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65:2.1 The [[story]] of [[man]]'s [[ascent]] from seaweed to the lordship of [[earth]]ly [[creation]] is indeed a [[romance]] of [[biologic]] [[struggle]] and [[mind]] [[survival]]. Man's primordial [[ancestors]] were [[literally]] the slime and ooze of the [[ocean]] bed in the sluggish and warm-water bays and lagoons of the vast shore lines of the ancient inland [[seas]], those very [[waters]] in which the [[Life Carriers]] [[established]] the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA three independent life implantations] on [[Urantia]].
65:2.2 Very few [[species]] of the early [[types]] of [[marine]] [[vegetation]] that [[participated]] in those [[epochal]] [[changes]] which resulted in the animallike borderland [[organisms]] are in [[existence]] today. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponges sponges] are the [[survivors]] of one of these early midway types, those [[organisms]] through which the [[gradual]] [[transition]] from the [[vegetable]] to the [[animal]] took place. These early [[transition]] [[forms]], while not identical with modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponges sponges], were much like them; they were true borderline organisms—neither [[vegetable]] nor [[animal]]—but they [[eventually]] led to the [[development]] of the true [[animal]] forms of life.
65:2.3 The [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria], simple vegetable [[organisms]] of a very [[primitive]] [[nature]], are very little changed from the early dawn of life; they even [[exhibit]] a [[degree]] of [[retrogression]] in their [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite parasitic] [[behavior]]. Many of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi fungi] also [[represent]] a [[retrograde]] movement in [[evolution]], being [[plants]] which have lost their [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyl chlorophyll]-making [[ability]] and have become more or less parasitic. The [[majority]] of [[disease]]-causing bacteria and their auxiliary [[virus]] bodies really belong to this [[group]] of renegade parasitic [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/fungus fungi]. During the intervening ages all of the vast kingdom of [[plant]] life has evolved from [[ancestors]] from which the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria] have also descended.
65:2.4 The higher [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa protozoan] type of [[animal]] life soon appeared, and appeared suddenly. And from these far-distant times the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba ameba], the typical single-[[cell]]ed [[animal]] [[organism]], has come on down but little [[modified]]. He disports himself today much as he did when he was the last and greatest [[achievement]] in life [[evolution]]. This minute [[creature]] and his protozoan cousins are to the [[animal]] [[creation]] what [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria] are to the [[plant]] kingdom; they [[represent]] the [[survival]] of the first early evolutionary steps in life [[differentiation]] together with failure of subsequent [[development]].
65:2.5 Before long the early single-[[cell]]ed [[animal]] types [[associated]] themselves in [[communities]], first on the plan of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvox Volvox] and presently along the lines of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra Hydra] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish jellyfish]. Still later there evolved the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish starfish], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Lilies stone lilies], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchins sea urchins], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumbers sea cucumbers], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipedes centipedes], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects insects], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders spiders], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustaceans crustaceans], and the closely related groups of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms earthworms] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeches leeches], soon followed by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusks mollusks]—the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster oyster], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus octopus], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail snail]. Hundreds upon hundreds of [[species]] intervened and perished; mention is made only of those which [[survived]] the long, long [[struggle]]. Such nonprogressive specimens, together with the later appearing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish fish] family, today [[represent]] the stationary types of early and lower [[animals]], branches of the [[tree of life]] which failed to [[progress]].
65:2.6 The [[stage]] was thus set for the [[appearance]] of the first backboned animals, the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishes fishes]. From this fish [[family]] there sprang two [[unique]] [[modifications]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] and the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamander salamander]. And it was the frog which began that series of [[progressive]] [[differentiations]] in [[animal]] life that finally culminated in [[man]] himself.
65:2.7 The [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] is one of the earliest of [[surviving]] [[human]]-race [[ancestors]], but it also failed to [[progress]], [[persisting]] today much as in those remote times. The frog is the only [[species]] ancestor of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_62 early dawn races] now living on the [[face]] of the [[earth]]. The [[human]] [[race]] has no surviving [[ancestry]] between the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] and the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo Eskimo].
