Animals Archives

December 10, 2020December 9, 2020

God’s Diversity of Birds

An interesting study involves the biblical classifications of living things. Genesis doesn’t talk about species — it talks about broad groupings. For example, “the flesh of fish” and “the flesh of birds” (1 Corinthians 15:39 and Genesis 1:20-21) includes a wide range of species with many adaptions to particular environments. There is no better example of adaptation than what we see in God’s diversity of birds.

The December 5, 2020, issue of Science News featured a discussion of recent studies into the genomes of modern birds. called the “Bird 10,000 Genomes Project.” An international team of researchers has published the genomes for 363 species of birds, covering roughly 92% of all modern bird families. The scientists in the project are determined not to stop until they have published the genomes of all bird species on Earth.

This diversity is amazing. There are flightless birds like emus, kiwis, and penguins. Some birds are carnivores, and others are herbivores. Other birds have very limited and specialized diets. Some have wide ranges, and others, such as the Henderson crake, are found only on one island in the South Pacific. The most practical aspect of this study is learning how to protect bird species to preserve diversity. All creatures on Earth have properties important to humans, so this research is critical.

God didn’t create 10,000 species of birds independently of one another. He created “fowl,” and the Bible mentions several different species. The bird genomes allowed them to adapt to different environments. Those environments could support other forms of life only because birds supply nutrients and resources that make life possible. Bird migrations can provide the needs for environments thousands of miles apart. The Arctic tern and the bar-tailed godwit are excellent examples of that. Birds not only supply the needs of plants, but their eggs provide food for a variety of animals.

God has used diversity to supply the entire planet with life. Romans 1: 20 tells us that we can know there is a God by the things He has made. We see incredible wisdom and design built into God’s diversity of birds.

You can find the article in Science News HERE and the research report in Nature HERE.

December 7, 2020December 6, 2020

World’s Fastest Ant Species

One of the exciting things about life on Earth is that there are creatures designed to survive, even in hostile environments. A good example is the Saharan silver ant (Cataglyphis bombycina), the world’s fastest ant species.

These ants thrive in the Sahara desert, where the sand’s daytime temperature can be as high as 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). In fact, these ants’ primary food is the remains of other insects that have died from the heat. Saharan silver ants play an important environmental role by helping to keep the desert clean. But how do they survive the heat?

Researchers have found that these ants are designed to move extremely fast. They can travel 108 times their body length in one second. That would be equal to a human running 1 ½ football fields in one second. Have you ever been barefoot on the beach and had to sprint over the hot sand? The ants run so fast that each foot is in contact with the ground for only seven milliseconds. That is not long enough for the heat to threaten the ant’s survival. Researchers say the muscle contraction speed is unique to Saharan silver ants, and it is at the limit of what the ant’s body can withstand, making them the world’s fastest ant species.

We see life no matter where we look on planet Earth. Life prevails from the hot desert sands to the extreme pressure and darkness of the deepest part of the oceans. Through the system of plant and animal life, even the extremes, God has provided for the needs of humans.

Reference: National Wildlife, December/January 2021.

December 3, 2020November 30, 2020

Nature’s Jawbreaker – the Ironclad Beetle

What would you think if I told you that a steamroller weighing 3900 tons could run over me and not hurt me? I doubt you would even dignify me with an answer because it is obvious that I would be lying. In the natural world, a beetle called the diabolical ironclad beetle (Phloeodes diabolicus) can withstand a force 39,000 times its body weight and not crack. Researchers have nicknamed it “nature’s jawbreaker.”

Scientists have paid a lot of attention paid to this beetle in recent months because the secret of its ability to withstand massive forces has a variety of applications. That secret is in the beetles’ exoskeleton. Tiny interlocked and impact-absorbing structures with zipper-like ridges connect the exoskeleton’s top and bottom and resist bending to protect the vital organs. A damage-resistant joint connects the left and right side of the exoskeleton, and a protein glue helps hold the top and bottom together. If the beetle is put under tremendous force, tiny cracks form in the glue to absorb impact energies without cracking the joint.

