Biogeography (CT Scan, Episode 66)

Biogeography, the study of living things’ geographic distributions, supposedly supports evolution. But is that true? Let’s apply some Critical Thinking Checks to the popular claim that marsupials (like kangaroos) live only on southern continents because their ancestors evolved there.

UPDATES
► Most fossils considered modern marsupials are restricted to Southern continents, except fossil opossums. While not considered modern marsupials, fossils of metatherians, the group evolutionists believe included the ancestors of marsupials, are found all over the world, including Europe, Asia, and North America (Elridge et al., 2019).

► Some research suggests most marsupial fossils were actually buried in the years shortly following the flood. (Chad Arment, “To the Ark, and Back Again? Using the Marsupial Fossil Record to Investigate the Post-Flood Boundary,” Answers Research Journal 13 (2020): 1–22, https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/fossil-record/to-ark-back-again-using-marsupial-fossil-record/).
___________

DIGGING DEEPER
🔹 Taylor, P. (2007). “How did animals spread all over the world from where the ark landed?” https://answersingenesis.org/animal-behavior/migration/how-did-animals-spread-from-where-ark-landed/ (Chapter from The New Answers Book 1, available to read online for free here: https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/new-answers-book-1/)
🔹 “Kangaroos from America?” (2010). https://answersingenesis.org/natural-selection/speciation/kangaroos-from-america/
🔹 Sanders, F. & Lacey, T. (2019). Floating log rafts: A model for post-flood biogeography. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/global/floating-log-rafts/
🔹 Jeanson, N. (2017). Replacing Darwin: The New Origin of Species. New Leaf Publishing Group https://answersingenesis.ca/store/product/replacing-darwin/ (See also https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/no-replacement-of-darwin-response/ & https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/still-no-replacement-darwin-response/.)
🔹 Natural selection topic: https://answersingenesis.org/natural-selection/
___________

CITED REFERENCES
• Futuyama (2013). Patterns of Evolution. In Evolution (3rd ed., pp. 54). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.
• Wise, K.P. and Croxton, M., Rafting: a post-Flood biogeographic dispersal mechanism; in: Ivey Jr., R.L. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism, technical symposium sessions, Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 465–477, 2003. Cited in Sanders, F. & Lacey, T. (2019). Floating log rafts: A model for post-flood biogeography. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/global/floating-log-rafts/
• Michael J. Oard, “Marine Fossils in Amber Support the Flood Log-Mat Model” Journal of Creation 24 no. 1 (2010): 9–10, cited in Sanders, H. & Lacey, T., (2019) [Reference 2].
• Wilson, G. P., Ekdale, E. G., Hoganson, J. W., Calede, J. J., & Vander Linden, A. (2016). A large carnivorous mammal from the Late Cretaceous and the North American origin of marsupials. Nature communications, 7(1), 1-10.
• Eldridge, M. D., Beck, R. M., Croft, D. A., Travouillon, K. J., & Fox, B. J. (2019). An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria). Journal of Mammalogy, 100(3), 802-837. NOTE: Many marsupial-like fossils (known largely from tooth specimens) found in the northern hemisphere are referred to here as metatherians—a broader classification thought to include the ancestors of marsupials and supposedly related mammals.
___________

FREE e-BOOK
Sign up for our email newsletter and get a free copy of Patricia’s eBook, “How to Think About Facts that Challenge your Faith”
https://answersingenesis.lpages.co/how-to-think-about-facts-that-challenge-your-faith-ebook/
___________

BLOG
See Patricia’s blog posts here: https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/patricia-engler/
___________

DONATIONS
https://answersingenesis.ca/donate

ANSWERS TV
Patricia’s Critical Thinking Course based on these videos is available on Answers.TV. Sign up for your free trial and check it out!

#pengleraig