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Tarsiers are chipmunk sized nocturnal primates known for their enormous night adapted eyes and koala-like body appearance. Their face, which resembles that of an owl, is the epitome of innocence. Tarsiers are covered with very soft, beautiful, velvety fur, which is generally buff, beige, or ochre in color. The head and body together range from 10 to 15 cm in length, followed by a 20 to 25 cm long slender tail. Read the rest of this entry »
Camels are one of the most amazing animals known to humans. They are the workhorse of the desert and a gift to generations of people. The Bible mentions camels over 60 times, indicating their central importance in Biblical times. The Bible notes two kinds of camels, the two humped Bactrian camel, and the larger one hump dromedary camel, Camelus dromedarius, family Camelidae. Both kinds now live in the hot dry deserts of the Middle East. Read the rest of this entry »
The newest title in the highly successful “Wonders of Creation Series” is The Archaeology Book by David Down. Just published in February 2010, this book includes a new multi-age format. Each chapter provides introductory material suitable for grades 5-6, elaboration on the topic which is suitable for grades 7-8, and further details which raise questions concerning controversial issues such as dating techniques. This latter section is provided for grades 9-11 or other interested readers. Read the rest of this entry »
The archer fish (Toxotidae jaculatrix, from ejaculator fish) –– named due to its expert archery skills–– is one of the most amazing types of fish known to humans (Smith, 1936). When first researched by scientists in the 1920s, researchers “could hardly believe their eyes” at its shooting ability (Pinney, 1977, p. 3). The existence of the fish was actually first reported by explorers in 1764, but scholars could not accept the reports of the existence of this amazing fish (Lüling, 1963, p. 100). Read the rest of this entry »
Have you heard the sad story of the dinosaurs that succumbed to a watery catastrophe? Most young people in our province have heard the story of the Centrosaurus herd in Dinosaur Provincial Park. No doubt it would take quite some force to sweep huge, four-footed horned dinosaurs off their feet. The Centrosaurus dinosaurs of Alberta were only moderately large compared to some other horned designs such as Triceratops. Centrosaurus, for their part, were about 5 m (16 ft) long and perhaps 2.5 m (8 ft) tall. But they were certainly chunky and heavy. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever imagined yourself as a best selling author? Detective stories sell well. Let’s give it a try. My story is set in an imposing country home in England. The wealthy owner happens to wander into his wife’s dressing room. She is away on an expedition to the beach. The gentleman notices his wife’s diamond necklace carelessly flung onto the table amidst expensive perfume bottles. Horrified, he swoops down upon the jewelry, only to discover that this is a cheap imitation of the real necklace. Promptly he calls the local inspector who sends out four detectives. The detectives snoop around and each presents his theory on the case. Detective Smith declares that the butler stole the necklace and sold it in London. Detective Jones strongly suggests that his evidence implicates the maid. Detective Cooper accuses the daughter’s boyfriend of helping himself to the jewels. Detective Trent indicates that the evidence points to the son of the family who has wasted huge sums of money on fast cars. The gentleman is now thoroughly confused. When his wife returns home, he shares all these distressing details with her. It is then that his wife informs him that actually she lent the real necklace to her sister, Lady Hampton, who is scheduled to attend a royal court event that very evening. Read the rest of this entry »
As a perfect companion was created for man, namely woman, so too was a perfect companion created for both men and women. That companion was the dog. A study of dogs’ design, temperament, variety, and personality shows they were created specifically to be companions, helpmates, and servants for humans. No other animal is even close that meets these many requirements.
That God made the perfect companion for both men and women, namely the dog, humans agree. In the United States, 77 million dogs live; 1.6 per household. From 2018 to 2020, the Canadian dog population grew from 7.6 million to 7.7 million. In the entire world, the number of dogs is close to a billion! Dogs are so loved that their passing evokes more emotional responses than any other animal, often more than even the death of a close relative (Bova, 2022). The fact is “for many modern dogs, social bonding is vital to their individual well-being” as it is for ours (Morey,1994, p. 346). Dogs were genetically programmed to have unconditional love for their human master. They will fiercely protect their master and at the same time also show great affection for him or her. Dogs are loyal, trainable and able to work very hard from sun up to sun down.
Read the rest of this entry »Eggs are complex structures designed to allow the embryo to develop outside of the mother’s body. An animal egg (Latin, ovum) provides a protective shell in which an embryo can develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, mollusks, fish, and monotremes (mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young), the egg contains an ovum or, if fertilized, a zygote. A zygote results from fertilization of an ovum, and develops into an embryo. Read the rest of this entry »
Penguins are one of only two bird groups of which it is claimed they once flew but have since lost this ability. The other group of flightless birds is the ratites, which include the ostrich, the kiwi, the rheas, and the emu. Read the rest of this entry »
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]
Read the rest of this entry »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.”
Read the rest of this entry »The Octopus is considered a primitive invertebrate, below chordates such as fish, yet it has advanced traits rivaling even those of humans. In the words of one scientist, “With its eight prehensile arms lined with suckers, camera-like eyes, elaborate repertoire of camouflage tricks and spooky intelligence, the octopus is like no other creature on Earth.” (Abbott, 2015, p. 1). He arrived at this conclusion because they “have the largest nervous systems among the invertebrates and present other striking morphological innovations including camera-like eyes, prehensile arms, a highly derived early embryogenesis, and a remarkably sophisticated adaptive coloration system.” (Albertin, at al., 2015, p. 220). In short, the octopus is utterly different from all other animals, even other mollusks. For this reason and other reasons, its origin has stymied Darwinists. Read the rest of this entry »
Pangolins are some of the strangest animals you will likely ever see. They are covered with scales like reptiles and look like a cross between anteaters and armadillos (Kierst, 2013). Because they are like no other animal, they were put in their own taxonomic order called Pholidota, Greek for “horny scale” (Benton, 2005, p. 348). Their tough, overlapping, reptile-protective keratin scales cause it to look like a giant pinecone with a long, thin reptilian tail. Its profile looks very much like a miniature dinosaur and nothing like the mammal it is. It is a mammal because they give birth to live young that suckle mammary glands as infants (Johnson, 2001, p. 31).
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.
Read the rest of this entry »A careful examination of objects by both telescopes and microscopes reveals a major contrast between human-constructed objects and those designed by the Creator. Human made objects, such as a watch, reveal more imperfections as the magnification by which they are viewed is increased. An old-fashioned gear watch is an object of beauty when viewed by the naked eye. Under the microscope, though, the flaws in the machining process become more apparent until, under high power, a watch looks not only imperfect, but crude.
In contrast, increasing magnification of the natural world reveals new detail and perfection. Read the rest of this entry »