The diabolical ironclad beetle can be run over by a car and survive with no damage to its internal organs. Scientists are researching ways to apply the ironclad beetle design to armored vehicles for the military and various medical devices. Humans frequently use God’s designs in living things to produce devices that protect and serve people. Nature’s jawbreaker has one of the most recently studied useful designs. We prefer to call this beetle, “God’s jawbreaker.”

Reference: Science News, November 21, 2020.

You can read about some other examples of copying God’s design (biomimicry) HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

December 1, 2020November 30, 2020

Electroreceptors of Paddlefish

The American paddlefish is an interesting but relatively unknown fish species. These fish have large paddle-shaped appendages on their foreheads, and they inhabit the murky waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. They can grow to six feet (183 cm) and weigh 150 pounds (68 kg). So what is the purpose of the paddle? The electroreceptors of paddlefish answer that question.

You might think that the paddle is a device to dislodge food from river bottoms. Some people called them “shovelnose fish,” assuming they used their paddles as a shovel. But paddlefish don’t dig for food, and lab experiments in 1993 showed the paddle’s real purpose.

Paddlefish are filter feeders that feed on tiny crustaceans and insect larvae that drift through the water as plankton. Many whale species are filter feeders that use comb-like baleen in their mouths to strain their food from the water. Paddlefish have comb-like rakers in their gills. They swim with their mouths open and filter their food from the water. But that doesn’t explain the paddle.

Paddlefish have poor eyesight and no sense of smell, so how do they know where to swim to find food? The paddle is covered with tens of thousands of electroreceptors that can sense extremely minute electric fields. Plankton emit signals that are similar to what doctors measure in electrocardiograms. Paddlefish use their electroreceptors to detect those signals and locate the plankton, even in murky waters.

The electroreceptors of paddlefish are similar to those of the platypus found in Australia. Many marine fish, including sharks, skates, rays, and some freshwater fish, can use weak electrical signals for feeding and communication. Those fish don’t need light or clear water to eat and maintain a balance in the environment. This ability is not something that evolved in the paddlefish because fossil evidence seems to indicate that they had electrosense ability very early in Earth’s history. We are amazed by God’s designs that we see in living things.

November 28, 2020November 27, 2020

DNA Design and Science

Most of us know that we have something called genes that determine our physical characteristics, which pass on to our children. Genes are pieces of a molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This molecule consists of two chains of alternating sugar and phosphate groups that coil around each other to form a double helix. These simple units line up in that double helix in a way that carries information much like the pages of a huge book. The DNA design carries much of the information that makes us who we are.

The complexity of the DNA molecule is astounding, and its size is even more so. If all the DNA molecules in your body were uncoiled and laid end-to-end, it would stretch from here to Pluto and back. Humans do not have the largest DNA molecules. A flowering plant native to Japan called Paris Japonica has a DNA molecule 50 times longer than human DNA.

DNA was discovered in 1869 by Swiss Biochemist Friedrich Miescher, who called it nuclein. In the early 1940s, bacteriologist Oswald Avery discovered DNA’s connection to genetics. James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA design in 1953.

Because the molecule is so large and complex, the opportunities to study it and make practical use of it are almost limitless. Scientists are using synthetic DNA to create vaccines. Some DNA vaccines have been successful in animals. At this time, some scientists around the world are working on COVID-19 vaccines using DNA.

Scientists are developing other uses for DNA coding. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) is working to establish barcodes to identify plant and animal species. The use of DNA has solved many criminal investigations. Modification of DNA has given us genetically modified foods.

There are two lessons we can learn from this. First, the complexity of DNA design boggles the mind. Suggesting that it is the product of random chance seems much less likely than the idea that an intelligence designed it. That leads us to the question of whether we are playing God in some DNA experiments. We have previously talked about genetically modified babies. The extreme complexity of DNA makes it much more likely for a human error, causing harm to others. Scientists working with DNA manipulation should be guided by reverence for the Creator and the life that He created.

November 20, 2020November 19, 2020

Good Soils Are Vital for Survival

Many years ago in Alaska, I had a discussion with a biologist who was studying the Alaskan soils. His study revolved around the fact that Alaska has very little soil and what it does have is developing. The lack of soil in Alaska has limited plant growth and made the ecology dependent on migrating salmon. Soils are complex mixtures of organic matter, minerals, water, air, and billions of organisms that form over hundreds of years. Good soils are vital for survival. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.”

