How Could Dinosaurs Have Survived After Leaving Noah’s Ark?

In Parts 1–5, we discussed several questions regarding the logically derived biblical reasons for believing that dinosaurs were onboard Noah’s ark and then dealt with several logistical questions surrounding the feasibility of just eight people caring for all of these creatures. In this part, we’ll begin dealing with questions regarding what happened after the flood.

For example, objections are often posed against the Genesis flood account surrounding the sheer possibility of survival in such a devastated landscape. For example, how could plants have survived the flood to feed the dinosaurs and other creatures, etc.? So let’s explore the question, “How could dinosaurs have survived after leaving Noah’s ark?”

Wouldn’t the Animals Eat Each Other?

Many arguments against the aftermath of the flood account pose supposed problems with food supply. For example, skeptics often say that the meat-eating dinosaurs (and other carnivores) released from the ark would have soon eaten up the limited number of other animals available, leading to the extinction of all of them in short order.1

But this falsely assumes that (1) the only sources of meat available to the newly released carnivores were the other animals that disembarked,2 (2) there were only the same number of creatures that got off the ark that went aboard, and (3) all the animals were released at the same time.

But none of these was necessarily the case.

Firstly, although there are no real specifics as to which creatures were released in what order or exactly how long it took until the very last animals exited, logic dictates that simply opening every pen door and sitting back and watching utter mayhem ensue likely wasn’t the way the animal release would have taken place (though God could have controlled this as he did the embarking). And the Bible also gives us a definite clue that this wasn’t the case.

Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families [emphasis mine] from the ark. (Genesis 8:19)

The detail given—that they went out by families—lends credence to the idea that there would have been planning involved as to which animals would be let loose first and, more importantly, that there were offspring produced by some animals during the voyage. And over the course of a year, many animals were also likely pregnant and ready to give birth around the time they left the ark.

That means it may have taken several weeks between when the first creature left and the last animal disembarked Noah’s newly grounded zoo. And it would make sense that larger animals (like the dinosaurs) may have been placed on the lowest decks so that they would have felt less movement and had less risk of falling and injuring themselves (also acting as ballast). If the creatures were let loose in a general order of those on the highest to the lowest deck, some creatures may have had several weeks head start.

During this time, the later-disembarking creatures would have simply continued to stay in their enclosures and eat the food stores provided to them, the same as they would have been eating over the last year. Meanwhile, those already released into the post-flood environment would have had to fend for themselves with what was available in this new world. And what would that have been like?

Well, consider the billions of creatures we see entombed in the rock layers worldwide because of Noah’s flood and imagine the much greater number of creatures that would have been caught up in the torrent of water and simply drowned but were not buried. The post-flood world would have had plenty of rotting corpses of various animals that were not buried in the flood sediments, and observation has shown that most carnivores prefer to eat carrion than to kill live animals for food.3

Also, when you picture the waters receding toward the end of the flood, you can imagine that there must have been many residual pools of water containing marine life left behind. And as these waters retreated or dried up, fish and other marine animals would be left stranded and available for consumption.4

These alternative sources of food must have diverted the attention of predators for a considerable period of time after the flood. This would have allowed animal populations to build up to an appreciable size before they became the target of predators.5

Also, as we discussed in the last article, many creatures that are considered strictly carnivorous today (such as crocodiles and lions) have been shown to have the ability not only to eat plants but in some cases seek them out.

So, what about plants? Bible critics often ask how creatures could survive without them, imagining Noah and his passengers stepping out onto a mud ball devoid of any plant life whatsoever. Well, according to the biblical timeline, they wouldn’t have had to.

Regrowing Vegetation

The flood event took place over the course of just over a year, and the Bible gives exact details as to when certain events occurred within it. It began on the 600th year of Noah’s life and lasted 370 days after (371 if you count the first and last day as full days).

That means plant regrowth in the area immediately around where the ark landed started at least seven months before the first animals (other than birds) might have been released.

One-hundred-and-fifty days after that, the ark was grounded somewhere on the mountains of Ararat; however, we’re not given the exact altitude on which it did so. So, from that point on, vegetation could have started to regrow on whatever land was exposed as the waters began to recede. That means plant regrowth in the area immediately around where the ark landed started at least seven months before the first animals (other than birds) might have been released.

