Once upon a time there was an animal known as Palaeotragus. Palaeotragus had an anatomy somewhat similar to that of a giraffe but it had more of a horse’s body and a regular sized neck. It was considered to be the giraffe’s extinct ancestor, the ancestor from which the giraffe evolved.[1] This all changed when Palaeotragus were found alive and well in Africa in 1901.[2] They were known as Okapi, and thus Palaeotragus was not extinct after all.
How annoying is it when animals we believe to be extinct, in which we link to modern animals as “ancient ancestors,” turn up alive, and unchanged for that matter… geez. The fact that the Okapi was alive and well proved to cause a dilemma in the evolutionary framework, which again would need to be revised. Since Palaeotragus was now the alive Okapi it could not be considered the ancestor for the giraffe, which currently has no known (conclusive) ancestor in the fossil record from which it evolved.[3] Even worse, the Okapi had not evolved when analyzing its fossil records dating back to 15 million years ago.[4] It was one of many discovered living fossils. This of course lead to many questions: From what animal did the giraffe evolve? Why did the Okapi not evolve over 15 million years? But that was not the end of the problems for evolution theory.
Okapi have also proved to be a set back for the concept of how the giraffe’s neck evolved to be so large. One popular theory was that after years of stretching its neck to reach higher trees for food, the giraffe eventually evolved a longer neck. The Okapi however exhibits this same behavior stretching to reach higher trees yet its neck remains short when looking back to the fossil record for millions of years.[5] This proved that evolution is not driven by repetitive instances of use and non-use.[6]
An example of incorrect depictions of giraffe neck evolution assumptions that still appear in textbooks to this day.
Thanks to the sudden discovery of Okapi, many facets of evolution can be challenged. There are many other animals and living fossils like the Okapi which prove to be thorns in the side as well for evolutionists. But considering there are 15,000 Okapi roaming wild in the Congoat the present time,[7] the Okapi is a wonderful example of the Bible’s account of animals created separately as different “kinds.”
[1] Bergman, J., (2002) “The Giraffe’s Neck: Another Icon of Evolution Falls,” Creation Journal, (16)1, pp. 124.
[2] Fiegl, A., (October 2011) “The Elusive Okapi,” National Geographic, pp. 23.
[3] Bergman, J., (2002) “The Giraffe’s Neck: Another Icon of Evolution Falls,” Creation Journal, (16)1, pp. 124.
[4] Sherr, L., (1997) Tall Blondes; A Book About Giraffes, Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, KS, pp. 42.
[5] Bergman, J., (2002) “The Giraffe’s Neck: Another Icon of Evolution Falls,” Creation Journal, (16)1, pp. 122.
[6] Whitfield, P., (1993) The Natural History of Evolution, Doubleday,New York: NY, pp. 13.
[7] Fiegl, A., (October 2011) “The Elusive Okapi,” National Geographic, pp. 23.
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