Research has shown that plants are designed to “call” for nutrients from the soil. A plant will release molecules called flavonoids, which cause bacteria in the soil to migrate into the plant and form nitrogen nodules on the roots. The nitrogen nodules generate food for the plant. If ample nitrogen is already available for the plant, it will not release the flavonoids.

This “hunger” by plants is vital to understand because many natural and human-caused processes can deplete the soil. Forest and brush fires, hurricanes, pollution, and climate change can deplete soils’ nitrogen content and kill plants. Studies of the giant sequoias in California have shown that the soil under them has twice as many bacteria as the soil under nearby sugar pines. We all know that bacteria influence human health, but bacteria also affect plant health and growth.

As our population increases and world climates change, it will become increasingly important to understand how soil allows us to feed our growing population. God’s design of the Earth includes providing the soils necessary to produce food. Good soils are vital for survival.

Reference: The National Science Foundation post on October 14, 2020.

November 19, 2020November 18, 2020

Glaciers and Treasures of the Snow

In Job 38:22, God refers to “the treasures of the snow” and “the treasures of ice.” In Job’s day, that may not have made a lot of sense. Even today, most people are not aware of the role glaciers play in our lives.

We are living in what scientists call an interglacial period when changes in Earth’s orbit have caused glaciers to melt. This interglacial period has been going on for some 12,000 years and is unrelated to any human-induced climate change. When scientists find evidence of forests, other life-forms, and human remains under the ocean’s surface, we can be sure that the sea level has been very different in the past.

Water molecules are designed in a way that allows glaciers to exist. A glacier is not a block of ice. When water is frozen and put under pressure, it behaves like a fluid. When I was teaching physics, we had a demonstration in which we froze a metal container of water and then used a piston to put it under pressure. The metal container had holes, and the ice would shoot out through the holes in a cylindrical form, just as any liquid or gas would do. Snow falls on the ground in a cold place and piles up, putting pressure on the snow on the bottom. The pressure changes the snow, and it begins to flow like toothpaste. Those gorgeous blue ice flows, the treasures of the snow, are glaciers.

So why is this a good thing for you and me? First, it locks up water, so it is available year-round. The amount of land area available to humans would drop radically if we lost all the glacial ice on the planet. As the ice melts, it does so gradually. Many areas of the world have water year-round only because slow-melting glaciers supply water in a controlled manner.

Many plants and animals depend on glaciers for their survival. Glacial algae get their water by producing dark pigments, which absorb enough sunlight to melt glacial ice. In that way, plants can grow in places like Greenland. The algae provide food for fish and other marine organisms in northern latitudes. Without the glaciers to supply drinking water for the bottom of the food chain, life couldn’t exist in northern marine environments.

Glaciers are also one of the strongest erosional agents in existence. Because of that, mountainous areas have u-shaped valleys with numerous cirque lakes and moraines. Glaciers have allowed a whole biosphere to exist in those mountainous areas. Human habitation in much of the Rocky Mountains is only possible because of the work of glaciers. Here in Michigan, we see and enjoy a continental glacial area where a vast ice sheet shaped the land and created thousands of lakes.

Job could not comprehend the full meaning of the words God spoke to him. Today, people who live where the glaciers have worked and are working can be thankful for God’s design of the “treasures of the snow.”

Reference: Discover Magazine December 2020, page 66.

November 4, 2020November 3, 2020

The Forgotten Virus – HIV

With so much concern about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, the forgotten virus is Human Immunodeficiency Virus, causing AIDS.

In 1981, the Center For Disease Control established the term “Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome” or AIDS. The disease was initially found among gay men and had been transferred to humans from monkeys. AIDS spread rapidly and caused many deaths. In 1885, Dr. Mathilde Krim and the National AIDS Research Foundation merged to form amfAR to battle AIDS. In 1995 the FDA approved a protease inhibiter, a new class of drugs that reduced the AIDS fatalities. By 2006 mother to child HIV transmission in the United States had declined to less than 2%. All that is progress, but not a cure.

