Animals hibernated on the Ark

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Contents 1 Claim 2 Source 3 Responses 4 Fallacies contained in this claim 5 References 6 Related claims 7 Acknowledgments

Claim

The care and feeding of animals aboard the Ark could be significantly lessened by animals hibernating or otherwise staying dormant for much of the voyage.

Source

• Whitcomb, John C. Jr. & Morris, Henry M., 1961. The Genesis Flood, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Philadelphia, PA, p. 71.

Responses

1. During the 40-day flood period, the boat temperature would have quickly risen to be appreciably greater than the sea temperature due to restricted ventilation and thousands, if not millions, of biological heat generators being onboard. Unless the Ark was in Arctic waters for the vast majority of the journey, the hibernation cycle would end due to the warm temperature onboard the Ark (in most mammals, roughly a week of temperatures above a species-specific threshold will end hibernation). All present Bible scholars place Noah's starting and ending points firmly in the Middle Eastern region of the world, which is equatorial. Creationists could now claim that the Ark journeyed far to the north or far to the south for the majority of the flood. However, this ad hoc explanation would remove valid contradicting evidence from consideration without providing a means of validating the new proposition and is thus unscientific. This "explanation" of how hibernation could have worked can also be considered an Overwhelming Exception fallacy.
2. The vast majority of non-mammalian animals do not hibernate; also, the majority of mammalian species do not hibernate, either. Most hoofed mammals, for instance, either migrate or grow thicker coats to compensate for climate changes. Thus, hibernation does not negate the need for extremely large food stores; it only mitigates the problem by a small degree. With respect to alleviating the expected food shortage, this explanation constitutes a Genuine But Insignificant Cause fallacy.
3. Where does it say in the Bible that all of the animals onboard hibernated?
4. add more responses

Fallacies contained in this claim

• Genuine But Insignificant Cause (a few hibernating animals aren't enough by far)
• Just So Story (made up on the spot)
• Exclusion (most animals do not hibernate)

References

1. Hsun, Lai Chien and Chandra Shekar Menon, 2003. Animal Welfare through Environmental and Behavioral Enrichment. [1]
2.  : Woodmorappe, John, 1996. Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study, ICR, Santee, CA, pp. 127-135.

Related claims

• Insects survived on floating vegetation mats
• All kinds could fit
• Juveniles of large animals were taken aboard
• Average land animal is the size of a sheep
• Crew could feed and care for animals
• Many animals don't require fresh or live food
• Pre-Flood animals lived in a uniform climate
• Animals' exacting needs could have evolved after the flood

Acknowledgments