Gen 2:8
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
This could sound like Eden was a special place, planted after Adam's creation, and different from the rest of the world. Specifically, in Eden there was apparently no death of any kind - but was this true for the rest of the world?
I am assuming all plants, animals, insects, fish, and micro-life had already been created prior to Eden. So many life forms are designed to consume living prey or the decay of dead life forms (plant and animal). I would also assume that God created them this way. But that would mean death had to exist outside the Garden of Eden, or all those species would die. OR there were special circumstances that allowed those metabolisms to exist on other diets. And any naturally short-lived species would just not die.
I know many people have made their views and conjectures known. But are there any scriptures that support either side of this question?