65:2.8 The frogs gave rise to the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles Reptilia], a great [[animal]] [[family]] which is [[virtually]] [[extinct]], but which, before passing out of [[existence]], gave origin to the whole [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird] family and the numerous orders of [[mammals]].
65:2.9 Probably the greatest single leap of all prehuman [[evolution]] was executed when the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile reptile] became a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird]. The bird types of today—[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagles eagles], [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducks ducks], [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeons pigeons], and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich ostriches]—all [[descended]] from the enormous [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles reptiles] of long, long ago.
65:2.10 The kingdom of [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles reptiles], [[descended]] from the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] family, is today [[represented]] by four [[surviving]] divisions: two nonprogressive, [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes snakes] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizards lizards], together with their cousins, [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligators alligators] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles turtles]; one partially [[progressive]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird] family, and the fourth, the [[ancestors]] of [[mammals]] and the direct line of [[descent]] of the [[human]] [[species]]. But though long departed, the massiveness of the passing Reptilia found [[echo]] in the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant elephant] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon mastodon], while their peculiar forms were perpetuated in the leaping [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroos kangaroos].
65:2.11 Only fourteen [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum phyla] have [[appeared]] on [[Urantia]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishes fishes] being the last, and no new classes have [[developed]] since [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds birds] and [[mammals]].
65:2.12 It was from an [[agile]] little reptilian [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur dinosaur] of [[carnivorous]] [[habits]] but having a comparatively large [[brain]] that the [[placental]] [[mammals]] suddenly sprang. These [[mammals]] [[developed]] rapidly and in many [[different]] ways, not only giving rise to the common modern varieties but also evolving into [[marine]] [[types]], such as [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whales whales] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seals seals], and into air navigators like the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bats bat] family.
65:2.13 [[Man]] thus evolved from the higher [[mammals]] derived principally from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA western implantation] of life in the ancient east-west sheltered seas. The eastern and central groups of living [[organisms]] were early progressing favorably toward the [[attainment]] of prehuman levels of [[animal]] [[existence]]. But as the ages passed, the eastern [[focus]] of life emplacement failed to attain a satisfactory level of [[intelligent]] prehuman [[status]], having suffered such repeated and irretrievable losses of its highest types of [[germ plasm]] that it was forever shorn of the [[power]] to [[rehabilitate]] [[human]] [[potentialities]].
65:2.14 Since the [[quality]] of the [[mind]] [[capacity]] for [[development]] in this eastern group was so definitely inferior to that of the other two groups, the [[Life Carriers]], with the consent of their superiors, so [[manipulated]] the [[environment]] as further to [[circumscribe]] these inferior prehuman strains of evolving life. To all outward [[appearances]] the elimination of these inferior [[groups]] of [[creatures]] was [[accidental]], but in [[reality]] it was altogether [[purposeful]].
65:2.15 Later in the [[evolutionary]] unfolding of [[intelligence]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur lemur] [[ancestors]] of the [[human]] [[species]] were far more advanced in [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America] than in other regions; and they were therefore led to [[migrate]] from the arena of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA western life implantation] over the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia Bering land bridge] and down the coast to southwestern Asia, where they continued to [[evolve]] and to benefit by the addition of certain strains of the central life group. [[Man]] thus evolved out of certain western and central life strains but in the central to near-eastern regions.
65:2.16 In this way the life that was planted on [[Urantia]] evolved until the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Age ice age], when [[man]] himself first [[appeared]] and began his [[eventful]] [[planetary]] [[career]]. And this [[appearance]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN primitive man] on [[earth]] during the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Age ice age] was not just an [[accident]]; it was by [[design]]. The [[Adversity|rigors]] and [[climatic]] severity of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciers glacial] era were in every way adapted to the [[purpose]] of fostering the production of a hardy [[type]] of [[human being]] with tremendous [[survival]] [[endowment]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_65 Go to Paper 65]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 65 - The Overcontrol of Evolution]]
65:2.1 The [[story]] of [[man]]'s [[ascent]] from seaweed to the lordship of [[earth]]ly [[creation]] is indeed a [[romance]] of [[biologic]] [[struggle]] and [[mind]] [[survival]]. Man's primordial [[ancestors]] were [[literally]] the slime and ooze of the [[ocean]] bed in the sluggish and warm-water bays and lagoons of the vast shore lines of the ancient inland [[seas]], those very [[waters]] in which the [[Life Carriers]] [[established]] the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA three independent life implantations] on [[Urantia]].
