Lizard discovered that can lay eggs and birth live young
Confirms biblical creation
The yellow-bellied, three toed skink (Saiphos equalis) is a rare species; it is one of only a few vertebrate species that can both lay eggs and give birth to live young. However, the reproductive mode of individual skinks was thought to be stable; individual females either laid eggs or birthed live young.
However, in a world first, scientists recently observed a female lay eggs and birth live young in the same clutch.1 A live-birthing female in the researchers’ lab laid three eggs. They incubated them, and one hatched and lived. About three weeks later, the female gave birth to a single fully developed offspring.
Evolutionists were delighted, casting this as an example of ‘evolution in action’.2 Supposedly, this shows S. equalis is evolving from egg-laying to live birth, that this change in reproduction mode was possibly favoured by natural selection. However, they did not predict this interesting occurrence. And yet, nearly ten years ago, I offered a biblical alternative that suggested lizards like S. equalis were originally created with this ‘dual-mode’ reproductive capability:
There is however another option: many types of lizard (including S. equalis) originally had the capacity for both reproductive modes, but due to natural selection most subsequently lost the ability for one or the other. This is consistent with the post-Flood dispersion of biblical kinds. Evolutionists don’t generally consider this possibility because it’s a process of information segmentation and loss, which gives no support to microbes-to-microbiologists evolution, and also gives no chronological priority to oviparity. (Lizards moving from eggs to live birth: evolution in action?)
Of course, since I (like everyone else) mistakenly thought an individual female couldn’t now use both birthing modes, I thought it only occurred in the past. But clearly, if some S. equalis females remain adaptable enough today to still be able to use both birthing modes, it only confirms my suggestion that they did in the past.
Evolutionists often say that biblical creation isn’t scientific (‘It’s not science!’). But here we have a claim about biology made from an overtly biblical perspective—that S. equalis originally had the capacity both to lay eggs and birth live young—bolstered by new scientific evidence. Not only can claims that impinge on science come from a biblical perspective; they can even be confirmed by new data.
References and notes
- Laird M.K., Thompson M.B., and Whittington C.M., Facultative oviparity in a viviparous skink (Saiphos equalis), Biol. Lett. 15:20180827 | doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0827, 2019 Return to text.
- University of Sydney, Biologists observe a three-toed skink lay eggs and give birth to a live baby, sciencedaily.com, 2 April 2019. Return to text.
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