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The Ice Age an Earth Divided

(First published in newsletter # 15 in April 1996)

Where Does “THE ICE AGE” Fit In?

That there was an “ice age” cannot be denied. But how did it come about? And WHEN? For me personally, this was one of the most crucial questions of all when examining the story of the flood and the chronology of the Bible. There is conclusive evidence that at sometime in the past, glaciers covered a tremendous portion of the planet (in addition to the portion still covered). Most of northern North America was covered, down to the Great Lakes and the US-Canadian border in the west. The British Isles, Scandinavia, and northern European Russia were all covered with ice-caps which extended down into Germany and Poland. Even in South America, the southern Andes Mountains were covered by a narrow ice sheet which divided into several glaciers which extended all the way to the Caribbean. The South Island of New Zealand, as well, was covered. This is only a partial list of the areas that were once covered in ice.
“God made a WIND to pass over the earth”

We believe that these glaciers were formed at the time of the flood, and in light of the Biblical account, there can be no other explanation. The key to the answer, I believe, lies in the following verses: GEN 8:1 … and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;. Is it possible that by Divinely using the “laws” He ordained, God somehow caused a great wind to heap up massive amounts of water in the regions of the glaciers, then caused them to instantly freeze, effectively sealing a great deal of the waters on the face of the earth within these massive glaciers? “Freezing in still air is the poorest method; circulating cold air greatly accelerates freezing.” (EB, vol. 7, p. 490, 1985.)

The Force of the Wind

In order for this wind to have such an effect on the incredible amount of water on the face of the earth, it would have had to have been of incredible force, greater than any hurricane or tornado we can imagine. Some water returned back into the earth (underground aquifers), some was evaporated, a large amount was frozen forming the massive glaciers, but the majority of water drained into the incredibly deep chasms that now contain the oceans.

Crucial to the understanding of the “ice age” and what next occurred is an examination of events during the flood and the incredible processes which took place. To present a quick background of our belief of what happened based on the evidences we have today, I am including a portion from newsletter # 5 (Oct. 1993), also found on p. 39 of our “Discoveries Volume:

The Cataclysm of the Flood

The description of the flood in Genesis is incredibly short, but it says enough to let us know what a tremendous catastrophe occurred: GEN 7:11 …the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. [In Genesis, it tells how God made dry land appear: GEN 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. What He did to make dry land appear, He UNDID to cause the flood.] All the water contained in the earth was “broken up”- and the waters above the atmosphere came hurtling down to the earth. Now, if all this doesn’t sound particularly violent to you, think again. Before the flood, a tremendous amount of water was suspended above the atmosphere in the “canopy” and also great quantities were in aquifers in the earth. All of this water, most of which is now contained in the oceans, came exploding out and down at the same time, as we read in Gen. 7:11. The force of this cataclysm had to be far greater than any nuclear explosion man could dream of. Then, when it was over with, the entire planet was completely covered in water. All life was extinguished except for those on the ark. The tremendous currents and tidal waves would have had such force that the face of the planet was marred and scarred beyond description.

All matter except the bedrock had to have been engulfed in the turmoil. To better understand, if you take a bottle of water, place soil, pebbles, grass, leaves, etc., in it and then shake it up, you can see on a tiny scale what had to have occurred. But, during the flood, it was more than soil, pebbles and grass- it was everything, including animals, men, women and children, homes,- everything on the face of the planet. Nothing would be the same after it was all over.

The Earth During the Flood

Everything on the earth’s surface was in liquid suspension, the only thing remaining stable being the bedrock. And in this “earth soup” were the bodies of thousands, perhaps even millions, of “dinosaurs”- some gigantic and some as small as our lizards today. As the turmoil lessened, the debris in the water began to settle. The heaviest and densest materials naturally settled to the bottom first. But, the turmoil was not consistent over the entire planet, so some areas experienced some settling before others did. Also, as the waves and currents traveled continually over the face of the earth, new debris would be washed into some areas after initial settling had begun, producing multiple settlement, or “strata”.

The Earth’s Axis Shifted Numerous Times

Evidence that the earth shifted on its axis numerous times in a very short time period is proven by rocks such as magnetite. During their formation, these rocks developed lines within them which aligned with magnetic north. Magnetite specimens have been found which display as many as 10 or more different alignments, proving that during the time that the rock was cooling, the earth changed its magnetic poles at least 10 times.

