Drawing from Scientific American (19th century)
Living paddlefish are somewhat hard to draw and preserved paddlefish are even harder. Their physical representation has been poorly illustrated. They’re not only hard to draw, they are near impossible to mount. Their habits are even harder to observe. A large fish in muddy water is a difficult subject for accurate scientific description. Their spawning was first observed and described in the section of the Osage now under Truman Reservoir.
“It wasn’t until 1961 that anyone actually observed paddlefish spawning when Charles Purkett, a fisheries biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, saw them release eggs and milk over flood gravel bars on the upper Osage. “
(page 204, Damming the Osage)
(Above) A tract from an anti-evolutionary organization, Does God Exist? September /October, 2002. In this issue, they discuss the impossibility of the paddlefish being a product of Darwinian adaptation. Cover art does not bear out their conclusion that “God shows us His wisdom and engineering ability in such beautiful creatures as this one.”
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