Created Creature by Doug Rumminger

Created Creature

People keep pet birds for all sorts of reasons—their pretty colors, lovely songs, grace in flight, and curious manners. But Dan Breeding keeps his pet for a very different reason. Buzz reminds us that birds are useful for much more than beauty.

Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture—

Disgusting Designs by Dan Breeding

VULTURES ARE POSSIBLY the creepiest birds on the planet. Between their scaly heads and their gruesome diet, they are often avoided and even feared. Who wouldn’t fear something that eats dead animals? This narrow view makes us overlook many of the vulture’s special designs, a point that I make when I teach audiences about my lesser yel-

low-headed vulture named Buzz. God designed Buzz and his relatives to do what they do, and they do it well. What is a vulture’s job? They find and eat what I call “road pizza.” They basically help keep the environment livable by limiting the build-up of dead animals and the spread of disease. God carefully designed vultures, giving them the needed tools

to find, digest, and keep clean after eating dead animals.

FINDING ROAD PIZZA. Most meat-eating animals can find their dinner because it is mobile. Movement makes finding things easier. Have you noticed that when someone walks through your peripheral vision, you are acutely aware of it? But if you’ve misplaced

your keys, it can take hours before you find them. God gave Buzz and vultures like him two special designs to help them find their motionless dinner—keen eyesight and an extraordinary sense of smell. Vultures have very sharp eyesight. Even when they are soaring high above the ground, they can still see everything below them. God even

provided them with sunglasses to protect their eyes against the sun’s harsh light. Vultures have dark lines around their eyes, which work the same way as the dark lines underneath a football player’s eyes. The dark color absorbs sunlight, reducing glare. This way vultures don’t have to worry about missing a single detail.

Vultures have very sharp eyesight. Even perched high above the ground, they can see everything below them.

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Created Creature

The lesser yellow-headed vultures have another advantage over most birds: a keen sense of smell.1 Their nares, or nose openings, look like holes in their beak. Wind from any direction funnels through the nares, which leads to the largest amount of sniffing possible. Each breeze is loaded with information, so God equipped these vultures with a very large olfactory lobe, able to handle all that information.

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EATING ROAD PIZZA. Once the vultures find their dinner, how can they possibly eat it? Most other animals would get sick from eating dead animals. Why don’t vultures get sick all the time? God gave them a very special digestive system. The acid in their crop (which functions like our stomach) is one of the strongest in the natural

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world. Strong enough to kill the harmful bacteria found in their dinner, it keeps them from getting sick from pretty much anything! In fact, vultures can use their digestive juices to defend themselves. If you were to startle a vulture while it was eating, you’d better back up quickly— vultures will vomit on you if you’re not careful. This not only makes them lighter (so they can more easily escape), but with the addition of the digestive acid, their lunch now smells much worse.

