MIGRATING PIRANHA TEETH FOUND, according to articles in ScienceDaily, National
Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESC) and National Geographic, 26 June 2009, and
ScienceNOW, 29 June 2009. Piranhas are a South American freshwater fish with a fearsome
reputation for devouring flesh. They have a single row of six triangular teeth, like the teeth on a
saw blade, but their reputation as killers is somewhat overrated. According to Ichthyologist Wasila
Dahdul of NESC, some only eat insects or plants and even the flesh-eaters rarely bite people. The
most similar living fish to piranhas are a group of fishes commonly known as pacus. These are
plant eating fish that have two rows of square teeth.
Palaeontologists have now found the fossil jaw of a piranha-like fish that appears to be an intermediate piranhas and pacus. It has
been named"Megapiranha paranensis" and is believed to have lived between 8 and 10 million years ago in a
South American river system known as the Paraná. As its name suggests "Megapiranha" was a big
fish. Based on the size of its jaw it was over one metre long (3ft 3in), compared with living piranhas
that usually grow to be 30cm (one foot) long. It has seven pointed teeth arranged in a zig-zag.
John Lundberg, of the Academy of Natural Science, Philadelphia, one of the scientists who studied
the fossil, commented: "It almost looks like the teeth are migrating from the second row into the
first row." Living piranhas have six teeth but Megapiranha had seven. Lundberg suggested, "One
of the teeth may have been lost, or two of the original seven may have fused together over
evolutionary time. It's an unanswered question. Maybe someday we'll find out." As for what it ate,
Wasila Dahdul commented: "It's probably not something we can reconstruct at this point."
According to National Geographic "scientists suspect it had a diverse diet."
To read more: Science Daily click HERE. NESC click HERE. National Geographic click HERE
ED. COM. The conclusions made about migrating teeth show the difference between actual
scientific findings and the interpretation of science based on already held beliefs. The real data is
one fish jawbone that had seven pointed teeth arranged in a zig-zag pattern, plus living fish with
two rows of teeth, and a living fish with one row of teeth. Unless someone actually observes the
two rows of teeth moving to form one row, there is no proof the fossil teeth were in the process of
migrating. Notice that no-one commented about how flat teeth became pointed teeth. A better
explanation is that "Megapiranha" is exactly what its name suggests - a giant piranha. A better
conclusion based on the scientific observations is that piranhas have always been piranhas, but
were originally larger and had more teeth. Since then piranhas have shrunk and lost teeth. This is
not evolution, it is degeneration, and is exactly what you would expect from the Biblical history of
the world, i.e. creation of separate kinds, followed by degeneration. We are pleased to see one of
the researchers admit that you cannot tell what a creature eats simply from the shape of it is teeth.
If modern day piranhas, with their sharp pointed teeth, eat plants and/or insects, it is quite likely
that Megapiranha ate plants, just as Genesis tells us animals were originally created to eat. (Ref.
ichthyology, giants, devolution)
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