Modern evolutionists have named over one million different animal species and that is the number that most people think of when considering the number of animals on the ark. However, the Bible does not say “species” it says “kinds” (remember, “species” is a modern concept). The Hebrew word for “kind” is “min” and was a much more broad category than the modern “species.”
The Bible also says that it was only air-breathing land animals that went onto the ark. That means that sea creatures and possibly insects and other invertebrates were not on the ark. There are about 35,000 species (including those in the fossil record) left and of them, we have about 1,000 families! “Families” are a current family level that are much closer to the Biblical word “Kind” (Hebrew: ‘min’).
After calculating what information we have from God’s Word and what information we know from the fossil record and observable science, we can conclude that there were no more than 16,000 land animals and birds on the ark.
The animals were also, most likely, young so they would live longer, have a better chance of survival during and after the flood, reduce space on the ark, reduce waste and reduce food consumption. So the large dinosaurs and other big animals would not have taken nearly as much space as many might imagine.
The Bible tells us that the Ark had three levels. With all of this information we can easily calculate that less than half of the floor space on the ark was used to house all of the creatures on board. The other half of the enormous ark was used for animal and human food, potable water and other living requirements.
There was likely extra room on the ark, as a matter of fact. That extra space would have been for any one, who decided to repent of their wickedness and get on board, to be saved.
