Races or Species

[BlackKnightX]

Ya'll seem to ignore the most blatantly obvious evidence for this. Neanderthal and Homosapien crossbreeding. Both different species. Both equal at fucking and popping out kids.

The full name of Neanderthals is Homo neanderthalensis. As you can see, they belong to the same genus as Homo sapiens—genus Homo. We share a common ancestor, and our genetics are similar enough for crossbreeding to be possible.

It's nothing new. Take horses and donkeys, for instance. They're from the different species—Equus ferus and Equus africanus respectively—but as you can see, they belong to the same genus—genus Equus. That's why they can crossbreed and produce offsprings called mules.

 

[QuercusMalus]

For me, races is what I use for the 'intelligent' ones. Species is more generic and I use that more for animals and the like.

So Elves are a race. Wargs are a species. Dragons could be either depending on if they are the aloof, haughty scholars or animalistic version in whichever fiction.

Cats are a race. An evil race.

 

[melchi]

It's a bit tricky in fantasy, but from the scientific point of view, species refers to a group of living organisms that can interbreed. Races are subspecies within the same species.

Take humans, for instance. We're all Homo sapiens, but within our species, there are many different races. In general and in the simplest terms we use, there are Black, Asian, White, etc. As you can see, it's more of a social construct than biology, even though there are differences in characteristics involved.

With that said, when it comes to fantasy, if elves and humans can breed and have children—half-elves—they're considered to be from the same species, scientific wise, but from different races. Same goes for beastmen and dwarves. Even the monsters like goblins and orcs are considered to be from the same species as humans if the requirement is met.

To conclude: humanoid living organisms are all from the same species but can be from the different races. So saying elves are a different race from humans is actually accurate, scientific wise. Species usually refers to beasts and non-humanoid creatures.

I couldn't have said it better. +1 blackknight