Migration of Life After the Flood of Genesis
by Owen Borville
November 12, 2018
Biology, History, Bible, Archaeology
Noah did not have to travel all around the world to get the animals for the Ark as all of the animals that were needed were in the area near him and came toward Noah as described in the scripture of Genesis 7. The land of Central Asia near Noah had a different environment than from today and many animals that lived in the area at that time do not live there today. As all land animals were destroyed in the flood except the inhabitants of Noah’s Ark, the types of animals that populated the earth after the flood likely changed significantly. Some of the animals aboard the ark eventually went extinct and some migrated to different parts of the earth. After the flood, the animals were distributed around the world along with humans. It is not hard to envision animals distribute across the three Old World continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe as these connect to each other today. Australia and the Americas have water barriers separating each other today, however, and there are several ways that animals and humans could have reached to those continents.
Sea level is believed by creationists to have been significantly lower after the flood and the following ice age, which would have likely produced land bridges to Australia and the Americas. It is also possible that humans could have traveled to these areas by boat and brought animals with them. After all, humans needed something to eat in the new lands or needed animals for other uses. The larger animals of Asia and Africa, such as the elephant for example, are not seen in Australian or American wildlife as a result of environmental conditions or being too large to transport. Smaller animals are seen in the wild and could have been transported by humans. Animals such as the kangaroo in Australia had few predators and could survive there unlike in Asia and Africa. The Americas and Australia seem to have different types of animals and the particular environmental conditions likely played a factor in this distribution.
Evolutionists question if animals could have distributed around the world in such a short time after the Flood, however, creationists believe that there was plenty of time. Smaller animals, such as insects, also reproduce more often than larger animals and can spread much quicker than large animals, such as mammals, as seen in today’s distribution of animals. Imagine swarms of flying insects and birds across continents over periods of hundreds or several thousand years. There was plenty of time for animals of all types to spread across the earth in the last 4,500 years after the Flood, either on their own or by human transport. In addition, shipbuilding gradually improved over time and humans built larger vessels to transport animals during explorations and migrations around the world. Today, large herds of mammals can be seen running across the Alaskan and Canadian frontier, and should not have had a problem migrating down to South America within 4,500 years. Videos of massive caribou migrations across Alaska and northern Canada can be seen, making it easier to see how these animals and similar ones came from Asia into North America and eventually into South America within a few thousand years.
An example of animal migration can be explained by deer, which are strongly associated with Eurasia and North America and less so with other parts of the world, according to an article by Scientific American, dated November 26, 2014. In South America, 17 living deer species have been identified, according to the article. Creationists would classify these as variations of the deer kind. Of course as these animals moved southward, the environments changed and the animals would have to adapt to the new environments in order to survive.
by Owen Borville
November 12, 2018
Biology, History, Bible, Archaeology
Noah did not have to travel all around the world to get the animals for the Ark as all of the animals that were needed were in the area near him and came toward Noah as described in the scripture of Genesis 7. The land of Central Asia near Noah had a different environment than from today and many animals that lived in the area at that time do not live there today. As all land animals were destroyed in the flood except the inhabitants of Noah’s Ark, the types of animals that populated the earth after the flood likely changed significantly. Some of the animals aboard the ark eventually went extinct and some migrated to different parts of the earth. After the flood, the animals were distributed around the world along with humans. It is not hard to envision animals distribute across the three Old World continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe as these connect to each other today. Australia and the Americas have water barriers separating each other today, however, and there are several ways that animals and humans could have reached to those continents.
Sea level is believed by creationists to have been significantly lower after the flood and the following ice age, which would have likely produced land bridges to Australia and the Americas. It is also possible that humans could have traveled to these areas by boat and brought animals with them. After all, humans needed something to eat in the new lands or needed animals for other uses. The larger animals of Asia and Africa, such as the elephant for example, are not seen in Australian or American wildlife as a result of environmental conditions or being too large to transport. Smaller animals are seen in the wild and could have been transported by humans. Animals such as the kangaroo in Australia had few predators and could survive there unlike in Asia and Africa. The Americas and Australia seem to have different types of animals and the particular environmental conditions likely played a factor in this distribution.
Evolutionists question if animals could have distributed around the world in such a short time after the Flood, however, creationists believe that there was plenty of time. Smaller animals, such as insects, also reproduce more often than larger animals and can spread much quicker than large animals, such as mammals, as seen in today’s distribution of animals. Imagine swarms of flying insects and birds across continents over periods of hundreds or several thousand years. There was plenty of time for animals of all types to spread across the earth in the last 4,500 years after the Flood, either on their own or by human transport. In addition, shipbuilding gradually improved over time and humans built larger vessels to transport animals during explorations and migrations around the world. Today, large herds of mammals can be seen running across the Alaskan and Canadian frontier, and should not have had a problem migrating down to South America within 4,500 years. Videos of massive caribou migrations across Alaska and northern Canada can be seen, making it easier to see how these animals and similar ones came from Asia into North America and eventually into South America within a few thousand years.
An example of animal migration can be explained by deer, which are strongly associated with Eurasia and North America and less so with other parts of the world, according to an article by Scientific American, dated November 26, 2014. In South America, 17 living deer species have been identified, according to the article. Creationists would classify these as variations of the deer kind. Of course as these animals moved southward, the environments changed and the animals would have to adapt to the new environments in order to survive.
