[jennyp]

So contrary to creationist claims about this debacle, 1) the fraud was perpetrated by a Chinese farmer out to make a buck, not an agenda-driven scientist, 2) the mass-market magazine National Geographic was responsible for the premature announcement of its alleged "missing link" status, not the science community nor science journals, 3) actual science journals rejected it, and 4) scientists were the first to identify it as a fraud as soon as they got a look at it.

IMO the real punch line of this joke is: 5) the body of the "Archaeoraptor" fossil actually came from Microraptor zhaoianus - another feathered dinosaur! Creationists just can't win for losing!

[\/\/ayne]

body of the "Archaeoraptor" fossil actually came from Microraptor zhaoianus - another feathered dinosaur!

But how do we know that the Microraptor zhaoianus is not just another hoax that the evolution believing scientists are using to try and save face?

Recently at my home town university biology dept a professor was fired for fraudulent research. The students revealed that many times the refrigeration went out and ruined their experiments. So they just made up research with the professor's approval. They got caught, but I believe this goes on a lot more than people think. We have to use common sense sometimes. When no feathered dinosaurs are found for a hundred years, then bunches of them pop up everywhere to prove a popular theory, I get suspicious.