Animals Archives

April 28, 2025April 27, 2025

The Mantis Shrimp’s Design

Naturalistic evolution cannot explain many things in nature. For example, why do various birds display colors that offer no purpose and may make them vulnerable to predators? We see one of the most interesting examples that doesn’t fit blind mechanistic chance in the mantis shrimp’s design feature that can exert a blow 1000 times its body weight.

The mantis shrimp uses a club-like feature to strike its prey with a force so extreme that it creates imploding bubbles that increase the force. The question is how the design of the mantis shrimp’s club-like feature doesn’t harm the shrimp. Dr Horacio Espinosa at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, has published a study explaining the mantis shrimp’s design.

Mantis shrimps have layers of mineral-hardened chitin arranged in bundles, with each layer rotated slightly with respect to the layers above and below. You might compare it to a stack of papers that have been twisted, creating a helix-like corkscrewing shape. This arrangement dissipates the strike’s energy and prevents shear waves from damaging the soft tissue of the shrimp.

Engineers are trying to copy this design to increase the toughness of airplane wings and wind turbine blades. They are sure to find more uses in future high-performance materials. We have previously highlighted the mantis shrimp’s design features, including its club, eyes, and visual system. The shrimp’s protective layer is one more example of a design scientists discovered in the natural world that can aid the design of objects beneficial to humans. God thought of these features first, and they are the product of intelligence – not mechanistic, opportunistic chance.

Reference: sciencenews.org

April 21, 2025April 20, 2025

Unique Design of the Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine falcons have a unique design. This bird can dive at speeds up to 240 miles per hour to catch prey. The speed is totally vertical, which means there is a rapid, violent change in air pressure. Those who enjoy hot air balloons must be careful to compensate for the change in air pressure. Even though their assent is slow, the pressure change from ground level to even 1000 feet is significant. The peregrine falcon goes through a much greater air pressure change at a faster rate. Why don’t their lungs explode? The answer is the unique design of the peregrine falcon.

Peregrine Falcons have a bony structure in their nostrils called a tubercle. It acts as a baffle, deflecting strong shockwaves of air and allowing controlled breathing during their high-speed dives. Studies have shown that this design is unique to the peregrine falcon.

It is important to understand why raptors such as peregrine falcons exist. Some birds, such as pigeons, can reproduce in large numbers, exceeding their food supply. The creation always has a balance between the food supply and the population. When I was a teenager, laws protected the deer in Indiana’s Brown County State Park to the extent that they did not have an adequate food supply. The normal predators of deer had been killed off by humans, allowing the population to grow so large that the deer were destroying the vegetation but were still undernourished. When the authorities finally allowed hunting, the harvested deer were vastly underweight. A full-grown deer could weigh less than 60 pounds.

God designed peregrine falcons to control bird populations to avoid the same suffering caused by overpopulation. There is no evolutionary model that adequately explains the unique design of the peregrine falcon and its bony tubercle. Science strongly supports design in the natural world. “We can know there is a God through the things He has made” (Romans 1:20).

References: Wikipedia and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

March 19, 2025March 18, 2025

Snakebite Antivenom and AI

For most of us living in the United States, it is hard to believe that around 100,000 people worldwide die from snakebites every year. Venomous snakes have a blizzard of toxins in their bite, but the most dangerous are the “three-finger toxins,” proteins that can stop a person’s heart and ability to breathe. Snakebite antivenom is produced today by milking snakes to extract their venom.

Technicians inject a small dose of venom into a horse or other large animal and harvest antibodies later to make snakebite antivenom. When medical personnel inject the antibodies into a snakebite victim, they bind to venom toxins, shutting them down. This process is expensive and time-consuming, so researchers want to find a better answer. The 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry went to three chemists who used artificial intelligence (AI) to design proteins that can dampen and neutralize snake venom.

People have asked us, “Why would God create snakes with venom?” It is essential to understand that snakes control the populations of rats, mice, and other disease-carrying animals. What would happen if there was no predator to eat rodents when they go underground? Rodents above ground are preyed on by foxes, bears, hawks, and eagles and killed by humans. When they retreat underground, they are safe from all of those, but snakes can go after and kill rodents even there.

When a venomous snake bites a human, it is usually because the human has invaded the snake’s territory and deliberately confronted it. I was hiking into geologically interesting areas in a National Science Foundation workshop in Montana many years ago. As we walked down an old wagon trail, I was in the back with 20 people in front of me. Looking ahead, I saw a diamondback rattlesnake coiled and sitting in the middle of the wagon tracks. It had made no effort to strike any of the people within inches of it, relying totally on its camouflage.

Snakebite antivenom is essential to protect human lives, but non-venomous animals can also cause human deaths. The late Steve Irwin showed many beautiful snakes in his TV show. When he died at age 44 on September 4, 2006, it was not from a snake bite. A ray’s barb on Batt Reef in Australia pierced his heart, causing him to bleed to death. Unlike snakes, rays are not considered to be dangerous animals, but nobody has challenged us on why God created rays.

