In Genesis, every living thing outside Noah’s Ark died in the flood.
Genesis 7:21–23 describes the flood’s effect in comprehensive terms, saying that living creatures on land and birds were destroyed, while Noah and those with him in the ark remained alive. The passage frames the ark as the means of preservation for Noah’s family and the animals brought aboard.
The wording belongs to the scope and theology of the biblical flood narrative. It is not an independent scientific survey of Earth’s biological history. Geological and biological evidence does not support a single recent global flood in the literal sense used by the narrative, and interpretations of the story vary among religious traditions.
Within Genesis, however, the outcome is explicit: life outside the ark perishes, while life inside it is preserved. This distinction is central to the story’s structure and explains why the ark is built.