What the Bible says about Kind-After-Kind
(From Forerunner Commentary)
In these verses, God sets the stage to show that mankind, introduced in verse 26, is different from what He previously created in terms of the law that kind only reproduces after its own kind, as well as in terms of origin.
Notice the earlier verses say, "Let the earth bring forth . . .." Of course, cattle did not just spring out of the earth! God certainly created the animals, but He uses "earth" as a reference to origin, to emphasize what is physical. That is, He is pointing to a physical origin for those beasts of the field and the inhabitants of the sea.
Verse 26, by contrast, does not contain any reference to the earth regarding the origin of man, the source of man's life, or to kind-after-kind.