Detectable C14 in Dinosaurs

 

Detectable Carbon 14 In Dinosaurs Bones—Why Is It Significant?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, January 18, 2025

According to the secular religion, dinosaurs died out “millions of years” ago. Cultures around the world have been indoctrinated to believe this religious view. It was taught to me. God refutes this belief in His Word and said that He created land animals—which include dinosaurs—on the six day of creation (Genesis 1:24-31).  

There are many who mistakenly think that carbon-14 (C14, radiocarbon, ¹⁴C) dating confirms millions of years for dinosaur fossils. The problem is that C14 can’t give dates of “millions of years”. It’s impossible. The reason is simple—C14 can only give alleged short age dates. But this causes a big problem for the secular side. Let me briefly explain.

Carbon Dating

C14 has a short half-life—at least that is what is projected. We’ve never observed an entire half life of C14 decaying in a lab. So, researchers assume by extrapolation that it would be 5,730 years. Assuming this is correct, it yields that a theoretical maximum of 50,000 to 100,000 years for a sample of C14 to exist.[1] In other words, there should be NO DETECTABLE C14 in any dinosaur sample.

Let’s put this in laymen’s terms, if the entire earth was C14, in 1 million years there would be none. So, this means that NO dinosaur, (or coal layer, crude oil, or diamonds) should have any C14 if they really are “millions of years” old. This is testable by the way. So, test it.

C14 Where It Shouldn’t Be

Dinosaur fossil remains (e.g., soft tissue etc.) have detectable C14. The presence of measurable amounts of carbon-14 in dinosaur bones presents a massive challenge to the secular humanistic geological timescale, which posits that these fossils are millions of years old. Therefore, finding C14 in dinosaur fossils means that they are much younger than the secular religious adherents suggest.

Dr. Brian Thomas of the Institute For Creation Research (ICR) reports that radiocarbon dating of various dinosaur fossils, including Triceratops and hadrosaurids, yielded detectable ¹⁴C levels, corresponding to theoretical ages of tens of thousands of years, not millions.[2] These findings were consistent across multiple samples and laboratories, indicating that the C14 detected is intrinsic to the fossils rather than a result of contamination.

Similarly, Answers in Genesis (AiG) has highlighted that measurable radiocarbon has been found in fossils, coal, and diamonds—materials alleged to be millions or billions of years old.[3] Since ¹⁴C should not be present in specimens of such purported antiquity, its detection raises serious questions about the reliability of secular dating methods and assumptions. Furthermore, the presence of C14 is expected from a biblical view that has a younger age for these materials.

Both ICR and AiG argue that these findings align more closely with a biblical creationist perspective—and I would agree. It makes more sense that the geological record is primarily evidence of a global Flood occurring thousands, not millions, of years ago.

Measured Examples

Dr. Brian Thomas, a science writer at the Institute for Creation Research and Dr. David Plaisted of TASC Creation Science have reported several instances of detectable carbon-14 in dinosaur bones. Here are a few examples.

1. Triceratops Bone from Montana: A Triceratops fossil discovered in Montana underwent radiocarbon dating and yielded a C14 age of approximately 24,340 ± 70 years. This finding is inconsistent with the secular age assignment of about 65 million years for Triceratops fossils. [4]
2. Hadrosaur Femur from Montana: A hadrosaur femur excavated from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana was dated using accelerator mass spectrometry, revealing a C14 age of approximately 25,170 ± 220 years. This result contrasts sharply with the secular age of around 70 million years assigned to hadrosaur fossils.[5]
3. Apatosaurus Bone from Colorado: An Apatosaurus bone from the Morrison Formation in Colorado was subjected to radiocarbon dating, yielding a C14 age of approximately 38,250 ± 160 years. This is significantly younger than the secular age of about 150 million years for Apatosaurus fossils.[6]
4. Allosaurus Bone from Colorado: An Allosaurus fossil from the Morrison Formation in Colorado was dated and found to have a C14 age of approximately 31,360 ± 100 years. This finding challenges the secular age assignment of about 150 million years for Allosaurus specimens.[7]
5. Centrosaurus bones from Alberta, Canada: Thomas writes, “The eLife study authors carefully excavated a bone from a ceratopsian called Centrosaurus apertus found in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada”. There was C14 detectable here as well contradicting the millions of years.[8]

These few [of many potential] examples that could be given are good evidence of detectable carbon-14 in dinosaur bones. These evidences are a great confirmation that these fossils are much younger than taught by the secular crowd.

C14 Is In The Ballpark Of Biblical Dates, But Biblical Dates Are Still The Standard

Instead, these fossil evidences are much more aligned with a biblical perspective. Of course, C14 dates are still errant—not really as old as the reported theoretical maximums. These dinosaurs (and the coal, oil, etc.) were buried and/or formed in Flood sediment about 4,350 years ago[9].

It is always better to go with dates that can be derived from God’s Word over any fallible dating method. For more on dinosaurs, I suggest:

• Dinosaurs And The Bible by Brian Thomas
• Dinosaurs, Dragons, And The Bible, by Bodie Hodge
• What Really Happened To The Dinosaurs? (booklet) by Ken Ham

Image Credits: Presentation Library 

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[1] Not that I agree with this alleged time, but for arguments sake, let’s analyze it.

[2] Brian Thomas, Carbon-14 Found In Dinosaur Fossils, Monday, July 6, 2015, ICR, https://www.icr.org/article/carbon-14-found-dinosaur-fossils.

[3] Andrew Snelling, Carbon-14 in Fossils and Diamonds An Evolution Dilemma, January 1, 2011, AiG, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/carbon-14/carbon-14-in-fossils-and-diamonds/.

[4] David Plaisted, Carbon 14 Dating of Fossils, June 1, 2017, TASC Creation Science, https://tasc-creationscience.org/article/carbon-14-dating-fossils.

[5] Brian Thomas, Carbon-14 Found In Dinosaur Fossils, Monday, July 6, 2015, ICR, https://www.icr.org/article/carbon-14-found-dinosaur-fossils.

[6] David Plaisted, Carbon 14 Dating of Fossils, June 1, 2017, TASC Creation Science, https://tasc-creationscience.org/article/carbon-14-dating-fossils.

[7] David Plaisted Carbon 14 Dating of Fossils, June 1, 2017, TASC Creation Science, https://tasc-creationscience.org/article/carbon-14-dating-fossils.

[8] Brian Thomas, Radiocarbon in Yet Another Dinosaur Fossil, Thursday, July 18, 2019, ICR, https://www.icr.org/article/Radiocarbon-in-yet-another-dinosaur-fossil.

[9] Or in the aftermath of the Flood.