Articles » Zoology

Everyone knows that there are amazing phenomena in the natural world which are totally unexpected. Consider, for example, the male horseshoe crab whose eyes are one million times more sensitive to light at night than during the day. Shakespeare referred to such situations when he had Hamlet declare: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy.” (Act 1 Scene 5)

In that context, would you believe that there is a night flying moth that migrates long distances using the night sky for its navigation system? Let’s see what that moth would need to achieve this:

Once a qualified and interesting scientist has agreed to headline our next Creation Weekend, the members of CSAA’s executive have the fun task to choose which presentations will be featured. Every speaker has a menu of titles, but not all of them can be accommodated in one weekend. Choosing the line up of presentations is no easy task. Each member has different preferences and some choices were more recently presented than others. Nevertheless, year after year, the actual material presented fits together beautifully and seems to be the best of possible choices. So it was again this year that our speaker’s three lectures were stimulating, upbuilding and interesting.

I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers.  My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge.  Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love.  I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.”  In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams.  We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work. 

Back in the days when television was new to North American society, there was a show called Perry Mason. This featured a lawyer who specialized in courtroom drama. In predictable fashion, Mr. Mason set out to defend an accused person, but the facts of the case looked very discouraging for the defendant. However, thanks to great sleuthing by Perry Mason’s two assistants, some important new details were discovered. In the courtroom, as the show drew toward a close, Mr. Mason triumphantly asked a witness, “Isn’t it true that ….?” And some new facts were revealed which changed the whole story. Everyone was all smiles when the defendant was exonerated. The point is that partial information can lead to wrong conclusions.

Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]

A chicken egg appears to be a simple structure consisting of a hard shell enclosing the egg white with a yellow yolk at the centre. In fact, it is an exceedingly complex structure described as a “miracle of engineering.” Other accolades for the egg include “Nature’s Perfect Package” (1) and “Life’s Perfect Invention…  nature’s most perfect life support system.” (2) David Attenborough in his documentary revealed the wonder behind what he calls these “incredible miracles of nature.”

Many people are afraid of spiders, but they are excellent examples of God’s engineering design in nature, especially in the production and use of their silk.  Spider silk starts as a “liquid crystal”—a highly concentrated water-based solution containing rod-shaped molecules.  This means it both flows like a liquid and has its molecules oriented and ordered like a crystal.  The silk solution is produced and stored in a group of silk glands until it is drawn out through the silk ducts for use.  Evolutionists cannot decide whether the liquid crystal structure is an “accident of Nature” or a necessary requirement, but they think it may help to control crystallization.  If the silk crystallized prematurely, it would block the ducts and kill the spider. (De Luca & Rey) Creationists would call it a design feature.

There is a reason why people walk down the street with their eyes glued to their cell phones. They want to find out the latest news! It is indeed true that everyone is curious and likes a good story, and especially the ending to a good story. Many stories however actually are never ending. They may start in a very simple fashion, but as time goes on, the details become more and more complicated.

Many stories or interpretations in science, for example, are like this. At first the idea is straightforward, but as more studies are conducted, the story becomes more difficult to follow. Consider, for example, Darwin’s proposals about evolution. He observed that individuals in a population of organisms differed in various small details. He then argued that those individuals which were better endowed, would be the ones to leave more offspring. This was the simple story that Darwin developed to explain evolution. There were many people who did not think that this scenario of changing proportions of traits in the population could explain the appearance of new body plans. The process might explain why there were more big or small individuals (or whatever) in the population, but it could not explain the appearance of new body plans (such as insect or fish) which require a lot of new information compared to that found in other kinds of creature. But no matter, Darwin’s scenario became the basis for evolution theory in the years to come.

In recent years, people have become really interested in genetics.  They ask questions like “Who were my ancestors?  What can I learn about my family through our genes?  What mix of nationalities do I have?”  As the genomes of various species, including humans, have been mapped, scientists have reflected on many issues.  One of those issues is molecular clocks.

