Alex assumed that ur is a prefix in German to describe something that is higher, but actually it means something ancient like a prehistoric fish, in German "Urfisch".
This was the first time discussed here:
That the topic comes up again I can add two more examples. To the Brazilian rainforest we sometimes say "Urwald" (Wald means forest).
We can even use the prefix ur several times to name, for example, the father from the father from the father from the grandfather like Urururgroßvater (Großvater means grandfather)
I just saw that in your Wikipedia link there is also an item under Language:
- Ur-, a German prefix meaning "primeval" (seldom also "primitive") or even simply "original"; in a relative majority of cases it takes on the sense of "most ancient" (referring to sth. as a 'source' - the initial root, the starting point - of a development); Compare with Old English: or-deal, or-lay, or-iginal; in modern English often replaced by 'proto-'; Sometimes in combinations of two or more of these meanings