HOW MANY ANNMALES WERE ON NOAHOES ARK?

How many animals on the Ark?

Over one million animal species have been named, but it’s a mistake to assume all were on the Ark. The Bible says Noah took only air-breathing land animals. So that excludes sea creatures and possibly insects and other invertebrates.

Of the land vertebrates, there are only around 33,000 named living species (and a few thousand more fossil species). These are divided into fewer than 10,000 genera and 1,000 families.

Students in vertebrate paleontology at Liberty University are still finalizing the list of extinct families and living families. So far, the current estimate of living and extinct vertebrate families is about 950, but I gave you a conservative estimate of 16,000 from an older study.

So how many kinds of animals were on the Ark? The answer depends on which modern taxonomic level—order, family, genus, or species—represents each original “kind.” Two times 1,000 gives about 2,000 land-dwelling vertebrate animals that Noah had to care for. Impossible? Not at all.

Insects take up little space, it isn't really clear or relevant whether they were on the Ark or not since the scriptures don't specify and they can cling to floating debris and many fly.

Without tiering of cages, only 50 percent of the Ark floor on one level would have been necessary. What’s more, many could have been housed in groups, which would have further reduced the required space.

It has already been shown that all of the animals required on the Ark could fit on one level (out of three levels), with room left over to house extra animals as food for the required animals, and have a playpen left over the size of a tennis court.

The dimensions of the Ark are convincing for two reasons: the proportions are like that of a modern cargo ship, and it is about as large as a wooden ship can be built. The dimensions are less than half the Titanic or Queen Mary.

There were large wooden ships of similar length built with the same level of technology in ancient times in far less time: The Greek Tessarakonteres 200 BC 420' x 52'.

Noah could have hired skilled laborers or had relatives, such as Methuselah and Lamech, help build the vessel. However, nothing indicates that they could not—or that they did not—build the Ark themselves in the time allotted.

If one or two men today can erect a large house in just 12 weeks, how much more could three or four men do in a few years? Adam’s descendants were making complex musical instruments, forging metal, and building cities—their tools, machines, and techniques were not primitive.

The idea that more primitive civilizations are further back in time is an evolutionary concept.

None of us know. But it is totally possible that there were fewer species then than there are now.