And during this tremendous cataclysm, some of the huge bodies of the gigantic “dinosaurs” were buried deep in the earth, along with everything else. Due to their density, many were buried in a deeper layer than the lighter animals, but not always. As the currents and waves continued, more debris was deposited, again settling out according to its weight and density, resulting in the multiple layers or “strata”. [End of segment from #5].

The Melting Glaciers

Just as the glaciers were formed at the time of the flood, something else occurred. The part highlighted in the above section is important to understanding this. After the flood ceased, the heaviest elements were now deep in the earth- those whose isotopes are radioactive. The decaying isotopes of the heavy elements began to heat, melting the surrounding rock and forming magma. The expansion of the magma is slow (liquids expand when heated) and does not produce of itself enough rapid pressure increase to cause the violent eruptions we associate with volcanos. Some volcanos grow slowly to massive height, then remain stable. But then, some erupt with extremely violent force. Yet, something happened to cause rapid volcanic activity on a wide scale- something which resulted in massive glacial melting in a relatively short period of time.

Volcanos and Magma/ Glaciers and Water

In answer to the questions “What makes lava rise and overflow from it’s crater?”, and “What causes some volcanos to erupt with explosive force from time to time?”, one geologic encyclopedia gives the following answer: “The answer to both questions is water, in the form of steam.” (EA, p. 153). We all know what happens when we boil a pot of water and put a lid on it.

As the rock melted below glaciers, it slowly heated the earth; the ice at that spot began to melt and seep into the earth. As the water came in contact with the molten rock, steam was produced. This exerted tremendous pressure beneath the surface, forcing the earth up further. The cycle continued until enough pressure was exerted to expel the gases, lava and earth at the weakest point.

A cycle was established- each “fed” the other: the magma slowly heated the glacier and melted some water; the water seeped into the earth and came into contact with the magma which produced steam. The pressure thus produced pushed the magma closer to the surface, melting more glacial ice, which in turn, seeped into the earth and came in contact with the magma. This continued. Massive glaciers were melted quickly, not over long periods of hundreds and thousands of years.

“The amount of water released during an eruption is amazing. At the height of its activity, Paracutin produced 16,000 tons of water daily, as well as 100,000 tons of lava..” (EA, p. 153). An example, on a much smaller scale, of what occurred during the glacial period: “Direct observations show clearly the effect of exterior water on volcanic eruption. Snow melting in a volcano’s crater, or heavy rain over the summit area during a period of activity is sufficient to trigger off renewed eruptions. This process was observed in 1915 at Lassen Peak, California and in Vesuvius in 1926.” (EA, p. 153 154.)

The Earth is “Divided”

By God’s Divine Hand, the melting of a portion of the glaciers took place at the exact time He ordained: GEN 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided;

Peleg was born 99 years after the flood and died 239 years later, or 339 years after the flood. All we know is that at some time during his life, the earth was divided. Most people tend to think that he received his name, Peleg, meaning “divide or division” as a result of the “division”. HOWEVER, this would mean that the event has to occur BEFORE he was given his name. Since children receive their names at birth or shortly thereafter, this would mean that the event had occurred AND that it was KNOWN to his parents at the time he received his name. Yet, the Scriptures say the earth was divided “in his days”, or sometime during his lifetime. This implies NOT that HE was named after the event, BUT that the EVENT was named after his name. What was this event?

While the glaciers were in place, sea-level was much lower and much more of the earth was dry land. As time progressed, heat continued to be generated deep in the earth by the decaying isotopes of the heaviest elements, such as uranium. Molten rock began to expand, pushing it’s way to the surface. These “hot spots” caused areas of the glaciers to melt, forming lakes within some of the massive glaciers. As these glaciers continued to melt more and more, the exterior walls of ice which contained the melted waters gave way under the tremendous force of the melted water, flooding the region below it. In time, enough of these glaciers had melted to raise the sea-level several hundreds of feet.

There is evidence of several periods of fluctuating glacier activity, which the evolutionists have decreed were several different ice-ages, all thousands of years apart. We believe that enough glacial water was melted within the period of Peleg’s life to raise sea-level enough to isolate the continents. The glaciers advanced and retreated, finally stabilizing when the glaciers had retreated to today’s approximate extent.

