Where do animals come from?

We found that people come from their parents. But people can’t produce their own food and rely on plants and animals for their nutrition. So where do animals come from?

Like humans, animals come from their parents (only about 0.1% of animal species reproduce asexually). They inherit their genetic makeup from their parents. Can this pattern go on forever into the past? No, because according to science and the Bible, the universe had a beginning. Do you know how many generations (see Appendix) there have been since the beginning of animals?

How many generations?

The range of a generation’s length in animals spans from just a few weeks for tiny insects to several decades for large mammals. For example:

2 weeks – insects
6 months – rodents
3 years – cat, birds
4 years – dog
5 years – amphibians
10 years – horse
25 years – elephant
50 years – Galapagos tortoise
60 years – whale

Genealogists and historians traditionally use 25 years as a standard length for a single generation for humans. This gave a total of about 180 generations of humanity on earth, which is an approximate number. As elephants have a similar generation length (25 years), we can assume that they would have had about 180 generations on earth. As the whale’s generation length is 2.4 times greater than for humans, they would have about 75 generations on earth. As the insect’s generation length is 0.154% that of humans, they would have about 16,000 generations on earth. So, most animals will have many more generations on earth than is the case for humans.

Where did animals come from?

God made the original animals (Gen. 1:20-25; 2:19; Ps. 104:24). From the beginning, they were perfect animals – “good” (Gen. 1:25).

Like Adam and Eve, the original animals didn’t go through the infancy, childhood and adolescence stages of life. Instead, they were instant adults!

All of the animals were made “according to their kinds” (Gen. 1:21, 24-25). This means that from the beginning there were many different kinds of animals, which also means that one kind of animal didn’t evolve into another kind of animal. But each kind was able to produce a range of variations – for example, there are many varieties of dogs.

The original animals were given the original genetic information which has been passed through many generations to help create all the other animals. This genetic information has been used for thousands of years to create animals across the earth.

Animals are different to people – they don’t have a conscience (Rom. 2:15) and are not answerable to God.

What have been the main events across the many generations of animals?

Significant events in the history of animals

Adam and Eve’s disobedience was the origin of animal pain, mutations, disease and death.

God’s judgment of the global flood caused widespread death in the animal world (only two of each kind survived). This was a genetic bottle-neck, which was like a new creation. Most of the fossils were formed when marine and land-based animals were buried rapidy during the year-long flood.

The flood caused the ice age, and God used the ice age to help animals migrate across the earth. As there would have been no ice caps after the Flood, the sea level would have been about 70 m above today’s level. During the Ice Age the sea level dropped about 130 m (to 60 m below today’s level) forming a land bridge between Asia and North America and Asia and Australia. This allowed animals to spread across the earth.

Conclusion

Every animal comes from someone else. They come from their parents. But when that is traced back in history, animals come from God – He designed and created them thousands of years ago. They didn’t come from other animals by the process of biological evolution.

Appendix: What is a generation length?

Scientists define generation length as the average age of parents when their offspring are born, or the age when an individual achieves half of its total reproductive output. A generation is also roughly the time it takes for a population to replace itself.

Written, October 2026