A recently released study conducted by Mark Steckle and David Thaler, research scientists at the University of Basel, Switzerland, asserts an interesting and unintended Noahic allusion. The study surveyed the mitochondrial DNA of five million animals and 100,000 species and concluded that 99% of all current animal life, including humans, all descended from a single pair of ancestors no more than 250,000 years ago following some unknown worldwide cataclysmic event.

Thaler noted that “this conclusion is very surprising and I fought against it as hard as I could.” The study published in Human Evolution found that human diversity was unexpectedly minor compared to that of other animals. Stoeckle explained, “Culture, life experience, and other things can make people very different but in terms of basic biology, we’re like the birds.” He added, “One might have thought that, due to their high population numbers and wide geographic distribution, humans might have led to greater genetic diversity than other animal species. At least for mitochondrial DNA, humans turn out to be low to average in genetic diversity.”

However, both Stoeckle and Thaler are both quick to reiterate their commitment to Darwinian evolution and the rejection of a single Adam or Eve. Even so, this is yet another good reminder to hold the concept of “settled science” loosely. There is simply much more that we don’t know than what we do know. And isn’t it interesting that the Biblical story of a worldwide flood and pairs of animals saved from the destruction finds scientific support? It’s almost as if the Author knew what he was talking about…