Creation Museum Musings: Out of Date Dinosaurs

Considering that I've only begun to really research dinosaurs in depth (beyond the basics in biology in high school), I was very eager to see the take of the Creation Museum on such incredible animals.  I was curious if they would present the outdated information like I found in books as a child or if their information would be up to date.

I was pretty disappointed; they had some really neat displays with dinosaurs, but they seemed to be ignoring recent research. Aside from one Archaeopteryx, there wasn't a single feather on a dinosaur, in spite of the fossil records showing otherwise.  Nearly every dinosaur held their forearms in an outdated pronated pose.

The Archaeopteryx did have feathers, but they state
it is a true bird, with no relation to dinosaurs.

There is no discussion presented at the Creation Museum regarding the possibility of feathers or the inability to pronate forelimbs.  No mention of recent research showing that dinosaurs may have had feathers.  In fact, if I had gone into the museum not knowing anything other than what I learned as a child, I would have no idea that paleontology had made advances in the years since I was little.

The Answers in Genesis web site says nothing about the pronation of forearms, but it does at least address the issue of feathers and dinosaurs in a dozen or so articles.  In one article posted on their web site, they do state, "There is nothing in creationist theory forbidding dinosaurs from having feathers..."  If this is true, however, why aren't they willing to present the idea as at least a possibility in the museum?  The rest of that article as well as several others (see article links below) all seem to suggest that accepting that a dinosaur such as the Velociraptor had feathers is the equivalent to saying that dinosaurs evolved into birds.  In fact, one cartoon on their site suggests that it is a sin to represent dinosaurs with feathers!

Utahraptor is missing feathers and has pronated forearms

I'm sure this will be repetitive throughout my posts commenting on the museum, but I honestly felt that the museum was a place where you were to accept what you were told and never question the information.  This is a prime example, essentially they expect you to accept that dinosaurs cannot have feathers, period, because to even consider it would be to believe in evolution.

As far as what I believe, I do think it is entirely possible that many of the theropods had feathers, and warmly welcome the idea of the fluffy, feathered dinosaurs of modern paleoartists.  The beauty of dinosaurs is that we don't know everything and that is where my artistic brain can fill in: colors, shapes, feathers, fuzz, etc.  I believe God could have created dinosaurs with feathers, without feathers, with half-feathers/half-scales, or pretty much anything else He can imagine.  I'm not comfortable with the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but I also don't believe this can be proven or disproven.

Links to Make You Think:

Archaeopteryx: The Transitional Fossil

Amber inclusions showcase prehistoric feathers
Feathered Dinosaurs Drive Creationists Crazy

Fossils of First Feathered Dinosaurs from North America Discovered: Clues On Early Wing Uses
"Jurassic Park" Raptors Had Feathers, Fossil Suggests
News to Note, September 29, 2007 (response to "'Jurassic Park' Raptors Had Feathers, Fossil Suggests")
Scientific American Admits Creationists Hit a Sore Spot: Need for a “New Paradigm” in Bird Evolution

Theropods are clappers, not slappers

Vertebrates: Animals with Backbones
What? Another feathered dinosaur claim?