> As for the taxonomies, I would image that mammals are in a sense "nearly"
> defined by the groupings of flying things (birds/bats/insects/etc), creeping
> things/things that move along the ground (reptiles/insects/etc), and
> "livestock/wild animals(mostly mammals)".
Rats and mice seem to fall under creeping things rather than livestock/wild animals. Current molecular studies place them closer to primates than any other mammals occurring near the ancient Near East. Thus, the attempt to read "mammals" or "higher mammals" into the Biblical categories seems unlikely to succeed.
If death of non-mammals is OK then the death before the fall issue fails to rule out the geologic record up through the late Triassic (assuming that creation scientists probably don't adopt cladistic taxonomy).
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Tue Apr 19 17:05:16 2005
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Tue Apr 19 2005 - 17:05:18 EDT