Of Cattle and Goats

2 Timothy 2:15

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

One of the largest families of mammals defined by evolutionists is the bovidae – the cloven-hoofed ruminants. This is a very large family of widely diverse animals that do seem to have a large number of similarities. Evolutionists divide the family into a large number of sub-families, such as antelopes, hartebeests, cattle, and caprinae (the sheep and goat subfamily).

Creation biologists have no more certainty in the classification of these groupings than evolutionists. The biblical definition of a baramin is that group of animals which have developed from the original animals created by God. But the boundaries of these baramins requires a lot of research. Creation biologists have developed an entire sophisticated branch of their science called baraminology. It should not be a surprise that the boundaries of certain baramins have not yet been discovered.

One of the clues we use to suggest that two species are in the same baramin is the possibility of hybridization. There appears to be no evidence of hybridization between the various subfamilies in the bovidae family. So, creation biologists tentatively suggest that each subfamily is a separate baramin.

Sheep and goats are in the same subfamily, and hybrids, while rare, are possible, so we place them in one baramin. But cattle are in another baramin even though there is some disputed evidence that there might be hybrids between goats and cattle.

This uncertainty in classification should not be an embarrassment. On the contrary, it illustrates the very real research science that is carried out by creationists.   Author: Paul F. Taylor

 Prayer: Help us to be diligent in our research and study in all areas to which You have assigned us, Lord. Help us to study with integrity, led by Your word. Amen.

Ref: Lightner, J.K. (2007), Identification of species within the cattle monobaramin (kind). Journal of Creation 21, no. 1:119–122. Image: African buffalo (cattle kind), CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic.