The following verse from the Book of Mormon presents an account that is incompatible with the archaeological and zoological record:

“And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forest of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25).

While the presence of gold, silver, and copper in pre-Columbian America is archaeologically supported—though not in the same contexts or quantities as in the Old World—the reference to steel (found elsewhere in the Book of Mormon) is more problematic, as there is no evidence of true steel production in the Americas before European contact.

More significantly, the animals listed in this verse—cow, ox, ass, horse, goat, and wild goat—are all Old World domesticated species and did not exist in the Americas at the time Lehi’s family is claimed to have arrived (circa 589 BC). Fossil and archaeological evidence shows that:

• Horses became extinct in the Western Hemisphere around 10,000 years ago and were not reintroduced until the Spanish brought them in the 15th and 16th centuries.

• Cattle (cow, ox, bull, calf) and goats were also introduced by Europeans. There is no credible evidence of domesticated Old World livestock species existing in the Americas prior to that.

• Donkeys (asses) were likewise unknown in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Despite this, these animals are all mentioned by name throughout the Book of Mormon, including: ass, bull, calf, cattle, cow, domestic goat, and horse. Their inclusion represents an anachronism—placing Old World domesticated species in a historical and geographical context where they did not exist.

This verse, therefore, reflects a 19th-century understanding of the ancient world, rather than an accurate account of pre-Columbian American fauna.