Ancient humanoid

You may also be looking for the Preservers or the Progenitors.

File:Progenitor.jpg

A woman in a recorded greeting

This species is one of the oldest sentient species and possibly the first humanoid race to evolve in the Milky Way Galaxy. About 4.5 billion years ago, they decided to seed the oceans of many worlds, including Earth, Vulcan, Qo'noS, Bajor, Betazed, Romulus, Cardassia Prime, Andor, Tellar, and Trill with DNA codes which would direct the evolution of life towards a pattern similar to their own. The extent of planets that were 'seeded' could possibly extend throughout the Milky Way Galaxy's four quadrants. It is possible that most or all of the sentient humanoid species encountered in the galaxy could have a common ancestry to this species. They also seeded various planets with DNA that, when assembled, would project a recorded greeting from a member of their species that revealed their role in the evolution of many present-day species. The greeting was seen in 2369. (TNG: "The Chase")

Background

The common ancestry they fostered among humanoid species seems to allow for inter-species reproduction between species that evolved quadrants apart. It may also account for the similarites between non-humanoid species. It should be noted that the internal workings even down to the base element of the blood can still be quite diverse.

It is also interesting to note that though they may have left DNA on worlds throughout the galaxy, the message could be assembled from fragments in a relatively small area of space. It is however possible that the message fragments were duplicated in other regions, to prevent the complete message's destruction in the event of premature extinctions.

The ancient humanoid in the recorded message was played by Salome Jens, who later played the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Writer Ronald D. Moore has stated that these humanoids were, in fact, the Preservers. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

See also

• Humanoid