.143-153. Most likely the pollen is not in situ and was not originally present
Chinzorig, T., Y. Kobayashi, K. Tsogtbaatar, P.J. Currie, R. Takasaki, T. Tanaka, M.
Iijima, and R. Barsbold. 2018. Ornithomimosaurs from the Nemegt Formation
in Grand Canyon rocks when the rocks were first formed, but has
of Mongolia: Manus morphological variation and diversity. Palaeogeography, seeped into the rocks from outside of the rocks through Colorado
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 494:91-100. River contamination. This process of contamination has been going
Doran, N.A., M.A. McLain, N. Young, and A. Sanderson. 2018. The Dinosauria: on since the early Pleistocene when Colorado River water-levels
baraminological and multivariate patterns. In: Whitmore, J.A., ed. Proceedings
of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism. Creation Science
have fluctuated dramatically. Creationists have reported that the
Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp.404-457. river was blocked thirteen times by lava-flow dams, raising water
McLain, M.A., M. Petrone, and M. Speights. 2018. Feathered dinosaurs levels up to hundreds of meters above the present level (Rugg and
reconsidered: new insights from baraminology and ethnotaxonomy. In: Austin 1998). By denying a pre-Cretaceous origin for angiosperms
Whitmore, J.A., ed. Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on
Creationism. Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp.472-515.
creationists will have another strong argument against Darwinian
McClennen M., J. Jenkins, M. Uhen. 2017. Paleobiology Database. Paleobiology evolution.
Database. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/jfqhiu accessed via
GBIF.org on 2021-05-15
Wise, K.P. 1994. Australopithecus ramidus and the fossil record. Creation Ex Burdick C.L. 1966. Microflora of the Grand Canyon. CRS Quarterly 3(1):38-50.
Nihilo Technical Journal 8(2):160-165. Chadwick A.L., Debord P., and Fisk L.H. 1973. Grand Canyon palynology—A
Wise, K.P. 1995. Towards a creationist understanding of transitional forms. reply. CRS Quarterly 9(4):238.
Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 9(2):216-222. Chadwick A.L. 1991. Precambrian pollen in the Grand Canyon—A reexamination.
Wood, T.C. 2020. Expanding the toolkit of statistical baraminology with Origins 8(1):7-12.
BARCLAY: baraminology and cluster analysis. Journal of Creation Theology Friedman, W.E. 2009. The meaning of Darwin’s ‘abominable mystery’. American
and Sciences Series B: Life Sciences 10:7. Journal of Botany 96(1):5-21.
Frohlich M.W., and Chase M.W. 2007. After a dozen years of progress, the origin
angiosperms is still a great mystery. Nature 450:1184-1187.
Howe G.F. 1986. Creation Research Society studies on PreCambrian pollen: Part
Angiosperms in Grand Canyon Strata? I—A review. CRS Quarterly 23(3):99-104.
W.H. Johns Howe G.F., Williams E.L., Matzko G.T., and Lammerts W.E. 1988. Creation
Loma Linda University (Retired) Research Society studies on PreCambrian pollen—Part III: A pollen analysis
of Hakatai Shale and other Grand Canyon rocks. CRS Quarterly 24(4):173-182.
Lammerts W.E., and Howe G.F. 1987. Creation Research Society studies on
Both evolutionists and creationists have a difficult time Precambrian pollen—Part II: Experts on laboratory pollen contamination of
explaining why there is an absence of clear-cut angiosperm laboratory slides. CRS Quarterly 23(3):151-153.
remains below Cretaceous rocks. In his famous letter to his friend Rugg S.H., and Austin S.A. 1998. Evidences for rapid formation and failure of
Joseph Hooker in July 1879 Charles Darwin admitted that the Pleistocene lava dams of the western Grand Canyon, AZ. Proceedings of the
International Conference on Creationism. 4:475-486.

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Which Came First, the Flipper or the Leg? Majiashanosaurus showed any link with the pachypleurosaurs.
