Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2004

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Claim CH511:

Source:

Response:

1. Many insects could not survive for a year on vegetation mats. Most insects are specialized at least somewhat for their food or environment. Some of the requirements of various insects include
   • living vegetation or flowers to feed on
   • dry wood
   • soil
   • dung
   • animal corpses
   • shallow streams
   In particular, a global flood would have caused the extinction of most aphids, drywood termites, dung beetles, burying beetles, black flies, mayflies, ground beetles, and many more, unless special care were taken to ensure their survival.
   
   
2. A global flood would cause the extinction of millions of species of insects and other invertebrates simply as a result of the reduced quantity of habitat. Insect species are going extinct today simply from the cutting down of sections of forests. A global flood would be many orders of magnitude more devastating. Given the fact that insects are alive today, if there was a flood, Noah must have gathered them and saved them with the rest of the animals.
   
   
3. The Bible says that Noah took "every creeping thing on the ground" and that these were distinct from animals (Gen. 6:20, 7:8,14). It further says that all life that was not aboard the ark was killed, including creeping and swarming things (Gen. 7:21-23). There is not the slightest bit of biblical support for anything living on vegetation mats and a great deal of biblical contradiction of the idea. Obviously, the only reason to put insects on mats is so the ark apologists do not have to worry about them.