Reference: Science News magazine for February 2025, pages 14-15 or sciencenews.org.

March 17, 2025March 16, 2025

Baikal Seals Are Unique

The world’s only exclusively freshwater seal is the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica), which is found only in Lake Baikal in Siberia. This earless seal is relatively small, with a maximum of about 5 feet long. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth. It has a depth of over 5,000 feet and more freshwater surface area than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined. Lake Baikal is covered with ice most of the year, and the ice thickness can be several feet. Adult Baikal Seals can hold their breaths for up to 30 minutes, but their pups can only go a maximum of 15 minutes.

Researchers are amazed by how the pups survive. Female Baikal seals raise the pups on their own, digging a den under the ice. Some freshwater springs in Lake Baikal maintain holes in the ice. Adult seals use the holes to get air. After breathing in air, the female will go near her pup and blow bubbles to create an airspace under the ice. Pups live and breathe in that airspace and exercise by expanding the den with a maze of tunnels but never breaking the surface.

Lake Baikal is on a geological structure with no connection to any ocean. The primary food source for Baikal seals is golomyanka fish that live only in Lake Baikal. Researchers estimate that 80-100,000 Baikal seals live in the lake, as well as other unique species not found elsewhere. The evidence shows that every nook and cranny of God’s creation has life specifically designed to survive and prosper in that environment.

References: PBS documentary and Baikal seal and Lake Baikal in Wikipedia

March 12, 2025March 11, 2025

Baminornis Zhenghensis Fossil

Baminornis Zhenghensis - Ancestor of Modern Birds?

For many years, the scientific community has held that Archaeopteryx was the first bird. Most textbooks maintain that it was a crow-sized half-bird and half-reptile found in Germany in 1861. Archaeopteryx had a very long tail, teeth, and wing hooks or clawed hands resembling some dinosaurs. Now, researchers in China have announced they found a fossil called Baminornis zhenghensis that is more like modern birds.

The Baminornis zhenghensis fossil was found 5,500 miles away from Archaeopteryx. Dr. Min Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences says it had a short tail, which is critical for flight compared to Archaeopteryx’s long tail. The tail’s bone structure is made of fused vertebrae, allowing for fan-shaped feathers, which improve flight.

There are many problems involved in this find. The Baminornis fossil lacks a skull, so researchers are guessing at the tooth structure. Both specimens are morphologically advanced, suggesting a common bird ancestor. In the biblical account, God said, “let birds multiply on the earth” (Genesis 1:22). The Bible doesn’t tell us when God created birds or what they were like. Baminornis zhenghensis was small, only about six inches long, and Archaeopteryx was slightly larger.

Much about the history of life on Earth that the Bible does not tell us has been revealed in the fossil record. The information we find shows agreement between science and the Bible. We maintain that science and faith are friends. The fossil record is incomplete, just as the biblical record is. Birds have a high body temperature and all the equipment they need to fly, but we don’t see that in other life forms. New chapters will be added to the fossil record as more fossils are found, but they will only add to what the Bible has revealed.

Reference: smithsonianmag.com

March 11, 2025March 10, 2025

Polar Bear Design Features

Polar bear design features enable them to live in a region of incredible cold. Previously, we reported that polar bear fur is hollow, providing insulation and creating an optical effect that looks white. New research by Norwegian nanophysicist Bodil Holst has shown how a polar bear can climb out of freezing water and then walk around in temperatures as low as minus 40. It has nothing to do with its fur, but because the polar bear has glands in its skin that secrete a grease resistant to freezing called sebum.

The skin of mammals, including humans, secretes sebum that makes hair greasy. Tests of other forms of sebum have shown that only polar dear sebum has the properties that keep the fur from freezing. At the same time, it lacks squalene that makes ice stick. There is great interest in this discovery not only from scientists but also from industries. It can potentially replace toxic de-icing chemicals used in ski wax and for plane de-icing.

Humans have benefited from many things copied from animals and plants. Common examples include Velcro (thistles), airplane design (bird wings), and synthetic fibers (spider webs). Polar bear design features are among the unique designs we see in the living world. They are not accidents but deliberate designs by a Creator, allowing life to thrive everywhere on planet Earth. As with polar bears, animals and plants usually have more than one specialized design feature.

Reference: science.org Here and Here

February 25, 2025February 24, 2025

Freshwater Mussels and Design

Humanity’s war with pollution has a surprising helper in freshwater mussels. They are susceptible to any change in the water in which they live. When anything disturbs the quality of the water, these mussels close their shells. In Poland, fifty water processing plants use these mussels to monitor any contamination of their drinking water. Technicians attach sensors to the mussel’s shells with hot glue. When four of the eight mussels close their shells, they trip a sensor alerting control computers to shut off the water supply. After three months, the mussels are removed from service and returned to the wild because they adapt to water quality and become less sensitive.

When Joe Kramarz sent this information, I thought it was a joke, but it’s true, as the National Institutes of Health reported. Our thanks to those who send us information we might miss. In this case, we find it interesting that mussels are designed to avoid pollution in their environment. Freshwater mussels are just one example of many animals that monitor their environment, including bats, whales, corals, moles, and even groundhogs. Some of these may not directly benefit humans, but they help us understand that God has designed animals for a complex and changing world.

