The bones in the photos above (showing two views of the same specimens) were reportedly found around 1999 by "Dr. Jamie Gutierrez" (Bogota, Columbia) in Cretaceous rock. They have since been advocated by Carl Baugh and Paul Humber as human hand bones. The following link provides a report on a lecture by Gutierrez sponsored by Baugh:

http://www.texasmusicguide.com/creationlecture.htm

Despite the claims of human origin, the bones show a number of differences from human digits, and have been positively identified as fossil sea turtle bones by a number of professional herpetologists and paleontologists, including Dr. Peter Prichard, Dr. Peter Meylan (a marine reptile expert at the Eckerd College), and Dr. Walter Joyce, a fossil turtle expert at the Yale Peabody Museum, division of Vertebrate Paleontology. Dr. Joyce indicated that the bones were definitely those of a marine turtle, probably of the superfamily Chelonioidea, which includes green turtles, loggerheads, and hawksbills. He noted that the flipper of a sea turtle superficially resembles that of a human in having the digital formula (2-3-3-3-3), that is, all digits but the thumb have three phalanges. Also, both humans and sea turtles have two rows of four carpal bones, and the thumb of both are much shorter than the other digits. However, he noted that the following characters distinguish humans from sea turtle:

1. The distal phalanx of humans is rounded and blunt because it holds the fingernail; the distal phalanx of sea turtles is flattened and pointed, because it holds a claw.
2. The carpals of humans are small and cluster together towards the arm to allow maximal movement; the carpals of sea turtles are more flattened and square and only allow a slight bending movement
3. The thumb of humans points outward somewhat, but the other digits are notably straight and subequal in length; in most sea turtles, the first two digits are claw bearing and they thus both point outwards and are both much shorter than the rest.
4. The articular surfaces of human phalanges are well formed to allow finger movement; the articular surfaces of marine turtle phalanges are blunt to help stiffen the flipper.
5. The pisiform (a bone of the carpus) is tiny in humans, but gigantic in sea turtles to help enlarge the surface of the flipper.

Dr. Joyce noted that all of these features are clearly visible in the fossil material depicted in the photos shown by Baugh, and that it even appeared that some possible turtle shell fragments were in the same matrix. He concluded that the bones were clearly sea turtle in nature, and that photos "beautifully show the large blocky carpals of sea turtles and especially the gigantic pisiform." (Email correspondence, Dr. Walter Joyce, 11-17-2006)

I would like to add by way of my own observations in regard to the proportions of individual carpals and phalanges, that in human hand bones the carpal and most proximal phalange on digit II are approximately the same lengths as on digit III. However, in sea turtles and the fossil bones the same phalange on digit II is much shorter than it is in digit III. Also note that in the first photo, a man's hands are covering several of the large carpal bones that can been seen in the second photo, including the large pisiform bone emphasized by Dr. Joyce, which extends outward a considerable distance (see red arrow). The same feature is small, pea-shapped, and closely packed with the other carpals in a human wrist. (See red arrows in the second photo of the fossil bones above, and the last Protostega photo below).

I would like to thank Dr. Joyce and the other scientists who responded for their very helpful input on the subject.

For comparison, below is an x-ray of a human hand, and illustrations showing a green sea turtle skeleton and the fossil Cretaceous turtles Toxochelys latiremis and Protostega gigas. for comparison. These are not likely from the same genus or species as the fossil bones, but show similar key features. For additional photos of Cretaceous turtle skeletons, see Mike Everhart's website "Marine Turtles of the Western Interior."

Thanks,

Glen K.

* Lest the reader question whether human bones in the Cretaceous would be an extraordinary find, it should be noted that billions of Cretaceous (and other Mesozoic) fossils are known, representing thousands of different animal species, but not one properly verified human remain. Even the major strict creationist group Answers in Genesis has acknowledged this, stating: "As far as we are aware at the present time, there are no indisputable human fossils in the fossil record that we could say belong to the pre-Flood human culture(s)." (Snelling, 1991).

x-ray and diagram of human hand bones

Green turtle

Cretaceous turtle: Toxochelys from Tribold Paleontology website

Click here for larger image of this turtle

Cretaceous turtle: Protostega from Mike Everhart's Oceans of Kansas Paleontology site

Click here for larger image of this turtle

Cretaceous turtle: Protostega from Mike Everhart's Oceans of Kansas Paleontology site

Click here for larger image of this turtle

References

Snelling, Andrew, 1991 (Dec). Where are all the human fossils? Creation 14(1):28-33.