Evaluating the Sauropterygian Fossil Record from The MDS results again had high stress (lowest at 7 dimensions).
Distinct pachypleurosaur and nothosauroid clusters are visible, but
a Creationist Perspective there are some nothosauroids that do not cluster with the rest and
C. LePore1 and M.A. McLain2
1Loma Linda University are scattered with the remaining sauropterygian taxa.
2The Master’s University We interpret these results to suggest discontinuity surrounding
Sauropterygia and between “basal” sauropterygians and the
Sauropterygians were a group of marine reptiles that included pistosauroids. Analysis of the subset dataset reveals evidence
the plesiosaurs, non-plesiosaurian pistosauroids, nothosauroids, for continuity within Nothosauroidea and some evidence for
pachypleurosaurs (Eosauropterygia), and the placodonts discontinuity separating it from other sauropterygian taxa. Thus,
(Placodontia). While the plesiosaurs are abundant and diverse we tentatively suggest that Nothosauroidea may be a holobaramin.
in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks, a far greater degree of bauplan The evidence for continuity within Pachypleurosauria is strong,
diversity can be seen in Triassic sauropterygians (Li & Liu, 2020). but evidence for discontinuity is weaker than for Nothosauroidea,
Limb morphology has been used to support the view that so we currently consider it a monobaramin. This study suffers
sauropterygians descended from terrestrial reptiles that returned to from a lack of placodonts and other “basal” sauropterygian taxa.
the oceans. While plesiosaurs possessed paddle-like flippers, the This preliminary analysis confirms our prediction of discontinuity
limbs of non-plesiosaurian sauropterygians were comparatively between sauroptergyian groups. However, more research is needed
more leg-like in their morphology (Storrs, 1993). to determine the baraminic relationships between plesiosaurs and
We suspect that sauropterygians represent multiple created kinds “basal” pistosauroids.
of aquatic reptiles. Moreover, our view that the Flood produced
Li, Q., & Liu, J. 2020. An Early Triassic sauropterygian and associated fauna from
Mesozoic strata precludes the possibility that an actual transition
South China provide insights into Triassic ecosystem health. Communications
to marine forms was preserved in these rocks. In this abstract, we Biology, 3(1):63.
test the hypothesis of discontinuity between sauropterygian groups Storrs, G. W. (1993). Function and phylogeny in sauropterygian (Diapsida)
using statistical baraminology. evolution. American Journal of Science, 293(A), 63-90.
Wood, T.C. 2008. Baraminic distance, bootstraps, and BDISTMDS. Occasional
We used BARCLAY (Wood, 2020) to analyze a sauropterygian
Papers of the BSG 12:1-17.
character dataset (Li & Liu, 2020) with baraminic distance Wood, T.C. 2020. BARCLAY. Software made available by Core Academy of
correlation (BDC) with bootstrapping (Wood, 2008) and 3D Science.
multidimensional scaling (MDS). The dataset contained 36 taxa (3
non-sauropterygian outgroup taxa, Placodus, 6 pistosauroids [all Baraminology of Non-Pterodactyloid Pterosaurs
plesiosaurs are generalized as a single taxon, i.e. “Plesiosauria”], 7 Reveals Evidence of Multiple Created Kinds
pachypleurosaurs, 16 nothosauroids, and 3 other eosauropterygians) M.A. McLain
and 181 characters. After a character relevance cutoff of 0.75, all The Master’s University
taxa and 134 characters remained.
The BDC results show multiple blocks of positive correlation, Pterosaurs are obviously morphologically distinct from all
with the pistosauroid block (minus Cymatosaurus) sharing no other vertebrates (implying an apobaraminic status), and the
positive correlation with any other taxa in the analysis except group contains over a dozen families, which suggests there are
between Bobosaurus and two taxa. The remaining blocks have likely many pterosaur holobaramins. There are more families of
a chain of positive correlation, although the outgroup taxa are pterodactyloids than non-pterodactyloids, and most pterosaur
negatively correlated with the nothosauroids. character datasets are focused on pterodactyloids (McLain, 2013).
