In Message #75, Truth Detector says, "My belief is the various animals came off Noah's ark and populated the entire Earth. These species evolved/adapted enough to survive in their new environments."
Currently, estimates of the number of living species on Earth, including microbes, range from 1.4 million to 200 million. Biologists do not agree on this number, even to the nearest order of magnitude.
Until a few years ago, the total number of species on earth was estimated at between 1.4 and 6 million. These estimates were obtained as follows:
For the more conspicuous birds and mammals, the number of species is known quite accurately, both for tropical species as well as temperate ones. It is estimated that at least 98% of birds have been discovered. For birds there are 2-3 times as many tropical species as temperate ones. For other organisms most of the named species (1.4 million) are from temperate countries. If we assume that the same factor applies to other organisms as to birds, then there are 2-3 times this many tropical species (2.8-4.2 million), giving an estimated total species of 4.2-5.6 million worldwide.
There are about 1.8 million described and named species of organisms. Over half of described species are insects from temperate zones, but the real number of species of insects is very uncertain.
For example, beetles represent about 40% of all known arthropod species. Erwin estimated 160 x 100/40 = 400 arthropod species per tree species. Next, he estimated that the canopy is roughly twice as species-rich as the forest floor, and is composed mainly of different species. Therefore, including the forest floor brings the total to 600 arthropod species per tree species.
The estimated total number of species of tropical trees is 50,000. Therefore, the total number of tropical arthropod species is estimated as 600 x 50,000 = 30 million. (See link given below.)
There are about 4260 species of mammals known on this planet at this time, though taxonomists are still arguing about this figure, too.
Mammals are not the most speciose animal on the planet. Three other groups of vertebrates outnumber mammals at the moment: Reptiles 6787 species, Birds 9703 species and Fishes with approximately 25,000 species.
Invertebrates, of course, have groups with huge numbers of species that outnumber all the vertebrates put together: Molluscs 80,000 and Insects 1,000,000; while Arachnids with 44,000 species still outnumber any 3 groups of vertebrates put together.
About 10,000 new animal species are found every year (most of these are insects and other inconspicuous animals); but in groups such as birds and mammals, new species are still being discovered, at the rate of about 1-5 birds and 1-5 mammals per year, mainly in the tropics.
[For more information on the number of species occupying Earth, go to
earthlife.net, or
http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/lec06/b65lec06.htm or other similar sites. The figures quoted above were taken from the two Websites given.]
So, Truth Detector, my questions for you would be:
(1) How many species were extant before the Flood?
(2) How many species did Noah load on-board?
(3) How many species did Noah obtain from the Tropics, Artic, and other regions distant from his home; or
(4) Are we to assume that all species now extant that Noah was unable to load are evolved from species he was able to load and keep alive for one year?
(5) How about migratory species? Would they have posed insurmountable problems for Noah and Company?
(6) The tropical beetle data given above raises interesting questions and must have posed quite a challenge for Noah regarding capture and subsequent feeding, then re-release into appropriate habitat. Any comments on that particular scenerio?
(7) The question has been posed in other threads, but please reconsider not only the available cubic feet available in the Ark for the thousands of land animal species that would have to be loaded, along with a year's supply of highly specialized and variant feeds; but consider also the gross tonnage and its effects on a wooden craft.
As far as your final note: "If the Great Flood happened, is it possible that it made the Earth look older than it is?" ... I had always been left with the impression that a mud bath was rejuvenating.
Peace.
[This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-17-2004]
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