ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A candidate for the Anne Arundel County Council has recently donated dinosaur fossils to a creationist museum that believes the creatures were alive less than 5,000 years ago.
The Capital reports Michael Peroutka presented the fossils to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, over the Memorial Day weekend. Peroutka is the Republican nominee in the District 5 council race.
Tax records show Peroutka valued the fossil at $200,000. The museum puts the value at $1 million after a reappraisal.
Museum leaders say the specimen is a 30-foot-long Allosaurus that was uncovered in Colorado. They say the fossil dates to biblical events 4,000 years ago.
University of Cincinnati paleontologist David Meyer says Allosaurus fossils date back millions of years. He says there's no evidence dinosaurs were alive 5,000 years ago.
