# How Many species of animals can fit on Noah's ark?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 7, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494 "2005-12-07T13:18:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/1 "2005-12-07T13:18:32Z")
Well, we could exclude marine animals and breeds dog/cat/other domesticated species.
How many species can fit on the ark?
How big should the ark be to hold all the land creatures?
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### Author:  [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/2 "2005-12-07T13:40:12Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#):
>
> Well, we could exclude marine animals and breeds dog/cat/other domesticated species.
> How many species can fit on the ark?
> How big should the ark be to hold all the land creatures?
I would recommend [talk.origins](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-noahs-ark.html) for a scientific discussion of this and other creationism-related issues. They provide comprehensive links to Creationist sites if you want to examine the claims of the opposition.
The size of the Ark is given in Genesis 6:15 as 300 x 50 x 30 cubits, or 450’ x 75’ x 45’.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/3 "2005-12-07T15:04:38Z")
> [@Tevildo](#):
>
> The size of the Ark is given in Genesis 6:15 as 300 x 50 x 30 cubits
Riiiiiiiiiight.
What’s a cubit.
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### Author:  [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/4 "2005-12-07T15:24:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> Riiiiiiiiiight.
>
> What’s a cubit.
Young people these days don’t even know what Candid Camera _is_. 🙂
(Sorry for going OT, but he started it! Should this be in GD, or even CS considering where it’s going?)
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/5 "2005-12-07T15:25:33Z")
The correct answer is “all of them.” Duh! 😃
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/6 "2005-12-07T16:48:02Z")
Well, are you just looking for how many you can fit on there, or are you also accounting for the room that would be required to bring food enough for all the animals? Also, why aren’t any plant species being brought with to save them from destruction?
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/7 "2005-12-07T16:51:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> Riiiiiiiiiight.
>
> What’s a cubit.
Reread Msg#2.
Multiply 300 cubits by 1.5 and get 450 feet.
Therefore 1 cubit = 1.5 feet.
[\*\* Cubit \*\*](http://ebible.org/bible/web/glossary.htm)
.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/8 "2005-12-07T16:54:38Z")
Don’t worry, **Telemark**. I got it.
“I’m gonna make it rain for a hundred days and a hundred nights.”
“Hey, look. Just make it rain for forty days and nights, and wait for the sewers to back up.”
“Riiiiight.”
😃
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/9 "2005-12-07T16:55:41Z")
In all fairness, there is a certain amount of vagueness in relation to the exact length of a cubit. According to [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cubit) it is “usually” 1.5 feet.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/10 "2005-12-07T16:56:01Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> The correct answer is “all of them.” Duh! 😃
Except for the unicorn …
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### Author:  [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/11 "2005-12-07T16:57:36Z")
Isn’t there a line of thought that says that Noah didn’t get every species, but every genus? And how many of each creature did he take, anyway – two, or seven? Bible says both, so why have we settled on two, in the common understanding?
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/12 "2005-12-07T17:19:12Z")
What is that wooshing sound I keep hearing? Hmm… maybe this will help.
[http://www.clown-ministry.com/skits/Noah-skit.html](http://www.clown-ministry.com/skits/Noah-skit.html)
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/13 "2005-12-07T17:22:15Z")
In regards to maximizing the number of species, do we have to keep the familiar creatures like cats and rats and elephants? Because they take up an awful lot of space. On the other hand, if we’re starting with insects and similar tinies, we could probably get most animal species.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/14 "2005-12-07T17:26:17Z")
> [@yabob](#):
>
> Except for the unicorn …
There was green alligators and long-necked geese, some humpedty-back camels and some chimpanzees…
Seriously, some disclaimers:
1. Only a minority of Christians and some Orthodox Jews take the story literally; most understand it to be fabulistic, told for theological reasons we need not get into in this GQ thread.
2. Those who **do** take it literally note that Noah took two of every unclean “kind” and seven of every clean “kind” on the Ark. What a “kind” is is nowhere specified, but it seems to be more closely associated with the idea of genus than of species, and sometimes even larger taxa than that.
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### Author:  [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/15 "2005-12-07T19:28:27Z")
Just grab all the beetles, and you’ll at least have a majority of species.
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### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/16 "2005-12-07T19:45:08Z")
> [@Polycarp](#):
>
> 1. Those who **do** take it literally note that Noah took two of every unclean “kind” and seven of every clean “kind” on the Ark. What a “kind” is is nowhere specified, but it seems to be more closely associated with the idea of genus than of species, and sometimes even larger taxa than that.
Actually Noah took 7 pairs of every clean kind. Think of how mean it would have been to have been the odd man (or woman) out if it were 7.
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### Author:  [@Rhinocerous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhinocerous)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/17 "2005-12-07T20:05:13Z")
Even with two of every species, wouldn’t that equate to all animals inbreeding to reproduce? Does that mean that the original pairs of animals on the arc were far superior than decendents of those animals alive today since all descendents are inherently the product of inbreeding?
Not to mention Noah and his family! Did he have to do it with his daughters and stuff in order to keep the species alive?
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/18 "2005-12-07T20:32:27Z")
> [@Rhinocerous](#):
>
> Not to mention Noah and his family! Did he have to do it with his daughters and stuff in order to keep the species alive?
That was Lot.
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/19 "2005-12-07T20:32:47Z")
> [@Rhinocerous](#):
>
> Not to mention Noah and his family! Did he have to do it with his daughters and stuff in order to keep the species alive?
You are probably mixing him up with Lot, who was out in the desert with only his randy daughters around.
Noah’s family consisted of him, his wife, three sons, and their wives, IIRC.
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-species-of-animals-can-fit-on-noahs-ark/334494/20 "2005-12-07T20:42:58Z")
I have to be second at saying all of them.
Thealogicaly - God sent one pair of each, and he won’t make a mistake.
Logicaly - Any animal that lives would have fit on the ark, and you didn’t say all at the same time. You have to watch those wily teachers and their logic problems.
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