A New Candidate for Leviathan?
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Perspectives rate enhancement. A phosphatase, A new candidate for These extinct creatures were all which catalyzes the hydrolysis of wholly marine reptiles. Due to their phosphate dianions, magnified the Leviathan? great size, they would have lived in reaction rate by a thousand times more the deep ocean. They would not have than even that previous enzyme—1021 Peter Booker been opponents for land-dwelling times. That is, the phosphatase allows humans armed with swords, spears, reactions vital for cell signalling and Chapter 41 of the book of Job in darts, arrows and slingstones, which regulation to take place in a hundredth the Bible describes a creature called Leviathan was. of a second. Without the enzyme, this Leviathan. Leviathan was massive Verse 30 says of Leviathan: essential reaction would take a trillion and terrifying, and apparently could 30 ‘His undersides are jagged years—almost a hundred times even breathe fire. God describes Leviathan potsherds [broken, generally sharp, the supposed evolutionary age of the to Job, as an example of something pottery fragments], leaving a universe (about 15 billion years)!3 which He created which is beyond trail in the mud like a threshing mankind’s ability to compete with.1 sledge.’ Implications A number of creatures have been Pliosaurs like Kronosaurus proposed as candidates for Leviathan. had flippers and not legs, so they could Wolfenden said: not stand or move along on the land, ‘Without catalysts, there would Leviathan—Tyrannosaurus rex? and could not leave trails in the mud be no life at all, from microbes to at the water’s edge, as would, say, a humans. It makes you wonder how The massive size and terrifying crocodile. natural selection operated in such teeth described in Job could lead one a way as to produce a protein that to propose that Leviathan may have Leviathan—the crocodile? got off the ground as a primitive been a theropod (flesh-eating) dinosaur catalyst for such an extraordinarily such as Tyrannosaurus rex. However, Long-agers are offended by slow reaction.’1 verses 31–32 say of Leviathan: the notion that the Bible might be Actually, it should make one 31 ‘He makes the depths churn like describing creatures which, according wonder about the faith commitment to a boiling caldron and stirs up the to their belief system, died millions evolution from goo to you via the zoo, sea like a pot of ointment. of years before people appeared on in the face of such amazingly fine-tuned 32 ‘Behind him he leaves a the scene. So the identification of enzymes vital for even the simplest glistening wake; one would think Leviathan as a still-living creature life! And natural selection can’t the deep had white hair.’ suits modern long-age tastes. (This operate until there are already living This clearly describes an probably also helps drive the common organisms to pass on the information aquatic creature. Psalm 104:25–26 [mis]identification of Behemoth as coding for the enzymes, so it cannot also confirms that Leviathan lived in an elephant or hippopotamus, rather explain the origin of these enzymes. the sea: than a dinosaur. However, the tail of 25 ‘There is the sea, vast and these extant creatures can scarcely be References spacious, teeming with creatures compared to a cedar tree, as is the tail beyond number—living things of Behemoth.) 1. Cited in Lang, L.H., Without enzyme both large and small. The NIV has a footnote to Job 41:1 catalyst, slowest known biological reaction 26 takes 1 trillion years, Biocomp Life Science ‘There the ships go to and fro, suggesting Leviathan is ‘possibly the News, <news.biocompare.com/newsstory. And the leviathan, which you crocodile’. Crocodiles are normally asp?id=10433>, 5 May 2003. formed to frolic there.’ associated with rivers and lakes, not the 2. Miller, B.G., Hassell, A.M., Wolfenden, R., Clearly T. rex, which was sea, as Leviathan is. However, some Milburn, M.V. and Short, S.A., Anatomy land-dwelling, cannot have been crocodiles (e.g. Australia’s estuarine of a proficient enzyme: the structure of Leviathan. or saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus orotidine 5’-monophosphate decarboxylase in the presence and absence of a potential porosus) do spend time in the sea. transition state analog, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. Leviathan—Kronosaurus? Like crocodiles, Leviathan had USA 97(5):2011–2016, 2000; <www.pnas. scales. Verses 15–17 in the KJV org/cgi/content/full/97/5/2011>. The book The Great Dinosaur read: 3. Lad, C., Williams, N.H. and Wolfenden, R., Mystery Solved! 