to the sun. The black feathers on their wings absorb and channel heat to their heads. This kills any bacteria that might have been picked up. Cleaning their legs and feet is another story. Vultures have very long tail feathers that keep their legs and feet covered, so they can’t get baked clean. Instead, they can release urine down each leg. Vulture urine is very acidic, capable of killing bacteria. Now, a final question that often comes up when talking about vultures. You may have even wondered about it when you began reading the article. AFTER-PIZZA CLEANUP. Vultures keep What did they eat before the Fall (Genthe environment clean of disease, but esis 3)? Before sin, there was no death, so there would be no dead animals for how do they keep themselves clean? vultures to eat. The honest Vultures don’t have answer is that we don’t feathers on their heads. God carefully know yet. God could have This is why Buzz is known designed provided for these designs as a yellow-headed vul- vultures with to be used only after the ture—his head is covered all the needed Fall, or vultures could have in yellow skin. This lack of tools to find, adapted to their new world. feathers helps the vulture digest, and keep clean Or it could have been a keep clean in several ways. mixture of both. First, it prevents feath- after eating But we do know that ers from getting dirty dead animals. God continued to provide when vultures eat. They humans with evidence will often get their dinner all over their heads, and skin is much of His loving provision, even after easier to clean up than feathers. This the Fall. The design of vultures may is also true of their legs and feet. Since seem disgusting, but they keep our vultures don’t have hands, their meal sin-cursed world clean. So the next tends to get messy, but since there time you see a vulture circling, just aren’t any feathers in the way, cleanup remember: if he didn’t grab a slice of that road pizza, who else would? afterwards is much easier. But how do vultures wash up? NOTES Vultures spread their wings out in Only the three species in the genus Cathartes (turkey vulture, yellow-headed vulture, and greater yellow-headed the sun to warm themselves, while lesser vulture) have a sense of smell. The other four species in the family Cathartidae (California and Andean condors, and black they pick away food particles with and king vultures) do not. their beaks (called preening). With Dan Breeding is the founder of Creatures of Creation and Wild Animal Encounters. Dan has a degree in their wing feathers spread, they also Wildlife Education and Animal Training and has made numerous appearances with his animals on television let rain remove extra food particles. and at the White House. When they are done eating, they Listen to the audio version of this article. www.answersmagazine.com/go/7-2-exclusives find a nice perch and turn their backs 1

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did you know? • Vultures don’t have a syrinx (the name for a bird’s vocal cords) and can’t sing. This limits vultures to hissing, rattling, grunting, and sneezing to communicate. • Vultures normally lay one to two eggs during the mating season. The eggs are a cream color with brown and gray blotches. When they hatch, the chicks are blind and naked, depending solely on their parents. • Vultures are one of only a few types of birds with a sense of smell. Others include the kiwi bird in New Zealand and some petrels (a type of seabird with a tube-like nose). • Vultures don’t build nests. They live in tree cavities, caves, or cliff ledges with no extra padding. • After they hatch, vultures have crimson-colored eyes, though Buzz’s are now a khaki color. CLASS: Aves ORDER: Falconiformes or Ciconiiformes (there is disagreement) FAMILY: Cathartidae GENUS: Cathartes SPECIES: burrovianus LENGTH: 21–26 inches (53–66 cm) WINGSPAN: 59–65 inches (150–165 cm) DIET: Eats dead animals, not severely rotten ones. Occasionally will eat live fish, as well as amphibians, insects, and other invertebrates. HABITAT: Lesser yellow-headed vultures live in savannas, grasslands, and marshes in Central and South America. Their territory ranges from Argentina and Uruguay to as far north as Mexico. Other vulture species can be found on the other continents, too, except for Australia and Antarctica.

Watch Dan Breeding's full presentation about his pet Buzz at www.answersmagazine.com/go/7-2-exclusives A p r i l – Ju n e 2012

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Created Creature

Nudibranchs—

Undersea Slug Fest by Melinda Christian

The words “slug” and “festive display of color” don’t usually come to mind at the same time. But that’s exactly what happens when you dive into the world of sea slugs, known as nudibranchs. Their colorful variety is unmatched on the planet . . . as are their unique designs to fend off predators.

THERE ARE HORDES OF PREDATORS lurking in oceans around the world, leaving a trail of slime everywhere they hunt. They seemingly have no fears, even of the deadliest seafloor creatures. Instead of fleeing in terror from an adversary’s poison barbs, they calmly steal their prey’s defenses for their own armor, storing the toxins inside their own skin to frighten other enemies. They come in all shapes and sizes—some are brightly colored, bold, and flashy, sporting colorful blue stripes or bright pink polka dots, while others stay hidden, camouflaged among their surroundings. They can be short or long, round or flat, bold or subtle, but these real-life monsters aren’t science fiction. In fact, the tiny nudibranch is one of God’s most common—and beautiful—creatures. A type of sea slug, nudibranchs (NEW-de-branks) are gastropods, which means “stomach-foot.” There are more than sixty thousand named species of gastropods (snails and slugs), and they live everywhere, from land

These beautiful colors may appeal to humans, but they flash a warning to other sea creatures: "Don’t eat me!” Though highly poisonous, the red-gilled nudibranch wasn’t born deadly. It eats poisonous food and stores the poison in its skin to ward off predators!

