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<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 9125377" data-attributes="member: 2525">I wonder if some of the issue here is the improper use of the term &quot;species&quot; when really what's meant here is &quot;genus&quot;. Homo Sapiens are the same genus as Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis, but they're not each a sub-species of humans but rather are each their own species with Homo Sapien being named Human. Steven Erikison (a trained archaeologist and anthropologist) has both Homo Sapiens (named humans) and Neanderthals (named Imass) in his fantasy setting for the excellent Malazan series. The Imass became immortal undead through a ritual (renamed T'lan Imass) but that's besides the point. I've never once heard someone claim or imply any type of racism by his use of both species from the same genus in his novels.So for example:Genus: ElfSpecies: Sea ElfGenus: ElfSpecies: High ElfGenus: HomoSpecies: Homo Sapien (Human)Genus: DwarfSpecies: Mountain DwarfGenus DwarfSpecies: Hill DwarfThis doesn't solve for Elf-Human. Much like we don't have a name for Human-Neanderthal despite that genetically being a type which did exist. We have found evidence of a half Neanderthal and half Denisovan based on bone genome analysis. And of course there is DNA evidence of Neanderthal DNA in Homo Sapiens.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 9125377, member: 2525"] I wonder if some of the issue here is the improper use of the term "species" when really what's meant here is "genus". Homo Sapiens are the same genus as Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis, but they're not each a sub-species of humans but rather are each their own species with Homo Sapien being named Human. Steven Erikison (a trained archaeologist and anthropologist) has both Homo Sapiens (named humans) and Neanderthals (named Imass) in his fantasy setting for the excellent Malazan series. The Imass became immortal undead through a ritual (renamed T'lan Imass) but that's besides the point. I've never once heard someone claim or imply any type of racism by his use of both species from the same genus in his novels. So for example: Genus: Elf Species: Sea Elf Genus: Elf Species: High Elf Genus: Homo Species: Homo Sapien (Human) Genus: Dwarf Species: Mountain Dwarf Genus Dwarf Species: Hill Dwarf This doesn't solve for Elf-Human. Much like we don't have a name for Human-Neanderthal despite that genetically being a type which did exist. We have found evidence of a half Neanderthal and half Denisovan based on bone genome analysis. And of course there is DNA evidence of Neanderthal DNA in Homo Sapiens. [/QUOTE]

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