2 suggests that 15 ‘His scales are his pride, shut up The rate of hydrolysis of phosphomonoester dianions and the exceptional catalytic Leviathan may have been something together as with a close seal. 16 proficiencies of protein and inositol like Kronosaurus queenslandicus. ‘One is so near to another, that no phosphatases, Proc. Na. Acad. Sci. USA However, there are problems with air can come between them. 100(10):5607–5610, 2003; <www.pnas.org/ Kronosaurus (or its larger pliosaur 17 ‘They are joined one to another, cgi/content/full/100/10/5607>. kin, such as Mosasaurus) being the they stick together, that they cannot Leviathan of Job. be sundered.’ 14 TJ 19(2) 2005 Perspectives However, a crocodile’s scales, in 1966, and is said to have lived in scales. In fact, the wording in National while tough, can be sundered by a the middle Cretaceous period. There Geographic has remarkable parallels to weapon. (The NIV refers to ‘shields’ is an article about Sarcosuchus in the the KJV’s wording: rather than scales.) December 2001 edition of National ‘“Gorgeous armor” mused Verse 25 could also very easily Geographic (pp. 86–89), which has paleontologist Hans Larsson, refer to a crocodile: some descriptions that remarkably examining a stack of foot-long 25 ‘When he raises himself up, the parallel those of Leviathan in Job. bony scutes that looked like mighty are terrified … .’ Job 41 is quite clear that Leviathan roofing tiles. These would have A crocodile raises itself from had exceptional scales, scales that provided an impermeable shield a prone position on its stomach onto could not be penetrated by spears, over SuperCroc’s neck, back and its legs to walk, run or attack. But arrows or darts: tail.’3 although a rising crocodile would 15 ‘His scales are his pride, shut up Scales ‘… that cannot cause most people to be afraid, it can together as with a close seal. be sundered …’(KJV), and ‘… be killed by a warrior with weapons, 16 ‘One is so near to another, that no an impermeable shield’(National so perhaps a ‘mighty’ warrior need air can come between them. Geographic). not be terrified of one. An ordinary 17 ‘They are joined one to another, Leviathan had huge jaws and crocodile also seems to lack the size they stick together, that they cannot terrible teeth: 14 and invincibility clearly indicated in be sundered ... ‘Who dares open the doors of the Bible’s description of Leviathan. 26 ‘The sword of him that layeth his mouth, ringed about with his And certainly no existing crocodile at him cannot hold: the spear, the fearsome teeth?’ breathes fire! dart, nor the habergeon. The National Geographic 27 ‘He esteemeth iron as straw, article says of Sarcosuchus: The real Leviathan? and brass as rotten wood. ‘It’s SuperCroc’s skull that is 28 ‘The arrow cannot make him unparalleled. More than a hundred A new candidate which meets flee: slingstones are turned with teeth jut from narrow jaws that the features described in Job much more him into stubble. must have been adept at snagging precisely than the candidates described 29 ‘Darts are counted as stubble: fish. And unlike any other croc, above is Sarcosuchus imperator (flesh he laugheth at the shaking of a living or extinct, SuperCroc’s crocodile emperor), commonly called spear.’ skull gets wider toward the front ‘SuperCroc’. It was first discovered Sarcosuchus had remarkable end, which is armed with a deadly row of enlarged incisors. … Our most complete skull is just shy of six feet.’4 Then we come to a very interesting possibility. Comparing the skull of Sarcosuchus to that of an ordinary crocodile, we see that not only is it much bigger, but also that Sarcosuchus has a bulbous structure on the end of its snout. The author of the National Geographic article, Paul Sereno, speculates about the purpose of this structure: ‘The swollen end of the snout houses an enormous cavity under the nostrils, meaning this croc may have had an enhanced sense of smell and a most unusual call.’5 This may shed new light on some otherwise cryptic passages in Job 41. 18 ‘His snorting throws out flashes The fossilized remains of Sarcosuchus imperator (flesh crocodile emperor) were discovered of light; his eyes are like the rays on 24 October 2001 in the Tenere Desert of Niger in North Africa. In this illustration, the of dawn. Sarcosuchus skull dwarfs the 50-centimetre skull of a living adult Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus 19 ‘Firebrands stream from his intermedius). mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. TJ 19(2) 2005 15 Perspectives 20 ‘Smoke pours from his nostrils being Leviathan. However, it fits The astronomical as from a boiling pot over a fire crocodilians such as Sarcosuchus. of reeds. Leviathan was described in verse theory of the Ice 21 ‘His breath sets coals ablaze, and 33 thus: Age becomes more flames dart from his mouth.’ 33 ‘Nothing on earth is his equal—a This passage from Job has creature without fear. complicated correlations with the enduring legends 34 ‘He looks down on all that are of fire-breathing dragons.