当在1820年代和1830年代发现第一个巨型骨头时，科学家感到有义务将骨头解释为属于现代物种的某些超大变体。这是因为人们认为任何物种都不会灭绝，因为上帝不允许他的一位作品死亡。最终，很明显，这种对上帝的概念是错误的，骨头属于灭绝的动物。
(When the first giant bones were found in the 1820s and 1830s, scientists felt obliged to explain the bones as belonging to some oversize variant of a modern species. This was because it was believed that no species could ever become extinct, since God would not allow one of His creations to die. Eventually it became clear that this conception of God was mistaken, and the bones belonged to extinct animals.)