We are, however, still living in an “ice age”, since 10% of the earth is still covered in glaciers. And these glaciers still advance and retreat-“In Greenland, phenomenal rates of almost 100 feet per day have been recorded for coastal ice-tongues.” (EA, p. 138.) “More recently, on June 9, 1983, the lower part of the Variegated Glacier, in Alaska, was clocked moving 210 feet a day”. (PE, p. 120). “In 1820, 3 guides from Chamonix were overtaken by an avalanche and hurled into a crevasse near the summit of Mont Blanc. Their remains reappeared in 1861 at the foot of the Bossons glacier, about 2 miles lower down. The glacial ice had traveled at an average speed of 276 feet a year.” (EA, p. 138.) The potential power of these massive glaciers is awesome, and sometimes they still cause catastrophic destruction- “On January 10, 1962, a glacier on Peru’s Mount Huascaran surged, and the lowest part of the ice broke off and avalanched into the valley below, killing 4,000 people in nine villages.” (PE, p. 120.)

Weather Can Change RAPIDLY

While we can’t imagine the climatic forces at work during the time of the “division” of the earth, we can get a glimpse of it sometimes. For example, one world’s record for a QUICK temperature change is held by Spearfish, South Dakota. At 7:30 am., January 22, 1943, the temperature was -4 degrees F. TWO MINUTES later, it was 45 degrees F! (PE, p. 100). Then, there was what has been termed “the Little Ice Age” which began in the 13th century and culminated in about 1750 AD when the glaciers were more widespread than they had been since the original “ice age” during Peleg’s life. Interestingly, critics had long believed that many of the 17th century Dutch painters, such as Rembrandt, had used more than a little “imagination” in some of their famous winter landscape paintings, which featured huge snowdrifts and completely frozen canals with ice-skaters everywhere. Today, their winters are not this extremely cold and fierce. But when the canal records beginning in 1633 were found and studied, it was discovered that during that time period, many times the canals were frozen and impassable for as long as 3 months. “Hans Brinker had PLENTY of time to practice for the Silver Skates!” (PE, p. 112.) But no one knows what caused this, and other known, climate extremes, but it is evidence to us today of how quickly and how extremely weather can change, and the catastrophic results. It does NOT take tens of thousands of years for glaciers to form, or melt, or flow over great distances, etc.

We believe the glaciers and ice-caps covering almost 1/3 of the earth were formed at the flood, just about 4,300 years ago. 339 years later, after 4 or 5 major world-wide glacial advances and retreats, enough glaciers were melted to raise the sea-level to the extent that North America and Australia were isolated as continents. The pathways which man and animal had walked across were now under water. The animals that had made their way to Australia were sealed off from the rest of the world and from them would arise species unique to the entire planet. The few people who had arrived on the North American continent were now isolated and their descendants would become the Indian tribes of North America, the Incas, the Mayans and the earliest peoples of South America. Australia would be home to a group of people we know today as the Aborigines.

God’s “Arsenal” is Prepared during the Flood

During the flood, as we explained above, the heavier elements were deposited in the deepest layers. The decay of these isotopes began to produce heat. Peter explained how God had destroyed the “old world” (pre-flood world) with water, but the world that is “now” (the post-flood) is to be destroyed by fire: 2PE 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. His “arsenal” was prepared during the flood for the final destruction of the present-day face of the earth. But before that day would arrive, this same arsenal played a great role in accomplishing another work He ordained- a work that had it’s effect during the time of Peleg. Man had wanted to united into “one people” at Babel, contrary to God’s command. At their refusal to obey, He confounded their languages and they were forced to separate and spread out upon the face of the earth. Once they had done this, to insure their separation, God melted enough of the glacial ice to raise the sea-level enough to isolate the continents.
Sea-Level was Lower after the Flood than We are Told

Present-day scientists claim sea-level was between 330 and 460 feet lower at the height of the “Ice Age”; however, other evidences indicate that it was much lower than that. One of the best evidences which show that sea-level was MUCH lower is found in some coral reefs.
The Evidence from the Coral Reefs

A coral reef is an underwater ridge or mound consisting of the skeletons of corals, limestone, and other organisms such as coralline algae binding the various components together. They are found in tropical seas and form ONLY in shallow water because sunlight penetration is necessary for algae photosynthesis which supplies the living coral with nutrients and oxygen. Because light can only penetrate water to a certain depth, corals of even the deeper water type are rarely found in depths greater than 150 to 200 feet. They also thrive best in warmer temperatures ranging from 77F to 86F with some able to grow in as little as 67F. There are 4 basic types of coral reefs- “fringing reefs” which border a shore; “barrier reefs” which are at some distance offshore, parallel to the coastline; “atolls” which are circular enclosing a lagoon of water; and “table reefs” which are roughly circular, lie just below sea-level, and are solid across.