Doctors are still treating AIDS cases with medicines that are a means of control. The disease continues to be a worldwide pandemic. In 2019, 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV. Today, 38 million people are living with HIV. There were 770,000 deaths due to AIDS in 2019, and HIV rates are rising. Stem-cell transplant is making strides toward a cure, but research is slow and expensive. The organization amfAR has invested $550 million in programs aiming for a cure.

The story of AIDS is very similar to the story of COVID-19. Both were contracted initially as a result of human activity with animals. A virus may be inactive in an animal and very active in a human. Lifestyle is a major issue in both HIV and COVID-19. If humans would follow the instructions God has given us in His Word, neither of these viruses would be active in human populations. In both cases, a total cure is unlikely, especially for those of us with limited incomes.

The forgotten virus, HIV, doesn’t make headlines in the media, but it continues to be an issue for millions of people. That fact should send a message that applies to the world we live in today. We should learn from our previous mistakes and understand that. We should not have to go through one pandemic after another before realizing that God’s rules for relationships of all kinds have a purpose. We should recognize the truth of Jeremiah’s prayer: “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”

Data from amfAR letter of 10/20.

November 2, 2020November 1, 2020

Ants Adapting Tool Use

Scientists are always studying the methods animals use to obtain food. Foraging often involves more than finding food in the open or running it down. Sometimes it requires the use of tools and adapting the way they use tools. Crows can use a tool to pry the lid off a milk bottle, and seagulls can crack open clam shells by dropping them on rocks from high elevations. In a recent study, biologists observed ants adapting tool use to obtain food.

Researchers found that black imported fire ants (Solenopsis richteri) can use sand to adapt their method of reaching a food source. Researchers filled small containers with sugar water, a favorite food for the ants. This species of ants have hydrophobic exoskeletons, which allow them to float on the water to reach the food. However, when the scientists added a surfactant to reduce the surface tension, the ants sank and drowned.

That was the point where the scientists saw the ants adapting tool use. The researchers provided the ants with sand in various grain sizes. They allowed the ants to choose a way to reduce their drowning risk. One of the study authors, Dr. Aiming Zhou, said, “We found the ants used sand to build a structure that could effectively draw sugar water out of the container to then be collected.” Dr. Jian Chen, another author of the research, said, “We knew some ant species are able to use tools, particularly in collecting liquid food; however, we were surprised by such remarkable tool use displayed by black imported fire ants.”

It is difficult to believe that the ants have a brain that could reason this out, and they did not display trial and error behavior. The response was immediate and indicated that built into the ant’s DNA is something that enables them to secure food. Entomologist Jian Chen wrote, “Our findings suggest that ants and other social insects may have considerable high cognitive capabilities for unique foraging strategies.” Previously cognitive sophistication has been observed in primates and birds, but scientists had thought the behavior was “hard wired” in invertebrates. These ants adapting tool use seems to defy that understanding. According to Dr. Chen, “Our study is the first to touch on this interesting topic.”

We would suggest that the ants’ Creator designed them to live in a wide variety of environments and built the tools into their genetics that would allow them to do that.

Reference: britishecologicalsociety.org

October 28, 2020October 27, 2020

How We Use Our Money

One of the interesting things going on in the world today is how we use our money. The sale of a T. rex fossil is one example. The skeleton of a massive dinosaur can bring huge profits to the owner. Recently a 13-foot tall Tyrannosaurus rex fossil known as “Stan” was sold at Christie’s Auction House for $32,000,000. Most of us would wonder why anyone would spend that kind of money on a fossil? Sarah Rose Sharp gave a possible answer in Hyperallergic.com:

“And honestly, can we find a more contemporary symbol than a tyrant king who stomps on all other living things with no regard for propriety, before witnessing the extinction of his species based on natural science beyond his control?”

Daily we see reports of leaders in politics, media, and technology raking in vast amounts of money no matter who gets hurt in the process. Jesus dealt with this mindset in His day. The parable Jesus told in Luke 12:16-21 is a picture of what is happening today. We should heed His follow-up teaching in verses 22-34. The words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 tell us what we should hold as important. Luke 18:10-14 demonstrates the attitude we should have.

The sale of a dinosaur fossil for massive amounts of money is just one more illustration of how we use our money and where we place our priorities.