Knock Knock: Who’s Not There?

Have you ever woken up to the sound of something knocking on your roof? Unless your parents are repairing the shingles, it’s likely a confused woodpecker hard at work, hoping to find some grub inside the nooks and crannies of your home.

Pileated woodpecker by Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Woodpeckers are striking birds that live on many continents. They have sharp, pointed beaks used to drill through the bark of trees (and sometimes houses). Once the woodpecker has drilled a deep enough hole, he uses his long tongue to spear or catch insects and beetle larvae.

Chances are that whatever is knocking on your roof is not an aye-aye, a cat-sized lemur that also hunts for insects in wood. Like the woodpecker, the aye-aye knocks on wood listening for the hollow sound of insect tunnels. Then it digs into the wood to pull out the insects. But unlike woodpeckers, the aye-aye lives only on the island of Madagascar.

Aye-Aye by Tom Junek, via Wikimedia Commons

Recently, evolutionists have argued that the woodpecker and the aye-aye prove what they call “convergent evolution,” meaning that two different species evolved the same trait in order to adapt to similar environments or ecological conditions. In this case, evolutionists think that because the woodpecker and the aye-aye both hunt for insects in wood, they must be connected in the evolutionary model.

This idea is contrary to God’s Word, which tells us that God created each creature “according to their kinds” (Genesis 1:24).

The woodpecker is part of the woodpecker kind under the bird classification. It is a winged creature with a bill or beak and a variety of colored feathers. To reproduce, the woodpecker lays eggs that hatch when the baby birds are fully developed.

The aye-aye is part of the lemur kind, under the mammal classification. It has fur, not feathers, and a mouth with jawbones and teeth. Like most mammals, the lemur carries its babies in its womb and gives birth when they’re fully developed.

The woodpecker and aye-aye both hunt for insects in wood, but they are two totally different kinds of animals in God’s good creation.

Find Out More

• Pileated Woodpecker (Zoo Guide)
• Pileated Woodpecker (Marvels of Creation: Breathtaking Birds)
• Lemurs on Madagascar (Kids Answers)