Animals Archives

July 1, 2024June 29, 2024

One of the Natural World’s Most Amazing Things

The hummingbird is one of the natural world’s most amazing things. Researchers have compiled new hummingbird data using modern methods, including high-speed photography. An adult hummingbird weighs roughly 4 grams, and to get a handle on that, a penny weighs about 2.5 grams. There are 21 species of hummingbirds in North America, and one species, called the bee hummingbird, weighs less than a penny.

Hummingbirds don’t beat their wings as most birds do; instead, they rotate them in a figure-eight pattern. That allows them to hover and fly backward or even upside down. The rate of wing motion is up to 80 cycles per second. That is within the range of human hearing and explains the humming sound that gives these birds their name. The metabolic rates of hummingbirds are amazing, as their heart rate is around 1,260 beats, and their breathing rate is 250 breaths per minute. These rapid rates mean hummingbirds may find a place to rest as often as every 15 minutes.

One of the natural world’s most amazing things is that hummingbirds can travel non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico in spring and autumn. Before embarking on that trip, they double their body weight with nectar and insects. When the temperature is low, they go into hypothermic torpor to survive.

The hummingbird’s eyes have a dense concentration of cones in their retinas containing pigments that act as filters to heighten color sensitivity to red while muting blue. Pollination is a major purpose of hummingbirds. Ruby-throated hummingbirds deposit ten times as much pollen as bumblebees, and their life expectancy is 3 to 6 years.

It is with great joy that I watch hummingbirds come to the feeder outside my office window. Their various characteristics speak of the wonder of God’s creation, defying chance explanation. Once again, we “can know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:20). The hummingbird is one of the natural world’s most amazing things.

Reference: “Fascinating Hummingbird Facts” by Tom Warren on Almanac.com

June 27, 2024June 24, 2024

Brown Bats and Tiger Beetles

One of the challenges in the natural world is keeping a balance between predators and victims. If predators have a foolproof method of locating their prey, they will eventually wipe out their food population, and the predators will die. That means victims must have some method of avoiding predation. Harlan Gough, a conservation entomologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has done some amazing experiments with brown bats and tiger beetles.

When Gough placed brown bats and tiger beetles into a cage together, the bats ate all of the tiger beetles. In the wild, this doesn’t happen because tiger beetles have a way of mimicking an insect known as a tiger moth. Tiger moths live in the same areas as tiger beetles, but bats don’t eat them because they have a foul taste. Dr. Gough found that tiger beetles can emit the same clicks as tiger moths when they sense predatory bats. They pull their forewings into the path of their beating hind wings, creating a high-pitched click similar to the tiger moth’s sound.

In the natural world, all living things have one or more methods to avoid predators. It may be smell or sight, but this may be the first case of using sound to deter predation. Realize that all of this happens at night when ultrasonics are more useful than sight and smell. No prey survival methods are 100% sure, so predators can still survive, especially when the food source is injured or sick.

We suggest that this case of brown bats and tiger beetles is another instance where there are too many variables to assign to chance. Having tiger moths with bad taste living in the same Arizona desert with tiger beetles seems more likely to be a planned and designed system than a series of accidents. The statement in Romans 1:20 that “we can know there is a God through the things He has made” seems to be supported again as we learn more about the functioning of the natural world.

Reference: Science News, June 15, 2024, page 11.

June 25, 2024June 24, 2024

Surviving the Heat

We are bracing for the hottest summer on record globally. Humans have interesting ways of surviving the heat, although people do die from it. In the wild, we see ways that animals are designed to withstand heat, drought, and water issues. Here are a few examples:

SAUDI ARABIAN GAZELLES. When the temperature increases, the heart and liver of these animals shrink, and breathing slows, reducing the water lost with each breath.

STORKS and some other birds cool down through urohidrosis. The stork urinates on its scaly legs, and evaporation enables it to lower its body temperature in high heat conditions.

NAMIB LIZARDS AND BEETLES climb a dune to get high enough to be in the early morning fog. The beetle will do a handstand, sending moisture down its back and into its mouth. The lizards simply open their mouths and gulp in the mist. In both cases, they cool their bodies while obtaining water.

