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Gopherwood Range Theory
John Denke, Biology 101
University of North Texas
Fall Semester, 1999 AD

Abstract

Biologists know that gophers are found only in the Western Hemisphere. The gopher tortoise, species Gopherus polyphemus, is its eldest endangered species living in a certain Southeastern U.S. range. Also living within this range is the resilient Southern live oak, species Quercus virginiana. Its naturally-curved massive branches were used exclusively for the strongest shipbuilding frames. "Old Ironsides", the oldest commissioned ship still afloat in the world, is built from these Southeastern U.S. gopher's wood's forests. Thus, the ark's "gopherwood" name, "gopher wood", is identical to the species of wood in USS Constitution's frame, according to theory. Quercus virginiana (after Philip Miller, botanist)

Other biologists suggest three of the four known Gopherus living species: G. agassizii, G. berlandieri and G. flavomarginatus. However, all three range in non-forested areas. Ancient stone anchors, similar to 5,000-year-old anchors found at Bimini and the Middle East, are common in U.S. Gulf Coast hurricane flood zones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_wood

GDG

I know very little about biology,
does this abstract hold water?

Thank you.

This is certainly food for thought. Since we have live oaks and gopher tortoises here, I am going to chat up people about this possibility. We will probably never know, but my mind is telling me a couple of things right off: gopher may be something else that was misspelled, and I would go with resinous or cedar wood. Depending on how much time before the flood came, I might have to go with whatever would float and could be built the fastest. Perhaps there was an ancient arkyard along Florida's Space Coast, which could lead to the possibility of AnchorHenge. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Here is one last pitch of John's range theory.

Our core samples of Noah's ark are Quercus virginiana. That's the current problem. John's notebooks say Constantine Rafinesque named genus Gopherus. I read that's true. His notes say he had to. Why? Because Carolus Linnaeus had already named genus Quercus. The species name virginiana was gone too. John says Carolus named the species. Several sites say Philip Miller did. Which is it? Obviously neither of them, Carolus nor Philip, knew about the core samples.

Is a Southern live oak native to Virginia, he asks here, is it virgin Virginian? John writes, yes, of course, but at the range's extreme northeast edge. Francois Daudin had named species polyphemus already. The name Quercus (Carolus') was gone, the name virginiana (Carolus' or Philip's) was gone, and the name polyphemus (Francois') was gone, so Constantine named the genus Gopherus, according to John, for a common range. Noted here is western US was a frontier area not known (classified) yet. Was genus Gopherus and its species polyphemus classified first? Here it says it was, before the remaining three Gopherus' species were. John says it was Constantine's only choice at the time, but I disagree.

The question is did Constantine know the ark was Southern live oak? John says yes, he knew. I say no, he didn't know. If he did know about the ark's core samples, then the Gopherwood Range Theory holds water. On the other hand if Constantine didn't know, then the common range naming of Southern live oak and Gopher tortoise at the time is nothing more than a coincidence. Best I can tell, neither Carolus, Philip, Francois, nor Constantine, knew.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=Noah%27s+ark

Verification that Noah's ark gopher wood is Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) by independent laboratories is expected soon. Should the University of North Texas student's 1999 classification be disproven, these notebooks will be pitched.

Anchorhenge, Alaska

<img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" />

I have read something about this; it is very interesting and I can't wait to hear what the decision is on the wood. I asked a neighbor (who wrote a book about the Shroud of Turin), if he knew anything about the ark and the wood it was built of, nada. He is a neurologist/psychiatrist as well as a very religious man. I am going to ask a variety of people about this; gopher tortoise owners, archaeologists, very religious people. I am interested in their opinions and wish I knew someone where the "ark" was found so I could include them.