This wonderful picture of a pteranodon in South Africa is a fake.
Pteranodon at Gowrie Dam
This picture of a pteranodon hovering over a South African waterhole is one of our favorites. People still occasionally circulate it by email claiming it is genuine. The story accompanying the photo usually says that a ranger at a South African park allegedly tried to stop the picture's release to prevent hunters from shooting it.
Someone originally sent the photograph to the africam.com website — a site that at the time was streaming live pictures from various waterholes in South Africa's national parks.
Africam.com asked viewers to copy from the site's webcam any good pictures of animals they saw around the waterholes, and to email the photos to the site. Each day the Africam site put some of the best pictures it received on its Highlights page.
This pteranodon photo is excellent. It has perspective, believable color, and a motion-blurred wing. There is also motion-blur on the tip of the other wing and one foot, giving the illusion the creature is moving. The waterdrop-like marks near the top of the tree are from something on the camera lens, not from touch-ups on the photo.
So, what's wrong with the photo that exposes it as a fake?
One problem most viewers wouldn't pick up easily is where the tree extends slightly to cover the pteranodon's blurry wing. A close look at the leaves around the wing reveals that a few clumps are identical with others nearby, showing photographic cloning.
Another problem: the pteranodon's shadow makes part of the tree's shadow on the ground appear darker, and therefore more realistic. But the shadow extends up the right side of the tree trunk into the air and over the water in the dam. At first, you may think this is just cloud shadow. But if you look closely it becomes obvious the shadow is in the air — a scientific impossibility.
And it is a definite sign that someone has tampered with the photo.
Related topics:
- Was the living pterodactyl found in France in 1856 a hoax?
- Is this really a photo of Bigfoot?
- Confessions of a Loch Ness monster faker.
- Plesiosaur washes up on a popular beach.
- Photographer gets superb photo of an extinct Archaeopteryx.
- Is this a photo of Noah's Ark on a mountain in Turkey?
| Main page || Creation Tips || Teen Topics || Crystal Clear Creation || DinosaurCam || Games || News archive || News |
Contact us.
Website: www.creationtips.com
Copyright © Creation Tips
Rated
by Internet Content Rating Association