The MDS results had high stress (lowest at 6 dimensions). Nevertheless, among the non-pterodactyloids are various long-
The overall morphology in multidimensional space resembles a tailed pterosaur families and possibly the most unusual of all
right angle. At one extreme are the three outgroup taxa, whereas pterosaurs, the tiny, short-tailed, wide-skulled anurognathids.
at the other orthogonal extreme are the pistosauroid taxa (minus In order to determine baraminic relationships of non-
Cymatosaurus). At the corner of this right angle is a large grouping pterodactyloid pterosaurs, I analyzed a newly published dataset
of the remaining taxa. Within this grouping, however, are two (Wei et al., 2021) with statistical baraminological methods
tighter clusters separated by some space: pachypleurosaurs employed through BARCLAY (Wood, 2020). Both baraminic
and nothosauroids. Difficult to classify eosauropterygians are distance correlation (BDC) and 3D multidimensional scaling
scattered in the middle between the two clusters, closest to the (MDS) were used, and the BDC results were submitted to
pachypleurosaurs. bootstrapping following Wood (2008). The Wei et al. (2021)
Observation of the MDS clustering prompted us to reanalyze dataset included 56 taxa (6 non-pterosaur outgroup taxa, 4
the dataset without the outgroup taxa or pistosauroids (minus pterodactyloids, and 46 non-pterodactyloids (including 7
Cymatosaurus) in an effort to untangle the relationships between wukongopterids and allies, 8 anurognathids, 16 rhamphorhynchids,
the remaining sauropterygians. The subset BDC graph revealed 2 species of Campylognathoides, 2 dimorphodontids, and 11 non-
two major blocks of positive correlation. One block, the dimorphodontid Triassic pterosaurs)) and 378 characters (210
nothosauroids, shared negative correlation or had no correlation craniodental and 168 postcranial). After a character relevance
with the other taxa (except with Majiashanosaurus). The other cutoff of 0.75 and a taxic relevance cutoff of 0.39 (in order to
block contained the pachypleurosaurs. Placodus and Simosaurus preserve at least 1/3 of the characters), 149 characters and 31 taxa
shared no positive correlation with any other taxa. The remaining were retained (3 outgroup, 4 pterodactyloids, 3 wukongopterids,
taxa shared some positive correlation with each other, but only 4 anurognathids, 8 rhamphorhynchids, both species of

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Campylognathoides, Dimorphodon, and 6 Triassic pterosaurs). and Eve (herein GAE), in which he proposed the following model
The BDC results showed three outgroup taxa (Scleromochlus, (Swamidass 2019):
a dinosaur, and a tanystropheid) sharing positive correlation with 1) Homo sapiens evolved from ape-like ancestors over a
many non-pterodactyloid taxa. As this is nonsensical and an artifact multimillion-year period of time.
of the fact that there were no characters included to distinguish 2) Adam and Eve could be separate, miraculously created H.
non-pterosaurs from pterosaurs, I decided to remove those taxa sapiens that are placed in the Garden of Eden ca. 6,000-10,000
and run the analysis again. The resulting BDC plot had three years ago.
main blocks of positive correlation with few examples of shared 3) Following their Fall and exile, Adam and Eve’s progeny
positive correlation between them. The largest block contains would interbreed with members of the pre-existing H. sapiens
all of the non-monofenestratan pterosaurs, the middle block has population, or what Swamidass calls “people outside the garden”
anurognathids, and the upper block contains wukongoperids and (herein POTG).
pterodactyloids. The main taxon uniting the big block with the 4) In so doing, Adam and Eve would eventually become the
other blocks is Fenghuangopterus. The MDS results show three genealogical ancestors of all humans by the time of Jesus’ ministry,
obvious clusters (representing the same three groups as in the thus enabling all people from then on to be “in Adam” and able to
BDC) on different trajectories and separated by space. be saved by Jesus’ sacrificial atonement.
