Giant Dragonflies?

The fossil record contains supersized versions of several creatures, including insects such as Meganeura, the giant dragonfly (also called a “griffinfly”).

Meganeura monyi. Image by Archaeodontosaurus, via Wikimedia Commons. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Modern dragonflies are displayed in the case below inside Dr. Crawley’s Insectorium. Since no seagull-sized dragonflies fly the skies today, people wonder how they grew so large and why they all died out. Many evolutionists and some early creationists believe that giant growth was once fueled by “hyperoxia” (excessive oxygen) in the atmosphere’s past.

God provided the earth with sufficient oxygen early in the creation week. Also, plants would have been producing it on day three, and animals would have needed it to breathe by day five. We cannot be sure if the atmosphere before Noah’s flood was much different from today.

Some researchers have suggested that higher atmospheric oxygen caused longer lifespans and gigantism in the world before the flood. However, in recent times, researchers have found that excessive oxygen is usually a detriment (this is why antioxidants are good). Genetics, physiology, and changes in climate (e.g., the ice age after the flood) may better explain these declines in life expectancy and size since the flood.

Normal variations of some created kinds of insects may have simply included gigantic varieties. Perhaps the climate changes in the post-flood world were too stressful for many animal varieties that tended to grow large before they laid eggs. With more extreme winters (coming sooner) and shorter growing seasons, insects would have less time to mature and reproduce, giving smaller types an advantage—while their larger counterparts would have been eliminated through the process some call “natural selection.”

The actual cause for the disappearance of these giant insects may be a combination of these ideas or it may be something we have not yet considered.

Start planning your visit to the Creation Museum today, and learn more about God’s design for even the creepy crawlies inside Dr. Crawley’s Insectorium during your trip!