text: Ensoulment likely was fully developed when the ability to have language was acquired. Of course, all animals have some kind of soul - some say plants and all matter do. Even rocks have a soul guiding their "rockness." Whether the soul is eternal is another matter. Even apes have moral rules, but not alturistic ones. Some spiritualists say dogs have rational souls. It is nothing we can really know and this is the kind of question equated with the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. The important thing to remember is that there was no act by our first parents in Africa or Eden that became original sin. The wisdom of the author of Genesis was that Blame was what doomed us, starting with blaming God for not making us like him with the knowledge of evil in others. This tendency to find evil in others comes naturally. Just look at our comments section. Christ is the solution to that - forgiveness in his name. He came to experience our emptiness, not to remove a stain.