Given that there was good evidence for discontinuity surrounding GAE promises to disentangle the Genesis text from
Monofenestrata, I determined to analyze the non-monofenestratans apparent conflicts with evolutionary biology, genetics, and
separately to see if the presence of monofenestratan pterosaurs paleoanthropology. Unlike most Christian propositions for
was masking non-monofenestratan relationships. The resulting embracing human evolution (e.g., Enns 2012), GAE attempts to
BDC graph shows two major blocks of positive correlation preserve a miraculously created Adam and Eve.
separated by negative correlation or no correlation except between Reviews of GAE are spread along a wide spectrum from basic
Sordes and both species of Campylognathoides. The lower block agreement (Loke 2020, Hardin 2020) to substantial disagreement
consists of the Rhamphorhynchidae and is made up of two blocks (Carter and Sanford 2020, Madueme 2020). Ross (2020) evaluated
of positive correlation corresponding to the Scaphognathinae and the major scientific and theological claims made in GAE and
Rhamphorhynchinae united by Dorygnathus. The upper block found them unpersuasive. Specifically, he found that Swamidass
shows four blocks of positive correlation united by pairings established overly strict parameters for engaging his basic thesis,
with low bootstrap values: Austriadactlyus + Preondactylus, the vacillated between testability and unfalsifiability, selectively
two species of Campylognathoides, Eudimorphodontinae, and reported from relevant genealogical research, and could not sustain
Dimorphodon. The MDS results are difficult to interpret. The a biblical case for the existence of POTG. Swamidass (2020)
same clusters from the BDC graph are present, and there is space responded to these and other critiques in a rejoinder, pushing back
separating the two main clusters, but not as much as might be in particular on his critiques regarding GAE’s testability and the
predicted from the BDC graph. applicability of certain genealogical research.
Given these results, I conclude that non-monofenestratan Regarding testability and falsification, it is Swamidass’
pterosaurs and monofenestratans are separated by discontinuity. alternating description of the GAE as “neither a scientific claim,
There is good evidence for discontinuity surrounding nor is it a scientific conclusion” while also being “a well-specified
Anurognathidae and continuity within the group, suggesting it hypothesis that science can test with evidence” that results in
is a holobaramin. Relationships among the non-monofenestratan problems (Swamidass 2019, p. 29–30). From these and numerous
pterosaurs are more complicated with Rhamphorhynchidae other passages, Swamidass employs testability/falsifiability
as a possible holobaramin made of two monobaramins inconsistently, yet always to the benefit of GAE. In responding to
(Scaphognathinae and Rhamphorhynchinae). The remaining non- this charge, Swamidass (2020) vacillates again: he boldly states
monofenestratan pterosaurs may be a holobaramin, or they may “‘falsification’ was never a hallmark of science” and then asserts
consist of up to four separate holobaramins. Further work is needed that GAE has survived numerous attempts to falsify it. Swamidass’
to discern the relationships between these various pterosaur taxa. defense shows a misunderstanding of both Popper’s views and
modern understandings of the importance of falsification and
McLain, M.A. 2013. An alternative view of pterosaur relationships and its
implications for earth history. Geoscience Research Institute 2013 Conference
confirmation with respect to hypotheses.
on Origins Teaching and Research. The genealogical questions center on the research of Kelleher
Wei, X., Pêgas, R.V., Shen, C., Guo, Y., Ma, W., Sun, D., and Zhou, X. 2021. et al. (2016), which is the most recent and exhaustive attempt to
Sinomacrops bondei, a new anurognathid pterosaur from the Jurassic of China determine the timeframe of universal genealogical ancestry (the
and comments on the group. PeerJ 9:e11161.