Interestingly, there is a large number of reefs, many of them “atolls”, that are many, MANY feet below sea-level, some over 1,000 feet. “Atolls” are circular reefs which form around underwater volcanos, attracted to the ever so slight warmth generated by the volcano. Yet, even with this added warmth, coral reefs still couldn’t form without the sunlight necessary for the algae photosynthesis which is so vital to the corals existence. Therefore, we know of a certainty these atolls did not form in this deep, deep water. The answer is simple- the abundance of these coral reefs found at depths far below that at which they are able to live, is absolute evidence that the sea-level has risen a great deal since their formation. When it was much shallower, these reefs began to form. When the waters of the melted glaciers raised the sea-level, these reefs which were once perhaps 100 feet deep were now 500, or 800 or even 1,000 feet deep. While today’s scientists will readily concede that the melting of the glaciers raised the sea-level anywhere from 330 to 460 feet, the evidence of the coral indicates an even greater rise.

The Americas- Completely Isolated

“Evolutionary” scientists all agree that at one time the sea-level was low enough that the Bering Strait was dry land, allowing man to travel to North America. No one knows how many people originally arrived here prior to the “division” of the earth, or the isolation of the continents, however, there is evidence that the earliest inhabitants possessed a much higher level of technological knowledge than is commonly known- a knowledge which didn’t increase as man “evolved” (according to the theory of evolution). This phenomenon is exactly what we have seen in the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley, although these were civilizations of a much larger scale.
Australia- Completely Isolated

Scientists and scholars admit that the sea between Asia and Australia was once much lower, forming vast land masses. “Until 12,000 years ago, when the melting of the Ice Age ice caps raised the level of the world’s oceans several hundred feet, Southeast Asia and Indonesia formed a single huge subcontinent known as the Sundra Shelf.” (MP, p. 223) The Sahul Shelf, to the east and south, included Tasmania, New Guinea, the Melanesian Islands, and Australia. “The significance of the Sundra and Sahul shelves is clear. In no part of the world other than southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia are the seas so shallow that vast interconnecting land masses could have been created when the icecaps of the polar regions trapped enough water to lower the sea levels in many parts of the world by forty fathoms below their present shorelines. The Sundra and Sahul shelves are the only real `lost continents’.” (OR, p. 45-6.) But, they also claim that theses 2 “shelves” were separated by about 60 to 75 miles of water. As we have seen by the evidence of the coral, the sea-level after the flood was much lower than today’s scientists will admit- in fact, it was low enough to allow man to travel to the Australian continent on dry land.

And the continent which has remained the most isolated and untouched by outside influences for the longest period of time is Australia. When the British began colonizing New South Wales in 1788, Australia still remained uninfluenced by the outside world. The population of Australia until well into the 3rd millennium after the flood consisted of what we called the Aborigines. If indeed these people were the descendants of those who first arrived after Babel, and they had no contact with the outside world for all that time, it should be interesting to learn about these people. If, as is taught today, man and animal “evolved” from lower life forms, we should find no similarities among those that have evolved in isolation with those who evolved in other areas. If, as WE believe, they all originated with the people and animals brought through the flood on the ark, we should find evidence of that.

First, the Animals

The Biblical account tells us that all the animals on the planet today are the descendants of those that were on the ark. The common concept today is that 2 of every “species” were on the ark- but that is not the case. It would have been impossible for the ark to contain that many animals. Take, for example, the buffalo. It is a mammal of the family Bovidae, the order Artiodactyla. Artiodactyla, an order of mammals, have certain unique features, such as an even number of hoofed toes on each hindfoot. Included in this “order” are cattle, deer and pigs. Some chew the cud, some don’t. Some have antlers, some don’t. Of course, these subdivisions and classifications of animals are man-made based on our present knowledge. But there is evidence in Australia that many different species may very likely be the descendants of only TWO common ancestors that were on the ark, which will explain why there didn’t have to be nearly as many animals with Noah as is commonly thought.
The “Marsupials”

Everyone is familiar with the very unique animals found in Australia that are found no where else on earth- most of these are what we call “marsupials”, which are characterized by their premature birth and continued development while attached to the nipples on the lower belly of it’s mother. Most of these have the familiar “pouch”, or “marsupium”, which is how they received their name. These include kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, koalas and a large number of rodent-like forms. In Australia and the islands surrounding them (in the areas once above water prior to the rise in sea-level) there are about 170 species of marsupials. The only other place on earth where marsupials are found are in South, Central and North America. Consisting of 2 families of about 65 to 70 species, all but one are found from Mexico to Argentina. Above Mexico to southern Canada is found only “Didelphis Marsupialis”, our familiar “possum”. Yet fossil remains of marsupials have been found all over the world- Europe, Africa, Asia, etc.

