The Genetics of Kinds - Ravens, Owls, and Doves

Cytochrome b (cytb), one of the most widely used and accepted genes for phylogenetic studies, was employed to evaluate the genetic diversity, from a creationist standpoint, within and between species of ravens, species of owls, and species of doves. These species were chosen since they are known to have existed shortly after the flood, some documented within 400 years of the flood. It was found that within these species, cytb varied by approximately 1 percent or less and between species, the cytb varied between 4.1% and 25.3%; for example, the Barn Owl and the Spotted Eagle Owl differed in cytb by 25.3%. This variation is more than the cytb variance between a mouse and a pig, or a horse and a cow and nearly as much as the variation between a cow and a zebra fish (29%). This study concludes that all the subject species of ravens, species of owls, and species of doves were on the Ark. The alternative theory, which is now accepted by some creation scientists, is that speciation occurred after disembarkation from the Ark; this theory requires accepting full blown evolutionary processes (speciation through natural selection etc.) functioning at speeds on the order of 60,000 times that of published evolutionary literature.