Platypus (January 15)

Did platypuses evolve in Australia? There are two monotremes (mammals that lay eggs) in Australia – the platypus and the echidna. These animals have all the normal characteristics of mammals (backbone, hair, milk glands), yet they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. We only find platypuses and echidnas in Australia. So how did they get there?

Noah took two of each kind on the Ark, which landed in the Middle East (Mt. Ararat). Echidnas and platypuses spread out to various parts of the world, yet it seems they only survived in Australia. During the Ice Age, the interior of Australia would have been well-watered and very lush, allowing the platypus and echidna to spread out and fill Australia. Only after the Ice Age ended did the enormously dry Australian desert areas develop. When the sea levels rose at the end of the Ice Age, Australia was cut off from Asia, isolating its unique animal life on this very big island.

Did platypuses evolve? Fossil platypuses are essentially identical to modern platypuses; no transitional forms have been found. The Bible says God created fully formed land animals on Day 6 of Creation week. When we look with our “biblical” glasses, we can understand why platypuses are found in Australia.

Genesis 8:17

KJV: Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

NIV: Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.

Reference

Stelzer, Becky, Gary Vaterlaus, (Ed.). 2007. Museum Guide: A Bible-based Handbook to Natural History Museums, Answers in Genesis, Green Forest, AR: Master Books, p.77.

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