We don’t know what the original animals were on the ark, but we DO know that they contained the gene-pool of every animal that would later exist on the earth. The few animals that made it to Australia before it was isolated included marsupials, as did those that made it to the Americas. The only other animals in Australia when the Europeans arrived were the dingo (wild dog), rat and bat. What does all of this tell us? It tells us that very few animals made the long trip from Turkey to Australia before the sea-level rose and isolated the continent. It also tells us that all the varied species of marsupials found there came from a very few common ancestors. It would be ludicrous to think that all those hundreds of various marsupial species made it to Australia while but a couple of other animals did.

Classification of Animals Based on “Evolution”

The term “species”, “genus”, “families”, and etc. are terms coined by man to classify animals under a system (which is influenced by the theory of evolution). But, this entire system of animal classification was designed by “men”, not God, and is therefore not reliable.

How does God classify animals? In the Biblical account, we read: GEN 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle (behemah) after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. This passage shows us that God indicated only 3 main divisions of “every living thing of all flesh” (animals) that were to come on the ark- fowls (birds), “behemah” (NOT strictly cattle, but more accurately “beasts”) and the “creeping thing”.

All God tells us is that His 3 divisions of “living things of all flesh” are fowls, beasts and creeping animals. Within each category, He told Noah to take 2 of each “after his kind”. That’s it. That’s all we are told. We simply don’t know what the original “kind” were, no matter what geneticists and other scientists today may tell us. I suspect that we would all be VERY surprised to learn what the original animals were on the ark.

Our Knowledge of Genetics Severely Limited

Right after the flood, in order for mankind to grow in population, people had no choice but to marry relatives- that’s all there were to choose from! Yet today, we cringe in horror at the thought of blood related people getting married to each other. Why?

Today, with our new knowledge (which is STILL severely limited) we know that there is “genetic” material contributed by each parent which gives offspring their characteristics. At this late date in the “life” of mankind, as well as the animal kingdom, it appears that we have reached the “dead-end” of the gene-pool; in other words, the possible genetic combinations that can find their expression in what we term a “species” have all but been exhausted. But there is more to consider before we think we know it all.

If God is Who we believe He is, then we KNOW He was certainly able to ensure that Noah’s family possessed a gene-pool without flaws, or at least relatively flawless, or else the human race would not have survived. As they reproduced, this gene-pool thinned out, as we today have every color of skin, eyes, hair, every shape body from tall to short,- in short, every characteristic of the human race today had it’s beginnings in Noah’s family.

Somehow, sometime, defective, or mutated, genes arose. Present day science has shown that genes mutate due to environmental factors, radiation, certain foods, and other reasons we don’t know about. Genetics is a very complicated subject- but to make the point, we need to understand only that it’s a well-known fact that if 2 people marry, one with a defective gene causing a certain defect or disease, and one with a non-defective gene, their off-spring have a chance of NOT inheriting the defect (this is a broad statement, intended only to illustrate a point, which does not take into consideration “recessive” and “dominant” genes, as well as other more complicated factors.). But, the defective gene may have been passed on to the child who, although free of the defect, becomes a “carrier” of that gene and capable of passing it on to it’s offspring. Now, if 2 closely related people marry who are from a family with a defective gene, and both are carriers, the chances are that their off-spring WILL have the defect. Thus, “in-breeding”, or marrying within one’s own family, significantly increases the chances of producing children with genetic defects and illnesses. Albinism, insanity, deaf-mutism and cleft palate were commonly found in families who had inbred for long periods of time. Finally, sterility and infant mortality is much higher in these unions than others.