Insects! Some people give them a wide berth on principle. Nasty, creepy, crawly flying things! Even the magnificent giant moths elicit only screams from some people. But the insects under discussion are guaranteed to cause no such sensation. Initial disbelief, amazement, titillation and delight are the sensations to be expected from an encounter with these exotic “bugs”.

Among the insects, at least 800,000 species have been described. One would expect plenty of variety in life-style and shape within a class this big. Indeed, this is the case. Articles on insects are always well illustrated with exotic beetles, flies and butterflies. Among these, cicadas represent an insect family which is seldom discussed on the prairies for the simple reason they do not live there. But in eastern and central Canada and in the United States (except the northwest quarter of the country) summers in woodlands reverberate with the loud clatter, clatter of male cicadas’ courtship calls.

Sea dragons (or seadragons) have long had the honor of being on the list of ugliest animals on Earth. The foot-long (from 30-to-45 centimeters) sea dragons, although classified as a fish, look like no fish an ichthyologist has ever seen. They look more like large worms with leaf appendices, a design that has baffled taxonomists and evolutionists alike ever since they were discovered over 200 years ago. This has been a major problem in not only classification, but in producing a plausible evolutionary tree. They do not fit into the category of  insects and other water life, so, by default, they are classified as fish. The reason for this classification is they spend their life in water, have fin-like structures like fish to help them move, their young hatch from eggs, and they breathe by gills.[1] Aside from these traits they are very unlike fish.

HeadStart is a completely new tool available for high school students and their teachers (and postsecondary students). Written and developed by the Creation Science Association of Alberta, this tool is free and easily accessed.  Check it out at www.create.ab.ca/headstart

Many people recognize that it is a privilege to learn about God, the Creator and his Creation. That is why, besides observing the natural environment in which we find ourselves, it is a pleasure to go beyond mere observations to discover how things work and why. Most young people undertake to study some science, at least at the high school level. But there is a problem, most programs of study include a lot of evolutionary concepts that point away from God and his work. Even seemingly innocent terms like microevolution, convergence, nucleus, fossil record and plant biology are loaded with evolutionary concepts. However, these phenomena themselves actually point overwhelmingly to the work of God, the Creator as described in Genesis and throughout the Bible. It was to communicate this message, that HeadStart was developed.

Owls, although birds, are unique compared to other airborne avians.  Called the greatest hunters, they are one of the rare bird species that regularly hunt at night.[i] They also have eyes that face forward rather than being located on the sides of their head like most other birds. Also, unlike most other birds, when not flying, owls sit straight up supported by their two legs. Many of the bones that are separated in mammals are fused together in owls, making them strong enough to support their weight when on the ground. They also have large, broad heads surrounded by a collection of feathers around the eyes. Called a “facial disc”, it functions like a satellite dish to amplify sound.[ii] The facial disc is their distinctive trait, possessed by all owls but by no other bird. Also, in contrast to most birds, they do quite well in very diverse habitats, from deserts to forests and even in locations near the arctic, where they are appropriately named snowy owls.[iii] They are also critically important in keeping the rodent population, especially rats, under control.[iv]

Consider the lilies of the field. They toil not neither do they spin. Yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

No doubt everyone has stories of times when they saw beautiful plants or animals which quite took their breath away. Flowers are particularly good examples of this phenomenon. In the prairies of Saskatchewan and by roadsides there in June, the beautiful Western Red Lily (Lilium philadelphicum) is guaranteed to claim your attention. No wonder it is the provincial flower of that prairie province in Canada.

Most Canadians are rightly proud of the beaver, their iconic national emblem.  Indeed, the beaver is a remarkable animal with exceptional talents! Its lifestyle is made possible not only through the wonderful design of its body, but also through in-built skills. The fact is that beavers are the only animals anywhere which can change the landscape to suit their own needs and desires.