Why God Created Large, Sharp Teeth | The Institute for Creation Research

Why God Created Large, Sharp Teeth

Nineteenth-century English poet Alfred Tennyson famously described nature as "red in tooth and claw."1 But were claws and teeth originally intended to draw blood, or were they used to eat vegetation?

Recently, three U.S. biologists studied the feeding habits of 11 Central and South American leaf-nosed bats and looked for "relationships between diet, tooth structure, feeding performance, and behaviour."2 Some bats eat insects and small vertebrates, some eat fruit and nectar, others a little bit of everything. Vampire bats, of course, will eat blood.

To conduct their research, which was published in 2011, the team generated three-dimensional images of the teeth and skulls of 17 bat species. The BBC featured some of the images on its website, such as the fruit bat skull below.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The study authors found that fruit bats have more complicated surface features on their molars, which they use to crush fruit pulp. Insectivorous bat molars have pointed crests that are more efficient at shearing insect exoskeletons.

A 2012 study of multiple large fruit bat species that inhabit the same locations in Brazil found that although their chromosomes looked virtually indistinguishable at first, species-specific banding patterns show up when stained.4 A separate 2011 study found "a considerable range of individual variation" in Phyllostomatid vampire bat skulls.5

Since bat features are still adapting today, it stands to reason that the original Phyllostomatid bats that colonized the Americas also adapted their features as they diversified into today's species. But no evidence suggests either that bats evolved from non-bats or that they will ever evolve into a non-bat.

The fact that fruit bats use their sharp teeth to eat fruit fits with the biblical teaching that God originally intended animals to eat vegetation, not other animals:

Large, sharp teeth are not used solely for killing and ripping flesh from other animals. Fruit bats have sharp, pointed teeth, similar to those in cats, designed to quickly tear flesh from fruit. These teeth easily could remove flesh from an animal, but the fruit bat does not use them for this purpose.6

And the fact that other bats eat blood fits with the biblical teaching that sin resulted in a cursed creation. Bats now use their vegetation-eating equipment with less discrimination.

It makes sense that God would supply various creatures with large, sharp teeth so that they could eat the varied plant products He provided for their nourishment.7 But since the "law of sin and death" now operates in this world, animals and humans use what was originally good to accomplish what is inherently not good.8

References

  1. Tennyson, A. 1849. In Memoriam A. H. H., Canto 56.
  2. Santana, S. E., S. Strait, and E. R. Dumont. 2011. The better to eat you with: functional correlates of tooth structure in bats. Functional Ecology. 25 (4): 839-847.
  3. Sharp teeth aid bats' fruit diets. BBC Earth News. Posted on news.bbc.co.uk February 25, 2011, accessed February 25, 2012.
  4. de Lemos Pinto, M. et al. 2012. Cytotaxonomy of the subgenus Artibeus (Phyllostomidae, Chiroptera) by characterization of species-specific markers. Comparative Cytogenetics. 6 (1): 17-28.
  5. Orihuela, J. 2011. Skull variation of the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae): Taxonomic implications for the Cuban fossil vampire bat Desmodus puntajudensis. Chiroptera Neotropical. 17 (1): 863-876.
  6. Criswell, D. 2009. Predation Did Not Come from Evolution. Acts & Facts. 38 (3): 9.
  7. Genesis 1:30.
  8. Romans 8:2.

Skull image credit: Dumont Lab, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Adapted for use in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holders.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on March 26, 2012.

The Latest
NEWS
Dino Footprints Down Under
Dinosaur trackways1 are once again making the news. Australia is the setting of a remarkable series of dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithischian...

NEWS
April 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things...

NEWS
Human Evolution and the Inner Ear
The vain attempt by evolutionists to make an evolutionary connection between people and ape-like ancestors continues. This time, it is in regard to...

CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...