JESUS LIZARDS get their name because they walk on water. To accomplish this, they have long toes on their rear feet with fringes of skin that unfurl in the water, increasing their surface area. They slap their splayed feet hard against the water as they rapidly move their legs, creating tiny air pockets to keep them from sinking. This not only lets them escape predation, but it also cools the lizard as the water evaporates from their legs and feet.

We are all familiar with dogs and other animals panting to cool themselves. The point is that animals, and even plants, have methods for surviving the heat. Humans sweat to cool our bodies by evaporation. Humans are also the only ones with the ability to change our environment. We need to learn from the animal life God created and adjust how we live and what we do to protect our climate.

Reference: Natural History magazine November 2007.

June 21, 2024June 18, 2024

Qiviut Fiber and the Muskox

One of Earth’s warmest, finest, and rarest fibers is not produced by humans. Qiviut is the Inuit language name for the coat of the muskox, which is native to Alaska. Muskox qiviut fiber is lightweight but stronger and warmer than sheep wool. The muskox wears its two-inch-thick coat throughout the winter and sheds it in the spring. Researchers are making a major effort to create a synthetic fiber that is even close to what the muskox produces.

Muskox inhabit the tundra of northern Alaska, where winter temperatures drop far below zero, and the wind is constant and substantial. Most animals migrate to warmer areas or hunker down into dormancy to wait out the cold tundra weather. The muskox will paw through the snow to reach moss lichen, willows, and roots while ignoring the typical blizzard conditions.

Alaskan farmers raise herds of muskox and ship qiviut to a mill that spins it into yarn. Qiviut is a challenge to spin because it has a tiny diameter, short staple length, and is smooth and slippery. Sheep wool is coarse with deep interlocking scales, making sheep wool yarn strong, but it also causes shrinkage, felting, and scratchiness. Qiviut is sometimes blended with silk.

Interestingly, human work with fibers of all kinds for thousands of years has not come close to the qiviut fiber of the muskox. God’s design of materials for every type of climate and condition speaks loudly of His wisdom and design. The muskox is an excellent example of fiber design not seen in any other life form on our planet.

Reference: Alaska Magazine for July/August 2024 pages 64-67.

June 13, 2024June 10, 2024

Coordinated Vigilance

Research shows that rabbitfish in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef forage for food in pairs using “coordinated vigilance” to avoid predators. The rabbitfish take turns foraging for algae in reef crevices while the partner is on guard duty in “an upright vigilance position.” Researchers said, “Both behaviors are strongly coordinated, and partners regularly alternate their positions.” The researchers say this reciprocity is “thought to require a suite of complex cognitive abilities.” In other words, how could fish that “lack complex social and cognitive skills” have evolved this system?

Scientists have studied cooperative behavior in some mammals and a few birds. Teamwork in fish is almost nonexistent, but God has placed this unique genetic value in rabbitfish. This is especially interesting when you look at humans. In Genesis 2:18-24, God created a helper for Adam. The Hebrew word “ezer” used in these verses does not indicate that woman is inferior to man or of lesser importance. The idea is that a woman can do what a man cannot do for himself. Like the rabbitfish and other life forms, coordinated vigilance is built into the genetics of various living things to allow them to survive.

The New Testament passages Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21 indicate that fathers have a role to play in the family in relationship to children. The concept is that God intends for coordinated vigilance with husband and wife to be the foundation of the family. In human societies, when coordinated vigilance is not practiced, the whole structure of culture falls apart. This does not bode well for societies around the world today.

Our nation’s violence and struggles will only get worse as society distances itself from God and His instructions. We promote the Bible as the word of God because the evidence shows that when people follow biblical instructions, society works. When people fail to follow them, the culture disintegrates.

Reference: nih.gov

June 12, 2024June 10, 2024

Monarch Butterfly Migration

Some people have asked questions that show confusion about monarch butterfly migration. The idea that one butterfly migrates from northern latitudes to Mexico and back is incorrect. The monarch’s life begins in March and April as eggs on milkweed plants. They hatch into tiny caterpillars in about four days. After two weeks, the full-grown caterpillar will attach itself using silk to make a chrysalis. In about ten days, a butterfly will emerge and fly away. The butterfly will feed on flowers and fruit for two to six weeks. This first-generation monarch will die after laying eggs for the second generation.

