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How all the animals would have fit into the ark as mentioned
in Genesis 7.
Many skeptics will
allege that it would be impossible to fit all the animals into Noah's Ark. So I've decided to demonstrate just how easily
all the land animals of the earth would fit into the ark as described in
Genesis by breaking down each type of species and allotting a reasonable amount
of space for each pair or each 7. All
the species of land animals as mentioned in Genesis 7 and 8 barely would have
even taken up a third of the space of the ark.
People don’t realize that even though there are about a million
species of land animals, almost all of them are insects and only about 5,000 of
them are mammals and only several hundred species of mammals are bigger than
the size of an average sized sheep. Over
3,000 mammals are rodent sized. There
are about 10,000 species of birds, 8,200 species of reptiles and tens of
thousands of very small sized land creatures that ranch from toad sized to
parasitic size.
The ark had 1,518,750 cubic feet of space. Its
measurements were 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits. A cubit is one and a half feet long. That is divided into 3 stories or levels. That means the ark was 450'x75'x45'. That’s
about football fields in size with 15 foot tall ceilings.
Almost all the
species of land animals are insects. There
are only several hundred species that are the size of a sheep and larger.
There are 8 different
kinds of land animals. insects, avian (birds), reptiles, Chelicerata's
(mites/scorpions), Myriapoda's (pedes), amphibians, annelids (worms/leeches)
and mammals.
1. Insects: There are
925,000 known species of insects. Fit each average pair in an area of 1 cubic
inch. That's 925,000 cubic inches or
under 77,085 cubic feet. We’re left with
over 1,441,665 cubic feet.
2. Avian: There are
10,000 known bird species. The bible
says there were seven of each bird species. That is 70,000 birds. The average bird size is the size of a
parakeet. Give each bird 4 cubic feet and they take up
280,000 cubic feet. That leaves us with
over 1,161,665 cubic feet.
3. Reptiles: There
are about 8,200 known reptile species. Most are about the size of a snake or
lizard. Give each average pair of reptiles
about 3 cubic feet and they will take up 24,600 Cubic Feet of space. We are now left with over 1,137,065 cubic
feet.
4. Cheliceratas:
There are about 77,000 known species of cheliceratas (scorpions/spiders/mites).
Give each average pair 3 cubic inches of
space on the ark and they will use up 231,000 cubic inches (19,250 cubic feet).
We are now left with 1,117,815 cubic
feet of space on the ark.
5. Myriapodas: There
are about 13,000 known species of Myriapoda’s (millipedes/Centipedes). Give each average pair of them 5 cubic inches
and they will take up about 65,000 cubic inches (5,417 cubic feet). We are left with 1,112,398 cubic feet of space
on the ark.
6. Amphibians: There
are about 6,000 know species of amphibians (frogs). Give each average pair of frogs 6 cubic inches
of hopping space and they only take 36,000 cubic inches (3,000 cubic feet). We are now left with 1,109,398 cubic feet of
space on the ark.
7. Annelids: There
about 20,000 species of Annelids (worms/leeches) and almost all are marine or
freshwater. Let’s suppose 10,000 are
land worms. Give each average pair of
them 3 cubic inches of slithering room and they will take up about 30,000 cubic
inches (2500 cubic feet). We are now
left with 1,106,898 cubic feet on the ark.
8. Mammals: There are
only about 5,500 species of mammals. Almost
all of them are rodent size. 2,000 are
rodents, 1,000 of them are bats and then you have 250 of your livestock/cattle
mammals, your carnivore mammals only have 37 feline and 35 canine and 9 bear
species. And you have your horse/rhino
mammals which are only 19 different kind and you have your elephant types. The average size mammal is of a sheep. Subtract all the whales and dolphins etc. and
the average mammal is the size of a medium size dog. A pair of dogs is 2x2x1.5 feet. That’s 6 cubic feet in size. Let’s give them quadruple their size for
plenty of moving around space at 24 cubic feet for them.
5500 mammals with 24 cubic feet would only take up 132,000
Cubic Feet. Let’s say that they need
200,000 cubic feet to accommodate the 7 of each clean mammal’s. We are now left with 906,898 cubic feet of
space on the ark.
This isn't even counting if all the animals were in an
infant stage when brought aboard.
All the living species and the space provided them on the
ark barely even take up a third of the space of the ark. This leaves us with
space for food, water, supplies, infrastructure and isles on the ark. When you think of a dog pound or a barn or a
giant mouse lab, you realize this could all conceivably be done.
Most of the ark story should be answered by claiming that
the event is a supernatural occurrence by God and should therefore be explained
by reasoning that if God can make heaven and earth in 6 days, then he can also
make a global flood and still spare every type of species on earth. But when God says that a 450'x75'x45' box
would be required to physically fit a pair or seven of each kind of species,
then you better bet that Gods math is going to be more than accurate.
As far as how God preserved plant life, sea life, etc, then
understand that God is supernatural and had an unknown supernatural means of
wielding His will successfully without being limited to the laws of physics.
Some will speculate
and allege that the ship would have been too heavy to stay afloat with that
percentage of volume in flesh. However i can fill a fishing boat with people
and it will stay perfectly afloat.
