A look at The dodo bird
In 1681, the last dodo bird on the planet breathed its last. But that did not end the bird’s story.
Some 300 years later, botanists on Mauritius—the island where the dodo had lived—noticed that a certain species of tree was rapidly dying off. Tambalacoque trees had historically grown in abundance on Mauritius, but by the 1970s some botanists said only 13 remained—and they were all thought to be around 300 years old. Each year, they were producing fruit containing seeds, but none of the seeds were sprouting into saplings. This meant that no new tambalacoque trees had sprouted since the late 1600s.
The tambalacoque’s average lifespan is roughly 300 years, so the last trees of the species were very near the end of their lives. Once those 13 died, the tambalacoque would be just like the dodo: extinct.
American ecologist Stanley Temple wondered if the dodo’s extinction 300 years earlier was connected to the tambalacoque’s inability to reproduce, which had also set in about 300 years earlier.
In Mauritius, Temple made a fascinating discovery: When the dodos were still alive, they ate tambalacoque’s fruit. And only after the seeds had journeyed through their digestive tract could they successfully germinate.
Researcher and writer Robert Doolan explained the discovery: “The tree’s seeds are encased in a thick-walled protective coat, but the dodo’s stone-filled gizzard was able to exert a powerful crushing pressure on them. The bird’s gizzard (a second stomach for grinding food) would pound away at the seed’s coat, weakening it and cracking it a little, but not enough to damage the seed inside. When eventually deposited by the dodo, the seed was able to germinate.”
After making this discovery, Temple found a solution: He imported some American turkeys to Mauritius. Their digestive process was similar enough to that of the dodos to be able to activate the tambalacoque seeds. Thanks to Temple and the turkeys, the tambalacoque lives on to this day.
The Message
The dodo went extinct back in 1681, but 300 years later, it delivered a posthumous message: For the tambalacoque tree to survive, it likely had to have come into existence at the same time as the dodo bird.
This supports the biblical account of creation. Genesis 1 records that when God renewed the Earth, He made plants and trees on the third day, and on the fifth day, He made animals, including birds (Genesis 1:11-23). The Bible’s account of creation matches the existence of a tree that relies on—and has always relied on—a bird for its survival.
Many species heavily depend on others for their survival. Many more organisms are mutually dependent: e.g., the calimyrna fig and the blastophaga wasp, the catalpa worm and the braconid, the yucca plant and the pronuba moth, and many more.
In each of these cases, the brilliance of the Creator is on display. The intricacy of His physical creation is clear. And the account of how He created Earth’s sophisticated ecosystems is confirmed.
from The Dodo’s Lesson in Evolution Theory, By Jeremiah Jacques
In 1681, the last dodo bird on the planet breathed its last. But that did not end the bird’s story.
Some 300 years later, botanists on Mauritius—the island where the dodo had lived—noticed that a certain species of tree was rapidly dying off. Tambalacoque trees had historically grown in abundance on Mauritius, but by the 1970s some botanists said only 13 remained—and they were all thought to be around 300 years old. Each year, they were producing fruit containing seeds, but none of the seeds were sprouting into saplings. This meant that no new tambalacoque trees had sprouted since the late 1600s.
The tambalacoque’s average lifespan is roughly 300 years, so the last trees of the species were very near the end of their lives. Once those 13 died, the tambalacoque would be just like the dodo: extinct.
American ecologist Stanley Temple wondered if the dodo’s extinction 300 years earlier was connected to the tambalacoque’s inability to reproduce, which had also set in about 300 years earlier.
In Mauritius, Temple made a fascinating discovery: When the dodos were still alive, they ate tambalacoque’s fruit. And only after the seeds had journeyed through their digestive tract could they successfully germinate.
Researcher and writer Robert Doolan explained the discovery: “The tree’s seeds are encased in a thick-walled protective coat, but the dodo’s stone-filled gizzard was able to exert a powerful crushing pressure on them. The bird’s gizzard (a second stomach for grinding food) would pound away at the seed’s coat, weakening it and cracking it a little, but not enough to damage the seed inside. When eventually deposited by the dodo, the seed was able to germinate.”
After making this discovery, Temple found a solution: He imported some American turkeys to Mauritius. Their digestive process was similar enough to that of the dodos to be able to activate the tambalacoque seeds. Thanks to Temple and the turkeys, the tambalacoque lives on to this day.
The Message
The dodo went extinct back in 1681, but 300 years later, it delivered a posthumous message: For the tambalacoque tree to survive, it likely had to have come into existence at the same time as the dodo bird.
This supports the biblical account of creation. Genesis 1 records that when God renewed the Earth, He made plants and trees on the third day, and on the fifth day, He made animals, including birds (Genesis 1:11-23). The Bible’s account of creation matches the existence of a tree that relies on—and has always relied on—a bird for its survival.
Many species heavily depend on others for their survival. Many more organisms are mutually dependent: e.g., the calimyrna fig and the blastophaga wasp, the catalpa worm and the braconid, the yucca plant and the pronuba moth, and many more.
In each of these cases, the brilliance of the Creator is on display. The intricacy of His physical creation is clear. And the account of how He created Earth’s sophisticated ecosystems is confirmed.
from The Dodo’s Lesson in Evolution Theory, By Jeremiah Jacques
