Professor Mark McMenamin is a maverick paleontologist and critic of neo-Darwinism, who is known for very interesting but controversial hypotheses like Hypersea (McMenamin & Schulte McMenamin 1993, 1994, Zimmer 1995), The Garden of Ediacara (McMenamin 1986, 1998), Paleotorus (McMenamin 2009), and the Triassic Kraken (McMenamin & Schulte McMenamin 2011, 2013, McMenamin 2023). An Admittedly Bold HypothesisMcMenamin’s kraken hypothesis has never been published in a peer-reviewed journal but was only proposed in two congress abstracts (McMenamin & Schulte McMenamin 2011, 2013), a magazine article (McMenamin 2012), and a book chapter (McMenamin 2016). It was also covered by numerous sensationalist press releases and media reports (Bryner 2011, Flatow 2011, GSA 2011, Herald Sun 2011, IB Times 2011, Leach 2011, Praetorius 2011, Wang 2011). The admittedly bold hypothesis claims that a gigantic 100-foot Triassic cephalopod killed large ichthyosaurs and arranged their bones in a self-portrait-like pattern. Nevertheless, instead of a reasonable and fair scientific debate, McMenamin’s hypothesis has been ridiculed by other scientists and science journalists.

Source: Huffington Post November 03, 2023 13:57 UTC