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VARIETY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! Sea slugs may have the most varied colors and designs of all creatures that God made.

did you know? • Nudibranchs are not the only creatures referred to as “sea slugs.” Some of the other shell-less mollusks, such as the sap-sucking sea slugs (sacoglossans), are also brightly colored. But only the nudibranch breathes through “naked gills” on its back or rear. • Nudibranchs can lay up to two million eggs at a time. They lay eggs in coils or spirals of jelly. • Like their terrestrial cousins, nudibranchs leave slime trails. 24

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CLASS: Gastropoda

• Nudibranchs can produce fruity or floral fragrances, which scientists believe act as a warning, much like their vivid colors. • One species of nudibranch can feed on the surface of the water by holding air in its gut and floating. • Nudibranchs can range in size from half an inch to twelve inches, and come in many shapes, from round to long to flat.

SUBCLASS: Orthogastropoda SUPERORDER: Heterobranchia ORDER: Opisthobranchia SUBORDER: Nudibranchia DIET: Nudibranchs are carnivores, feeding on sponges, anemones, coral, jellyfish, barnacles, eggs, small fish, other sea slugs, and sometimes even their own species. HABITAT: Nudibranchs inhabit all oceans and saltwater seas worldwide, especially warm, shallow areas.

Created Creature

to sea, in almost every climate and habitat, crawling around on their “foot.” Nudibranchs are just one example of the adaptability of this huge class of animals. More than three thousand known species of nudibranchs inhabit oceans and saltwater seas worldwide, especially warm coastal waters.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The name nudibranch means “naked gill.” While they don’t have gills like fish, nudibranchs do have exposed tentacle-like bulges on their backs through which they breathe. They have tiny eyes, imbedded in the skin on their backs, that can discern light and dark, but they get around primarily by feel and smell. Two horns on their head, known as rhinophores, pick up chemical clues in the water around them, guiding them to food or other nudibranchs, or warning them about approaching predators. Sometimes a nudibranch will follow another sea slug’s slime trail or go the other way if the chemicals in the slime signal danger. But why should a humble sea slug have been endowed with such a magnificent variety of color and beauty? Like the flowers of the field, which were more splendidly arrayed than King Solomon (Matthew 6:28–29), the nudibranch displays the glory and creativity of the Designer, whose love for beauty is evident in His creation. Flaunting bright colors and whimsical patterns, nudibranchs glide gracefully over the ocean floor, tentacles rippling in the current, a feast for the eyes, if not for the palate. Nudibranchs are born with shells, like snails, but shed them as they grow into adulthood. It might seem foolish to give up their armor, but the nudibranch enjoys the best of both worlds—in their shell-less state their beauty is revealed for all to see, and they can deploy

more sophisticated weapons. God has equipped them with some of the weirdest defense mechanisms on the planet.