The four-stage life cycle of the second, third, and fourth generations is the same as what we just outlined, but the fifth generation is different. The fifth generation is born in September and October, but the butterflies don’t die after two to six weeks. They complete the monarch butterfly migration to warmer climates in Texas, California, and Mexico. There, they hibernate for six to eight months, and the whole process starts again.

We have talked about hummingbirds, where one individual makes the journey from northern areas to subtropical climates. In the case of monarch butterfly migration, the journey involves five generations. How they make such a journey with five individuals who never see each other is the object of several studies. It seems rather obvious that their DNA has a built-in GPS, allowing this incredible journey. No one would suggest that a GPS is a product of blind mechanistic chance. There has to be a design to enable such a system to work. That design is the product of an intelligence that is not only built into the GPS but also the instructions for what to do in each of the four steps of this remarkable insect’s life.

God is the designer of the monarch butterfly migration system, and the design features we are coming to understand reflect God’s wisdom and purpose. What a great time we live in, to be able to understand the complexities of life and yet know there is still much for us to learn.

Data from Old Farmer’s Almanac

June 6, 2024June 5, 2024

Fly Wings Differ from Bird or Bat Wings

How does a fly fly? That may sound silly, but we know a little about how a fly’s wings work through AI, robotics, and high-speed photography. We can divide living, powered flyers into four classes: insects (including flies), birds, bats, and pterosaurs (which are extinct). Except for insects, their wings all seem to be modified limbs. Fly wings differ from bird or bat wings.

Scientific research has delved into the intricacies of fly flight. Dr. Michael Dickinson, a professor of bioengineering and aeronautics at Cal Tech, has constructed miniature flight simulators and wind tunnels to unravel the mysteries of the fly’s flight. His work has revealed that flies have a unique and incredibly complex biomechanical hinge, a structure that researchers have attempted to replicate with robotics.

Twelve neurons and twelve muscles control flight in insects. Flies have a hinge connecting the wings to the muscles in a structure like a complex 3-D puzzle. To study the movement of the fly’s wings, researchers recorded 70,000 individual wingbeats with high-speed cameras at 15,000 frames per second. When you see a fly land on a window, look carefully at the hardware that it possesses. It has feet that can stick to glass, and its ability to fly in any direction makes it hard to swat.

The design features built into these small insects enable them to survive in a world where many creatures eat them to survive. We are not promoting a “save the fly” campaign, but animals from fish to chameleons depend on flies for food. The fly population will never be wiped out because of the design features enabling them to survive.

This complex design is clearly not a product of gradual change from the modified limb structures of bird or bat wings. Fly wings differ from bird or bat wings. Instead, they are exquisite, unique structures that experts are studying to understand how the wings work. Perhaps they will learn some things to enhance human flying machines. Even the scourge of flies has something to teach us, and we suggest that one of those things is the wisdom of God.

References: evolutionnews.com and nature.com

June 5, 2024June 4, 2024

The Bombardier Beetle Takes Aim

The bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism is a fascinating display of complexity. It defends itself by shooting a very hot (212 degrees F) stream of acidic material at an invading predator. The beetle mixes hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, which would explode in ordinary situations, but the bombardier beetle adds an inhibitor to control the reaction. A catalyst breaks down the peroxide, and a chemical known as peroxidase breaks down the hydroquinones so that the explosion does not occur.

The bombardier beetle has twin tail tubes that swivel like a gun turret to aim the hot, acidic mixture at enemies. Slow-motion photography has shown that the chemistry occurs in separate small bursts, so the beetle is not a one-shot wonder but can shoot repeatedly at a predator. This contrasts with skunks, which usually have one shot and require an extended time to replenish the odor fluid.

While many have proposed elaborate evolutionary theories to explain the bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism, The bombardier beetle’s defense mechanism is a fascinating display of complexity. It defends itself by shooting a very hot (212 degrees F) stream of the concept of intelligent design as a plausible alternative explanation.

