Augustine of Hippo, on 1Cor 15:39

“All flesh is not the same flesh: but one is the flesh of men, another of beasts, another of birds, another of fishes.”

“Whatever bodily or seminal causes may play a part in reproduction, by the intermingling of the two sexes, or in animals, or even by the influence of angels, and whatever longings or emotions of the mother may affect the features or the hue while the fetus is soft and pliable, nevertheless every nature as such, however affected by circumstances, is created wholly by the supreme God. It is the hidden and penetrating power of God's irresistible presence that gives being to every creature that can be said to be, whatever its genus and species may be. For without his creative act, a nature would not only not be in this or that genus. It simply could not have being at all.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.