Ok, so why didn’t all this happen to Noah’s family? Why didn’t they all have defects from in-breeding? The only answer can be that they started out with no defective genes. In order for mankind to effectively repopulate the earth, God made sure that they could produce healthy off-spring by providing them with a “clean slate” to start out with. But after an unknown period of time, if people kept marrying who were closely related, these defective genes would start crippling the population. We know that God gave specific instructions to the people through Moses forbidding “kinship” marriages, but the evidence indicates that He also made it known to the people prior to the dispersion from Babel that it was important for man to marry as far from his own blood-line as possible. How do we know? Because the earliest civilizations, those soon after Babel, all had strict laws about incest and marrying within your own family. More on that later.

But what does this have to do with animals? It tells us that God has set limits or bounds to insure the diversity of His creation, and also to maintain the purity of that which He created. It also tells us that He made certain “genetic exceptions and provisions” at the time of the flood that no longer are valid today. He obviously took great care to insure that mankind, in it’s rebirth after the flood, would have the best genetic material with which to begin. Man, alone, was created in His image. From the beginning, with Noah’s family, the “order” or “family” of man would not branch out into new species. Although mankind would exhibit various shades of skin color, hair color and texture, eye color, and size, he would always remain as God created him. And though closely-related humans risk producing defective offspring, God made special provisions to accommodate the situation after the flood.

What Animals Were On the Ark?

But the animals are different and varied in many, many ways. As the diversity of man found it’s expression down through the ages in various types of coloring, etc., in animals, there is evidence that many “species” (as we call them) were the expression of the genetic union of other animals NOT of the same species. Of the fossils of pre-flood animals that have been found, many are of the same “families” we have today, but of different “species”- these are termed “extinct”. Many are much, much larger than those we have today, while some are smaller. We know that some animals possess abilities to adapt to various climates and terrain and it appears that as the animal kingdom began to make it’s way into all the earth after the flood, certain “species” arose (from the union of the original animals on the ark) that were specially adapted to each region they entered. This meant that there wouldn’t necessarily be the same “species” all over the world, even though they descended from the same original parents.
Similarities in Placental and Marsupial Mammals

There is an enormous amount of evidence which indicates that the present-day animals are really the results of the early pairing of animals that we may not consider to be of the same family. The marsupials of Australia are a good example of this. This fact has not gone unnoticed by the scientific community: “Marsupials are of interest to zoologists for several reasons:… their similarity in many respects to placental mammals,…”(EB, vol. 11, p. 537, 1985.) Some look exactly like placental shrews, moles, mice, squirrels, and the “thylacine” is termed the Australian “wolf”. Yet, they have a completely different reproductive system, along with other traits which make them unique. Is it possible that placental and marsupial mammals shared a common ancestor in some cases which accounts for their similarities?

It appears that as the animal world became more diverse, with more and more “species” appearing, they reached the limits God had set to insure their diversity and maintain their purity. With no more possibilities of successful combinations between animals that had differences but were of the same “kind”, variations ceased to be produced (except for things like color, size, etc.). “Cellular incompatibilities” prevented animals from successfully breeding with other similar animals, some which may seem almost identical to them. Some animals that seem so very similar, such as “mice and rats”, have never even produced a sterile hybrid. The mystery of “instinct” took over and animals automatically knew who to mate with. There are a few animals which have been artificially cross-bred by man, such as a lion and a tiger (a tigron) and a mare and a he-ass (the mule), but the result has been in most cases that the off-spring (called “hybrids”) were sterile. In short, the animal kingdom appears to have, to a large extent, reached it’s genetic combination limit
New Species from Old Species?

The presence of the large and varied marsupials in the isolated Australian continent is strong evidence of the unfolding of the gene-pool of a small number of original animals which first came there after the flood. Less this seem too far fetched, consider Dr. Six’s primroses. The story goes back to the discovery of America which is the only place the primrose was found at that time. Later explorers took some home with them and in the 1880’s, Dr. Six planted some in his ornamental flowerbed. Soon, they outgrew the flowerbed and spread to his potato patch. Before long, they were spread over more than an acre of ground. In 1886, Hugo de Vries, a professor of Botany at Amsterdam was gazing over the field of beautiful flowers with his critical eye. Suddenly, he uttered a cry of astonishment. There in the middle of the primroses were 2 completely new species, differently leafed and with flowers of a different shape. Since they were so closely wedged in among the host of usual varieties they were bound to be direct descendants of those around them. De Vries took cuttings of these primroses and planted them in the botanical gardens at Amsterdam. Within 13 years, those original plants had produced 7 entirely new species, including some giant forms and some dwarfs. They were not related types or varieties but genuine new species which transmitted their characteristic unmodified.

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