species), and other dangerous or toxic prey that most sea creatures avoid. Then they become what they eat. Some nudibranchs that feed on jellyLOOK, BUT DON’T TOUCH. Some nudi- fish or anemones, for example, will branchs blend into their surround- ingest the poisonous stingers, but ings using camouflage, while others instead of digesting them—and probsport bright, vivid colors that serve as ably dying from the poison—they will a warning to would-be predators that pass the stingers through their gut this tasty treat might not be safe to to the surface of their skin, storing eat. Although this kind of warning is them in their tentacles, where they are common in nature (who hasn’t heard useful for defense. Similarly, other nudibranchs will of poison dart frogs?), scientists have feed on poisonous sponges a difficult time explaining and store the poison in why conspicuous creatures Evolutionists their bodies, ready to are less likely to be preyed find the sicken anything that eats upon. nudibranch them. No one knows Perhaps the Creator difficult to exactly how nudibranchs placed in His creatures the explain. From instinct to back away from an evolutionary survive ingesting poison or stingers. Scientists bright colors and then gave perspective believe they have specially those bright colors to the the creature protected cells with thick creatures that would other- doesn’t membranes, but how the wise be vulnerable. These make sense. process works is unclear. vivid colors are effective not Evolutionists find the only as a defense mechanism but also as a striking example of beauty nudibranch and its thieving ways diffiin creation, providing visual delight for cult to explain. After all, from an evoluman, the one earthly creature designed tionary perspective the creature doesn’t to recognize God’s handiwork and wor- make sense: its vivid colors are conspicuous to predators, it eats poisonous ship Him for it. While the vivid colors are sometimes prey but doesn’t die, and it somehow a false alarm, for most nudibranchs the borrows the defense mechanisms of the warning ought to be heeded. Some of creature it just consumed. It is difficult them taste foul, and others are inher- to imagine how such a creature could ently poisonous, releasing an acid have evolved by chance. It makes much more sense to believe when touched or irritated. And as you will see, others have “stolen” defenses that the nudibranch was specially designed by God, who created these that are downright amazing. incredible creatures with the skills YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. You’ve prob- necessary to survive in a fallen world. ably heard that you are what you eat Fascinating, beautiful, and quite often (a good reminder to eat healthy food deadly, the nudibranch is one of the to have a healthy body), but the nudi- most striking examples of our Creator’s creativity and ingenuity. branch takes this adage to extremes. Nudibranchs are carnivores, preying Melinda Christian, a staff member of Answers in from 2000–2008, graduated from Calvary Bible on anemones, sponges, barnacles, other Genesis College in Kansas City, Missouri. Melinda is an avid sea slugs (sometimes even their own writer and has also edited a number of AiG publications. Ju l y – S e pt. 2012

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Meerkat Clans—

The Original Social Network by Heather Brinson Bruce

In the age of Facebook and Twitter, it’s nice to be reminded that twenty-first-century humans weren’t the first to develop social networks. Meerkat clans were working together in southern Africa long before Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey came on the scene.

HE SUN RISES, dispelling the night cold, as a few meerkats start crawling out of their desert burrow. It is so cold underground that they must spend several minutes warming their bellies before they start the day’s activities. A JOB FOR EVERYONE. Meerkats display a spectacularly complex society, typically seen only in insect colonies. Their complex behavior could come from only one source. On Day Six the Creator gave each kind of land animal unique tools to meet its needs (Genesis 1:24–25). The ancestors of meerkats did not need certain tasks before the Fall, such as hunting, but already had the basics for dividing tasks and developing new roles. Today, their social talents have blossomed in southern Africa. Hunters. Each morning the alpha female heads off first. With several pups to feed, it is imperative that she never go hungry.

The meerkats’ complex social structure allows them to thrive in the harsh African desert.

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Sentinels (above) survey the landscape for danger. A wide variety of calls either assure the clan that all is well or warn them of danger.

Amit Erez | iStockphoto.com

Meerkat pups (right) learn the dos and don’ts of being a meerkat from adult meerkats. Meerkats are among only a few animals known to actively teach their young how to survive.

The alpha female rules each meerkat pack, or mob, which numbers from 20 to 50 members. She chooses her mate (the alpha male) and the two of them produce around 80% of the mob’s pups. All the other meerkats are subservient to the ruling alphas. Sentinels. The day’s sentinels head out next, looking for a good spot to watch for danger. All the other meerkats share the rest of the clan’s jobs. Each meerkat eventually spends time in each position, though they don’t seem to follow a schedule. The group always has at least one sentinel on duty to watch over the burrow system and the pups. Usually, a second sentinel keeps an eye on the rest of the gang 24