Wood, T.C. 2008. Baraminic distance, bootstraps, and BDISTMDS. Occasional
point at which all living people share at least one genealogical
Papers of the Baraminology Study Group 12:1-17. ancestor). Their conclusions indicate that universal genealogical
Wood, T.C. 2020. BARCLAY. Software made available by Core Academy of ancestors of the current human population are located ~100,000
Science. years ago, though possibly less given occasional long-distance
travel. Their estimates fall far outside GAE’s proposed time for the
Methods and Methodology: Revisiting the creation of Adam and Eve. While Swamidass (2019) approvingly
Genealogical Adam and Eve Hypothesis cites Kelleher et al.’s discovery of a “traveling wave” function for
M.R. Ross the spread of genealogical ancestors, he dismisses their conclusions
Cornerstone Educational Supply and later characterizes the study as “a counterfactual world”
(Swamidass 2020; emphasis in original). Indeed, Swamidass never
In 2019, Joshua Swamidass published The Genealogical Adam engages with the paper’s methods and, importantly, he mistakes

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the ability of people to travel long distances with the tendency of a different subfamily.
people to settle and procreate in close proximity to their family (2) determining branching pattern. In principle, the DNA
and culture. similarity trees of a baramin should preserve the pattern of that
Thus in both his philosophy of science and his presentation of baramin’s diversification. In bovids, this seems to be confirmed
key genealogical research, Swamidass disallows fair evaluation of by strong congruence between the bovid mtDNA tree and modern
his arguments (Ross 2020) and waves off contrary findings. To intra-Bovidae classification. This suggests similarity trees from
avoid the same charge, I submit that the challenges of Kelleher et DNA and morphology can be used in concert to reconstruct the
al. apply both to GAE (which seeks a universal ancestor in Adam) branching pattern of a baramin’s diversification.
and to YEC (which seeks universal ancestors in the post-Flood (3) measuring branching rates. Jeanson (e.g., 2017)
period). While earlier works (e.g., Rohde et al. 2004) allowed for interpreted a roughly linear correlation between branching order
universal genealogical ancestors within a timeframe acceptable on a mtDNA similarity tree and overall mtDNA similarity as
to both Swamidass and YECs, the critiques of these studies by linear intra-baraminic speciation. However, mtDNA similarity in
Kelleher et al. have not been adequately addressed by either bovids also correlates with first appearance of fossils (measured
Swamidass or YEC researchers. in radiometric years). An exponential post-Flood decline in
radiometric decay rates would suggest bovid branching rates also
Carter, R., and J. Sanford. 2020. A ‘genealogical’ Adam and Eve?. Creation.
com. https://creation.com/review-swamidass-the-genealogical-adam-and-eve
declined exponentially after the Flood. Evidence of this sort may
(accessed 6/8/2021). evidence some sort of causal link between radiometric decay and
Enns, P. 2012. Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Does Not Say about mutation rate.
Human Origins. Brazos Press, Ada, MI. (4) measuring rates of morphological change. Since only
Hardin, J., 2020. Genealogy, genetics, and the power of words. Biologos. https://
biologos.org/series/book-review-the-genealogical-adam-and-eve/articles/
nDNA (and not mtDNA) contributes to organismal morphology,
genealogy-genetics-and-the-power-of-words (accessed 6/8/2021) mtDNA may provide an independent measure of rates of
Kelleher, J., A.M. Etheridge, A. Véber, and N.H. Barton. 2016. Spread of pedigree morphological change. On the bovid mtDNA similarity tree,
versus genetic ancestry in spatially distributed populations. Theoretical branching rate is roughly constant, but the branches represent
Population Biology, 108:1-12.