65:2.2 Very few [[species]] of the early [[types]] of [[marine]] [[vegetation]] that [[participated]] in those [[epochal]] [[changes]] which resulted in the animallike borderland [[organisms]] are in [[existence]] today. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponges sponges] are the [[survivors]] of one of these early midway types, those [[organisms]] through which the [[gradual]] [[transition]] from the [[vegetable]] to the [[animal]] took place. These early [[transition]] [[forms]], while not identical with modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponges sponges], were much like them; they were true borderline organisms—neither [[vegetable]] nor [[animal]]—but they [[eventually]] led to the [[development]] of the true [[animal]] forms of life.
65:2.3 The [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria], simple vegetable [[organisms]] of a very [[primitive]] [[nature]], are very little changed from the early dawn of life; they even [[exhibit]] a [[degree]] of [[retrogression]] in their [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite parasitic] [[behavior]]. Many of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi fungi] also [[represent]] a [[retrograde]] movement in [[evolution]], being [[plants]] which have lost their [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyl chlorophyll]-making [[ability]] and have become more or less parasitic. The [[majority]] of [[disease]]-causing bacteria and their auxiliary [[virus]] bodies really belong to this [[group]] of renegade parasitic [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/fungus fungi]. During the intervening ages all of the vast kingdom of [[plant]] life has evolved from [[ancestors]] from which the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria] have also descended.
65:2.4 The higher [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa protozoan] type of [[animal]] life soon appeared, and appeared suddenly. And from these far-distant times the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba ameba], the typical single-[[cell]]ed [[animal]] [[organism]], has come on down but little [[modified]]. He disports himself today much as he did when he was the last and greatest [[achievement]] in life [[evolution]]. This minute [[creature]] and his protozoan cousins are to the [[animal]] [[creation]] what [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria bacteria] are to the [[plant]] kingdom; they [[represent]] the [[survival]] of the first early evolutionary steps in life [[differentiation]] together with failure of subsequent [[development]].
65:2.5 Before long the early single-[[cell]]ed [[animal]] types [[associated]] themselves in [[communities]], first on the plan of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvox Volvox] and presently along the lines of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra Hydra] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish jellyfish]. Still later there evolved the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish starfish], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Lilies stone lilies], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchins sea urchins], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumbers sea cucumbers], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipedes centipedes], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects insects], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders spiders], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustaceans crustaceans], and the closely related groups of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworms earthworms] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeches leeches], soon followed by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusks mollusks]—the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster oyster], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus octopus], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail snail]. Hundreds upon hundreds of [[species]] intervened and perished; mention is made only of those which [[survived]] the long, long [[struggle]]. Such nonprogressive specimens, together with the later appearing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish fish] family, today [[represent]] the stationary types of early and lower [[animals]], branches of the [[tree of life]] which failed to [[progress]].
65:2.6 The [[stage]] was thus set for the [[appearance]] of the first backboned animals, the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishes fishes]. From this fish [[family]] there sprang two [[unique]] [[modifications]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] and the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamander salamander]. And it was the frog which began that series of [[progressive]] [[differentiations]] in [[animal]] life that finally culminated in [[man]] himself.
65:2.7 The [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] is one of the earliest of [[surviving]] [[human]]-race [[ancestors]], but it also failed to [[progress]], [[persisting]] today much as in those remote times. The frog is the only [[species]] ancestor of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_62 early dawn races] now living on the [[face]] of the [[earth]]. The [[human]] [[race]] has no surviving [[ancestry]] between the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] and the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo Eskimo].
