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Malicious Advice Mallard is at it again. |
Birds are remarkable creatures that capture the amazement of just about anyone who takes time to observe them. From watching an eagle soar to staring at a hummingbird hovering in front of a flower, the colors and behaviors of birds display beauty and complexity that bring awe to the observer. Almost everyone notices birds, but some people specialize in looking for birds. Bird watchers (also called birders) make time to look for birds in their natural habitats. Birders are known for keeping lists of birds they have seen, and enjoy going on expeditions to look for bird species not on their “life list” (birders have daily lists, monthly lists, and yearly lists too). My life list is relatively short, only about 150 different species, but I have a goal to reach over 200 by the end of this year.To read the rest, click on "Bird Speciation from the Flood to the Present".
Ornithologists estimate the diversity of living bird species in the entire world to be around 10,380. (I have a long way to go on my life list). That number almost doubles the number of extant mammal species (5,416) and is almost 3,000 more than extant amphibian species (7,509). The number of reptile species is the closest to the bird number with a current count of 10,272 extant species. Because most of these vertebrates are terrestrial, we have about 33,500 different species of terrestrial vertebrates on earth today. I am leaving out the aquatic vertebrates (mainly the fishes) because they would not have been represented on the Ark (33,200 fish species have been described, and the implications of that are important for creation scientists who are trying to model the diversity of all life from the Flood to the present).
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