How could huge dinosaurs fit on Noah's Ark?
How did dinosaurs fit on Noah’s Ark?
Many people think dinosaurs were all huge animals that could peer over the tops of tall trees. But not all dinosaurs were huge like the Gigantosaurus fossil above. Many dinosaurs were small — some were about the size of young chickens, and some (like Mussaurus) were not much bigger than the dinosaur tooth pictured at right.
Obviously Noah wasn't going to stuff a pair of 30-meter high dinosaurs in the Ark, even though Noah's Ark was huge. So what did he do?
Small dinosaurs would fit on the Ark easily. And remember that even the largest adult dinosaurs started their lives as small babies.
In the late 1970s, skeletons and eggs of tiny juvenile Mussaurus dinosaurs were found in Patagonia in southern Argentina. Mussaurus means “mouse reptile”, and the name is apt because the best-preserved Mussaurus skeleton is so small it fits comfortably in a human hand.
New Scientist of 6 December, 2000 announced the discovery of fossils of the smallest known adult dinosaur. These “microraptors” were only 39 centimeters (15 inches) long — 24 centimeters (9½ inches) of which were its tail.
We don't know how many species of dinosaur God sent to Noah to take on the Ark. If the largest types were included, they were probably taken when they were still youngish but able to breed. Many animals can mate long before they are fully grown.
Christian teachers: Want a classroom activity?
If you are a teacher in a Christian school, you can let your students have some fun while they learn about dinosaurs with this activity.
Tell them about the mouse dinosaurs and microraptors mentioned above. Tell them these Mussaurus and microraptor dinosaurs were so small they would fit in their hands like a mouse would.
Also show them a football and tell them that the largest dinosaur eggs ever found were not much bigger than this football, so even the huge dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Apatosaurus were once extremely small.
Then show your students a picture of a Triceratops dinosaur, like the one above. (Even better, you may be able to get a small Triceratops model or poster from your local museum or zoo.)
Now get your students to form an outline of a life-size Triceratops either in the classroom or outside. Adult Triceratops were around 8 meters (25 feet) long from top to tail. Get one or more students to stand on its “nose,” then measure 8 meters (25 feet) or pace out 8 or 9 big strides and get another student to stand on the tip of the “tail.”
Get two of your larger students to stand where its huge back legs would be (about two-thirds of the way along from the nose), and another two where the front legs would be (about a third to half the total length from the nose). Organize other students to fit around the rest of the shape. It doesn't have to be exactly accurate as long as they get the idea of the enormous size of the dinosaur.
Let them take turns at standing on a chair, table, or ladder if they want to so they can look down to get a better idea of the length. Have the “tail” wave to the “nose” to emphasize the distance.
Emphasize that God created all the dinosaurs, from the tiniest to the largest. Evolutionists have never found evidence that one type of dinosaur evolved into another; there are no tiny animals evolving into mussauruses or microraptors, or any other mid-sized dinosaurs evolving into Triceratops for example.
Dinosaur facts
While they are grasping the huge size of Triceratops, you can remind them about the tiny mouse-reptile Mussaurus, and the football-sized eggs, and tell them a few other interesting dinosaur facts, such as:
- The horns above the eyes of Triceratops were sometimes one meter (3 feet) long.
- Tri means three, and cera means horn. Can they guess how Triceratops got its name?
- Triceratops was a plant-eater. It did not eat meat. Ask what it would have eaten and how much the students think it would need to eat.
- The upper part of its mouth was beak-like in the front, which probably nipped off tree branches or other vegetation.
- An adult Triceratops might have weighed nine tonnes (tons), or perhaps as much as 18 horses.
Remind your students that the Bible says at least two of every kind of animal went on Noah's Ark, and ask how the huge dinosaurs like Triceratops would have fitted. (Clue: Think young adults!)
They will remember this demonstration for a long time!
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