Extreme Animals

Much has been made of bacteria that live in extreme conditions. We have mentioned the forms that live in the geyser pools at Yellowstone National Park. Those bacteria use a chemical source to allow them to exist in high-temperature environments. They, in turn, provide the basis for other forms of life that use the Sun as their energy source. The British Broadcasting Corporation has had numerous features in which they have reported on other animals that function in extreme environments. Some of the examples that the BBC cites are:

The sperm whale feeds 2000 meters down in the ocean where the pressure “is the equivalent of carrying ten jumbo jets on your back.” The whales deflate their lungs to do this and then spend up to an hour using chemically-stored oxygen to supply their muscles while they are down there.

Polar bears spend seven months without eating or drinking and then give birth in an area where the temperatures can hit -60 Celsius and the winds can reach 160 km/hr.

The bar-headed geese that fly over the Himalayas at 10,000 feet by concentrating oxygen with their special lung design.

We have discussed some of these mechanisms in the past. Their design and construction are not well explained by chance hypothesis proposals. It would seem that a designer was involved in these intricate systems. God wanted all the earth to be inhabited, but to do that a variety of very specialized structures had to be built into living things. Romans 1:18-22 tells us that we can know there is a God by seeing this design in living things. Extreme animals, just like extreme bacteria, powerfully testify to the truth of that message.
–John N. Clayton © 2017