Loke, A. 2020. Is Adam God’s First Image-Bearer? Sapientia. https://henrycenter.
progressively lower taxonomic levels (first subfamilies, then
tiu.edu/2020/08/is-adam-gods-first-image-bearer/ (accessed 6/8/2021) tribes, then genera, then species) as one ascends the tree. Since
Madueme, H. 2020. Evolution and historical Adam? A provocative but morphological differences between higher taxa are generally
unconvincing attempt. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition. greater, this suggests the rate of morphological change decreased
org/reviews/genealogical-adam-eve-swamidass/ (accessed 6/8/2021)
Rohde, D.L.T., S. Olseon, and J.T. Chang. 2004. Modelling the recent common
through time following the Flood.
ancestry of all living humans. Nature 431:562-566 (5) identifying intrabaraminic convergences. Whatever the
Ross, M.R. 2020. Hedges Around His Garden. Sapientia. https://henrycenter.tiu. mechanism(s) of intrabaraminic diversification, evidence suggests
edu/2020/08/hedges-around-his-garden/ (accessed 6/8/2021). it commonly involves ‘turning on’ and ‘turning off’ genetic
Swamidass, J. 2019. The Genealogical Adam and Eve. InterVarsity Press, Downers
Grove, IL.
information. This, in turn, suggests that whereas evolutionary
Swamidass, S. J. 2020. The Genealogical Adam and Eve: A Rejoinder. Sapientia. theory would expect convergence to be very rare, creation theory
https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/2020/08/the-genealogical-adam-and-eve-a- would expect intrabaraminic convergence to be very common.
rejoinder/ (Accessed 6/8/2021). Convergence is, by definition, very difficult to identify from
morphology-based similarity trees alone. However, convergence
Towards the Inclusion of Genetic Data in is readily identified by taxa grouped together in a morphology-
Baraminology: A Case Study with the Bovids based similarity tree that are separated onto different branches of
K.P. Wise a DNA tree. In the case of the bovids, for example, Ropiquet and
Truett McConnell University Hassanin (2005) used one nuclear and three mitochondrial genes
to argue that the morphological similarities that grouped the three
Baraminological conclusions have been drawn from the near- modern Hemitragus species in the same genus were convergent.
exclusive use of DNA sequencing data (e.g., Jeanson 2017)—both (6) understanding domestication events. The bovid mtDNA
DNA sequencing data from the nuclear DNA (nDNA), and DNA tree nests each domesticated bovid taxon within its presumed
from mitochrondria (mtDNA). Notably, of the two DNA sources, wild ancestor. The bovid fossil record has the genera of all
finer baraminological precision is possible with mtDNA because of wild ancestors first appearing well after the Flood (Miocene and
(a) generally higher rates of change, (b) near-exclusive inheritance Pliocene) and before the appearance of fossil humans—i.e., before
only through the female, and (c) a smaller mtDNA genome size Babel. The combined genetic and paleontological data suggest
(allowing whole mtDNA genome comparisons not possible with humans domesticated bovids (including sheep and cattle) from
nDNA). Using the Bovidae as an example, this paper offers a few among morphologies that arose after the Flood. Curiously, this
suggestions on how to utilize DNA data in baraminology. suggests that the sacrificial sheep and cattle of the Patriarchs and
(1) identifying ark morphologies. ‘Clean’ animal baramins Israel were not descendant from domestic sheep or cattle that may
were represented on the ark by multiple females. Each female or may not have been on the ark.
should show up as a distinct set of mtDNA nucleotides traceable Overall, there are numerous ways in which genetic data can, and
to the base of a baramin’s mtDNA similarity tree. The number, should, be used in baraminological studies.
distinctiveness, and morphological identity of these blocks will
indicate the number of ark females, the distinctiveness of their pre- Jeanson, NT. 2017. Replacing Darwin. Master Books.
Ropiquet, Anne, and Alexandre Hassanin, 2005, Molecular evidence for the
Flood lineage, and their likely morphological identity. In the case polyphyly of the genus Hemitragus (Mammalia, Bovidae), Molecular
of bovids, mtDNA blocks suggest each bovid ark female was from Phylogenetics and Evolution 36:154-168.

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