65:2.8 The frogs gave rise to the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles Reptilia], a great [[animal]] [[family]] which is [[virtually]] [[extinct]], but which, before passing out of [[existence]], gave origin to the whole [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird] family and the numerous orders of [[mammals]].
65:2.9 Probably the greatest single leap of all prehuman [[evolution]] was executed when the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile reptile] became a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird]. The bird types of today—[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagles eagles], [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducks ducks], [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeons pigeons], and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich ostriches]—all [[descended]] from the enormous [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles reptiles] of long, long ago.
65:2.10 The kingdom of [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles reptiles], [[descended]] from the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog frog] family, is today [[represented]] by four [[surviving]] divisions: two nonprogressive, [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes snakes] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizards lizards], together with their cousins, [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligators alligators] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles turtles]; one partially [[progressive]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird bird] family, and the fourth, the [[ancestors]] of [[mammals]] and the direct line of [[descent]] of the [[human]] [[species]]. But though long departed, the massiveness of the passing Reptilia found [[echo]] in the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant elephant] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon mastodon], while their peculiar forms were perpetuated in the leaping [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroos kangaroos].
65:2.11 Only fourteen [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum phyla] have [[appeared]] on [[Urantia]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishes fishes] being the last, and no new classes have [[developed]] since [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds birds] and [[mammals]].
65:2.12 It was from an [[agile]] little reptilian [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur dinosaur] of [[carnivorous]] [[habits]] but having a comparatively large [[brain]] that the [[placental]] [[mammals]] suddenly sprang. These [[mammals]] [[developed]] rapidly and in many [[different]] ways, not only giving rise to the common modern varieties but also evolving into [[marine]] [[types]], such as [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whales whales] and [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seals seals], and into air navigators like the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bats bat] family.
65:2.13 [[Man]] thus evolved from the higher [[mammals]] derived principally from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA western implantation] of life in the ancient east-west sheltered seas. The eastern and central groups of living [[organisms]] were early progressing favorably toward the [[attainment]] of prehuman levels of [[animal]] [[existence]]. But as the ages passed, the eastern [[focus]] of life emplacement failed to attain a satisfactory level of [[intelligent]] prehuman [[status]], having suffered such repeated and irretrievable losses of its highest types of [[germ plasm]] that it was forever shorn of the [[power]] to [[rehabilitate]] [[human]] [[potentialities]].
65:2.14 Since the [[quality]] of the [[mind]] [[capacity]] for [[development]] in this eastern group was so definitely inferior to that of the other two groups, the [[Life Carriers]], with the consent of their superiors, so [[manipulated]] the [[environment]] as further to [[circumscribe]] these inferior prehuman strains of evolving life. To all outward [[appearances]] the elimination of these inferior [[groups]] of [[creatures]] was [[accidental]], but in [[reality]] it was altogether [[purposeful]].
65:2.15 Later in the [[evolutionary]] unfolding of [[intelligence]], the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur lemur] [[ancestors]] of the [[human]] [[species]] were far more advanced in [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America] than in other regions; and they were therefore led to [[migrate]] from the arena of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_58#58:4._THE_LIFE-DAWN_ERA western life implantation] over the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia Bering land bridge] and down the coast to southwestern Asia, where they continued to [[evolve]] and to benefit by the addition of certain strains of the central life group. [[Man]] thus evolved out of certain western and central life strains but in the central to near-eastern regions.
65:2.16 In this way the life that was planted on [[Urantia]] evolved until the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Age ice age], when [[man]] himself first [[appeared]] and began his [[eventful]] [[planetary]] [[career]]. And this [[appearance]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_52#52:1._PRIMITIVE_MAN primitive man] on [[earth]] during the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Age ice age] was not just an [[accident]]; it was by [[design]]. The [[Adversity|rigors]] and [[climatic]] severity of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciers glacial] era were in every way adapted to the [[purpose]] of fostering the production of a hardy [[type]] of [[human being]] with tremendous [[survival]] [[endowment]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_65 Go to Paper 65]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 65 - The Overcontrol of Evolution]]