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when they go out looking for food. The sentry occasionally makes a pepping sound, meaning all’s well. But when a jackal or an eagle shows up, the bark changes immediately. An amazing aspect of the meerkat calls is the range of meanings they convey. The warning for a terrestrial predator differs from the sound for an airborne one. The call can even indicate how deadly the threat is, ranging from “be careful” to “duck and cover!” Babysitters. As the mob thins out, a few adults remain near the burrow with the pups. The pups are too young to forage and cannot be left alone. The babysitters not only keep the pups from wandering off but also protect

the alphas’ children with their own lives. When a warning sounds, the babysitter will rush the pups back underground, ready to attack any threat foolish enough to follow. If they can’t reach the burrow in time, the babysitter will gather the pups and lie on top of them, shielding them. Mentors. Finally, adults start trickling back from the hunt. A few carry injured prey in their mouths as teaching tools. These meerkats are known as mentors. Each mentor will teach a pup the dos and don’ts of being a meerkat—how to spot and avoid predators and how to find and eat food. For example, meerkats often eat scorpions, a dangerous meal. To teach a young pup how, the mentor brings it a scorpion. Depending on the age of the pup, the scorpion will either be dead (for beginners), wounded, or alive but stingless (for advanced). The mentor watches how the pup interacts with the scorpion, prompting certain behavior as needed. Meerkats are among only a few animals on earth known to actively teach their young how to survive. In fact, when raised as pets, isolated from a meerkat group, they fail to teach their

Created Creature

pups because no mentor was present as they grew up. The very act of teaching is learned from the mentors.

did you know?

WHO ORGANIZED THESE DESERT CLANS? Meerkats’ social structure allows them to thrive in the harsh desert. If another group of meerkats attacks, everyone bands together to defend the home burrow. As the group grows, or should a cave-in occur, an excavation crew will repair and improve the burrow system. Impressive as each job is, their willingness to work together is even more amazing. The alpha pair does not assign jobs. Each meerkat simply fills the need as it arises without delay. Without this exemplary work ethic, the meerkat gang would never survive in the desert. Evolutionary scientists claim that this complicated society evolved over long periods of time. But all the pieces must be in place at the same time for the meerkats to survive. Mentors without sentinels would be overcome by predators, while sentinels without mentors would not know survival skills to pass along to the next generation. Creation scientists are still trying to

• Meerkats can close up their ears to keep dirt from clogging them while digging. They also have a special membrane protecting their eyes.

• A group of meerkats can be called a mob, gang, or clan.

• When excavating the burrow, meerkats will often line up, working together the same way that firemen used to pass buckets of water down the line to a burning building. • They will make use of a water source if one is nearby but meerkats typically get all their liquid requirements from their diet. • Meerkats are very playful—they even compete in what appear to be wrestling matches and foot races. • Meerkats can lose up to 5% of their body weight overnight. They have no excess body fat stores, so foraging for food is a daily need. • The color of a meerkat’s fur depends greatly on where it lives. It tends to be lighter in arid regions. The colors can range from gray to tan or brown with a silver tint, though their bellies are only sparsely covered with hair.

work out the details. It appears that creatures were initially equipped with some instinctive behaviors, but their brains are wired to acquire new skills (which can be lost if not passed along). The possibility of acquiring such complex social skills by trial and error

CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Carnivora FAMILY: Herpestidae GENUS: Suricata SPECIES: S. suricatta SIZE: 10–14 inches (25–35 cm) with a tail length of 7–10 inches (17–25 cm) WEIGHT: 1.6 pounds (720 g) DIET: Mostly insects, but also lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, and, occasionally, small birds. HABITAT: Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa.

is unfathomable, but it makes perfect sense if a loving God put everything into place all at once. Heather Brinson Bruce earned dual degrees in English and chemistry from Clemson University. She writes for Answers magazine as a freelance author.

Listen to the audio version of this article. www.answersmagazine.com/go/7-4-exclusives

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