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| Just a mudskipper. No Gilligan, Mary Ann, Ginger, Professor... morgueFile/dantada |
In the "Just So Stories" of Darwin's Cheerleaders, the mudskipper has been proclaimed "the creationist's worst nightmare". This is based on massive circular reasoning, arbitrary assertions, imaginative cladistics and abundant presuppositions. However, when stripping away the "Aha! Gotcha! Proof of evolution!" attitude and taking a closer look at the critters, we see something different: Evidence of intricate design by the Creator, and yet another refutation of evolutionism.
If you have ever seen a wildlife documentary on tropical mangrove swamps, you will likely have observed mudskippers at work and play. These unusual fish, about 15 cm (6 in) long, are a type of goby. Swimming in water, they seem no more remarkable than other fish. However, once the tide goes out to expose the mudflats, it’s a different matter altogether.
Comedians among fishes
Mudskipper antics on land are certainly amusing to watch. To move along, a mudskipper will slump forwards by doing ‘press-ups’ with its pectoral fins, a type of locomotion called ‘crutching’. When two male mudskippers dispute territory, they press up on their pectorals with mouths agape, making sideways head-swipes at each other. This comical sight was amusingly captured on acclaimed wildlife TV series, Life. Most dramatically of all, a mudskipper may try to attract the attention of a mate by an impressive leap into the air, followed by an ungainly landing!
A creationist’s worst nightmare?
A fish that spends more of its life on land than in the water and ‘walks’ (after a fashion) on its pectoral fins is certainly an oddity. Some evolutionists have pounced on the mudskipper as allegedly providing evidence against biblical creation. On a well known anti-creationist website, one blogger gleefully responded to a picture of two Indonesian mudskippers with the comment: “Oh no! The creationists’ worst nightmare: a walking fish!”
Contrary to these confident claims, this unique and fascinating amphibious fish is in no way troublesome to those who view Genesis 1–11 as literal history.
You can jump over and finish reading "Mudskippers — Marvels of the Mud Flats", and then watch the video below.