To keep this in perspective, although various “grass seed germinates at different rates, depending on various factors . . . Typically, germination takes between five and 10 days. Once germinated, the grass will continue to grow at a rate of about 2/3 cm per week.”6 Which means even at the slower rate of 2 cm per week, after only six weeks it would be almost 12 centimeters (almost 5 inches) tall.

Vegetables like cucumbers, beans, carrots, and corn take around two or three months to bear fruit, while potatoes may take three to four. Other underground plants such as turnips and radishes can be ready to eat in as little as a month, while veggies like pumpkins, peppers, cauliflower, and eggplants can take up to five months to mature.

Trees, of course, take longer, and their growth rates vary widely. However, some are fast-growing types such as the Thuja Green Giant, an evergreen that can reach 15 to 20 feet after three years and stands up to 40 feet fall when mature. Such very adaptable, resilient, disease- and insect-resistant types were likely what began providing more stabilizing ecosystems immediately after the flood.

“The first inidcation of plant life returning is the olive leaf that was brought back by the dove (Genesis 8:10–11). This happened at approximately Day 278 of the Flood event; 128 days after the Ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.”7

Olive trees are one of the hardiest of plants that can regenerate from almost any fragment. It’s well known that if pieces of olive branch are buried in soil, they sprout shoots very rapidly and (like many other plants) reproduce by asexual budding. So this was ample time for the olive to be producing new leaves from regenerated pieces.

However, not all plants grow from cuttings—most grow from seeds. So how could seeds have possibly lasted, floating around in the ocean for the duration of the flood?

Surprisingly to some, the very father of today’s story of evolution, Charles Darwin, as well as modern scientists such as George F. Howe (PhD in botany), “performed experiments to determine whether seeds could survive being soaked in saltwater and how they could be transported over long distances by water.”8

Their conclusions, far from helping debunk the Genesis account, actually provide great “insight into how some plants and seeds could have survived during the Flood! . . . [For example] Howe discovered that even after 140 days of soaking, the seeds of wild flowering plant types were still viable enough to germinate.”9 10

Many seeds have an inbuilt mechanism that allows them to become dormant for long periods when saturated and then germinate when they dry out.

Darwin also made this observation:

The carcasses of birds, when floating on the sea, sometimes escape being immediately devoured; and many kinds of seeds in the crops of floating birds long retain their vitality . . . some taken out of the crop of a pigeon, which had floated on artificial sea-water for 30 days, to my surprise nearly all germinated.11

Like Darwin’s discoveries, “many herbivorous animals that died in the Flood and their carcasses could have floated as carrion on the surface of the waters holding and protecting seeds in their bodies.”12 And “many plants and seeds could have survived on vegetation-mats of floating debris.”13

This same “floating vegetation could have contained many uprooted trees and other plants that could have survived and then regrown once the Floodwaters receded. . . . So some seeds could have survived in this debris and their root systems just as Charles Darwin observed.”14

Out of one small portion of the earth thus completely enclosed in by the roots of an oak about 50 years old, three dicotyledonous plants germinated....15

Of course, “another [obvious] way plants would have survived is that they were taken onto the Ark as food for Noah, his family, and the animals. . . . Some of these were replanted by Noah and his family after the Flood since we are specifically told he planted a vineyard (Genesis 9:20).”16

And “after leaving the Ark any seeds the animals ingested during their final days on the Ark could have passed through and then left on the ground in the animals’ excrement”17 and germinated soon after.

Conclusion

There would have been a bunch of greenery available to creatures as they stepped off the ark—even enough for the dinosaurs that would grow to immense sizes afterward and spread out all over the earth.

The big picture is that skeptics’ claim that, “Plants could not have survived the flood,” and/or “There would be nothing for animals to eat,” is totally unwarranted based on what logic and observational science has demonstrated. Ironically, “by making this claim they inadvertently invalidate some of the studies of Darwin”18 and many other evolution-believing scientists.

So, there would have been a bunch of greenery available to creatures as they stepped off the ark—even enough for the dinosaurs that would grow to immense sizes afterward and spread out all over the earth.

Interestingly, the creature called behemoth, described in Job 40, fits the description of one of these creatures quite well. It was massive, fed on grass like an ox, and had a tail like a huge cedar tree. And it was observed by Job after the flood, not before.

This leads to even more questions about what happened after the ark landed, such as, “How did the dinosaurs and other animals travel all around the world?” and “If dinosaurs got off the ark, why don’t we see them today?” So stay tuned for our conclusion in Part 7 where we’ll answer, “Where did the dinosaurs go after leaving Noah’s ark?”