Like all forms of life on our planet, the bombardier beetle has been designed with specialized equipm e nt to survive in a world of predation. Proverbs 8 talks about the wisdom of God, and Romans 1:20 speaks of living things as a demonstration that allows us to “know there is a God through the things He has made.” The bombardier beetle seems to be a good example of both of these statements.

May 29, 2024May 28, 2024

Animals Do Not Possess Human Values or Empathy

One result of evolutionary thinking is believing that humans are not unique but just animals at the top of the evolutionary ladder. As a result of that message, many people treat animals as if they are humans, at times even raising wild animals in their homes. The problem is that animals do not possess human values or empathy, and their instinctive behavior may cause unexpected problems.

In some cases, animals have reverted to instinctive drives, causing them to attack their owners. A man named Austin Riley in Boerne, Texas, found a newborn warthog whose mother had died. Riley took the tiny warthog, nursed it, and raised it for five years. He named the pet warthog Waylon after Waylon Jennings, a country singer known for his outlaw behavior. When Riley would lie down and listen to sports radio, Waylon would lie down beside him. Riley would take Waylon to Whataburger to get something to eat, and Waylon would sit in the front seat “happy as can be.” Waylon grew to weigh 250 pounds and was identified with Pumbaa in the popular Lion King movie, with the Swahili expression “hakuna matata,” meaning “no worries.” However, there was something to worry about in this case because animals do not possess human values or empathy.

Warthogs have lower tusks protruding from muscular jaws like blades. The tusks are curved, so the warthog can do incredible damage to any animal or person by twisting its head. Warthogs are designed to protect themselves from lions, their main enemies in their native Africa. On an October evening in 2022, Austin came to Waylon’s pen, and the warthog greeted him happily as he went to the feeding trough. Twenty minutes after feeding Waylon, Austin fed Daisy a potbellied pig he raised from a piglet and then walked to his ATV. Suddenly, Waylon attacked Austin, ripping his legs, wrist, abdomen, and neck. Doctors say that Austin lost half of his blood, and his treatment required ten surgeries. Medical studies of Waylon showed he did not have rabies.

The bottom line is that wild animals are not good pets. Animals do not possess human values or empathy. I have known friends who had snakes, alligators, turtles, deer, eagles, crows, chimps, goldfish, and even sharks for pets. In many cases, a time came when the animals acted aggressively toward their keepers. The point is that humans can behave like animals, but animals cannot behave like humans. Humans are created in God’s image, which is expressed in how we live and care for one another at all stages of life. The world would be a much better place if everyone followed the teachings of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapters 5 to 7.

Reference: boingboing.net and Texas Monthly

May 28, 2024June 20, 2024

Free Radicals are Chemically Reactive

One of the least understood design features of living things is the role of free radicals. The design of atoms and molecules calls for electrons to be paired for stability, but a free radical has unpaired electrons. With their unpaired valence electrons, free radicals are chemically reactive. Although some free radicals are essential to life, the accumulation of free radicals can cause cell damage.

Stress conditions such as radiation can cause harmful free radicals. Researchers have found that tiny animals called tardigrades (or water bears) exposed to stressful conditions curl up into a state of dormancy called a tun. That can explain their ability to survive in the vacuum of space, frigid temperatures, or radiation bombardment. The metabolism of the tardigrades shuts down in the tun state, but why is unclear. This intriguing discovery could potentially lead to practical applications such as medical treatments that slow the aging process, offering a glimmer of hope in the face of free radical damage.

Evolution cannot explain why free radicals are not chemically reactive. Scientists are studying the design of atoms and molecules with magnetic properties related to electron spin. This phenomenon goes back to creation itself. When God produced matter/energy in the beginning, electron spin, magnetic pairing, and free radical production were built into the very design of atoms and molecules. This design structure allows life to exist.

The future is bright as scientists learn more about the effect of free radicals on human health. Learning about the complexity of matter and life reminds us of “Wisdom’s” comment in Proverbs 8:22-23: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His work, before His deeds of old. I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning before the world began.”

Reference: Scientific American for May 2024, pages 10-11.