When God challenges Job’s understanding in Job 38-41, He refers to many things in the creation that show wisdom and design. We are still learning about many of those examples, but all of them are beyond human capacity to duplicate.

February 19, 2025February 18, 2025

Animal Coprophagy – Recycling Poop

One aspect of design in the natural world is that virtually no food goes to waste. To that point, researchers have discovered many instances of animal coprophagy, poop eating. A study published in the journal Animal Behaviour documents 150 species of animals ranging from adult black bears to baby koalas recycling poop.

Many of the animals could not survive if they didn’t eat the feces of other animals. One example is pikas, small mountain-dwelling mammals on the Tibetan Plateau. They could not survive the harsh winters if they didn’t eat the droppings of Yaks. Blind cave fish can’t leave the cave to forage for food, so they survive by eating the guano of bats that inhabit the caves. Cows have multiple compartments for processing food, but rabbits do not. Rabbits and other small animals survive by eating the droppings of larger animals that have eaten harsh foods, breaking them down to a form the rabbit’s gut can easily absorb.

You might think that animal coprophagy would lead to diseases and parasites, but the nutrition gained vastly exceeds the possible infection for many animals. Capybaras eat their own feces, so you can’t call it waste. An interesting fact is that lab rats eat up to 40% of the poop from other rats and even themselves. If lab workers prevent them from doing that, they become sick from vitamin B12 deficiencies. Insects such as dung beetles survive on animal dung.

Recycling poop gives evidence that God designed the animal world so food is not wasted. Meanwhile, humans are guilty of wasting food, leaving many people to starve. That is why Jesus Christ, in Matthew 25:35-46, told His disciples to give food and drink to those who are hungry and thirsty.

References: Science News for February 2025, page 27, and Animal Behaviour journal for December 2024, pages 75-86

February 11, 2025February 9, 2025

Symbiotic Relationships Show Design

A stable ecosystem needs all forms of life to benefit other life forms. When two living things mutually benefit each other, we call it symbiosis. A simple example I see from my window is squirrels gathering acorns that make up a large percentage of their diet. The squirrels bury acorns in various places around the neighborhood and either forget where they buried them or don’t need all the acorns they buried. The result is that oak trees are planted all over the neighborhood. If there were no acorns, the squirrels would starve. If squirrels didn’t plant the acorns over a wide area, the oak trees would be crowded and unable to grow successfully. Squirrels and oak trees are one example of symbiotic relationships.

In the insect world, there are many symbiotic relationships, and some insects have multiple such relationships. The red wood ant is an example. The ants have a symbiotic relationship with aphids, which excrete energy-rich honeydew, which supplies food for the ants. In return, the ants protect the aphids from their enemies.

Another symbiotic relationship is with Eurasian jays. The birds land on an ant mound and allow the ants to crawl on them, spraying their feathers with formic acid. The acid is low enough concentration that it doesn’t harm the birds but is strong enough to kill parasites, including mites, that hide in their feathers. In this way, the jays find protection from mites.

A third symbiotic relationship of red wood ants protects spruce forests by controlling the wood-boring beetles that destroy them. The ants bite the beetles and spray formic acid into their wounds. Killing the beetles protects the spruce trees and provides a home for the aphids that live in them. That takes us back to the ant-aphid symbiosis.

The multiple symbiotic relationships of red wood ants remind us that removing one species may affect many symbiotic relationships. Symbiotic relationships show design. Proverbs 6:6-8 tells us, “Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise. Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.”

— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: The February 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine (pages 110-132) or nationalgeographic.com

February 10, 2025February 9, 2025

The Design of Mountain Goats

Every niche in the natural world has a designed relationship with plants and animals that live there. Goats thrive in a variety of environments that are unsuitable for other animals. The design of mountain goats allows them to run up vertical mountain slopes and even climb trees in areas where no ground forage is available. Their ability to run vertically up steep slopes protects them from predators like bears or mountain lions. The only predator goats have to worry about are those that can fly. However, eagles and hawks can carry away small young goats.

The secret that allows mountain goats to do these seemingly impossible things is their hoof design. The outer edge of a goat’s hoof consists of very hard material. The hoof has adjustable toes that can compress to a sharp point for digging or to gain traction on a narrow ridge. Mountain goats can also expand their toes for a wider surface. The hoof edges have pointed toenails to catch on small crevices in rocks. The center of the hoof has a soft, rubbery material that gives traction for walking.

People who raise goats have found them difficult to hold in a pen. They can scale any material the walls of an enclosure might be made of and even move about on a steel roof with ease. No other animal has all of the features that allow goats to thrive in places where other animals can’t survive.

The design of mountain goats is challenging to explain based on chance. They are uniquely designed to be the leading players in the ecology of mountainous areas. Their design speaks loudly of the statement of Romans 1:20 that we can know there is a God through the things He has made.