flying

[Cyrus Arckum]

Originally posted by Seytra

Originally posted by Cyrus Arckum
Since when did Species and Race mean the same thing? When Planeshift continued following the mistakes of previous RPGs?

Since back about 1 year when there was a discussion about interracial reproduction in Yliakum (at least that was what convinced me). The conclusion was that \"Since all races of Yliakum can intermingle and produce fertile offspring, save the Kran, they must be separate races, but cannot be separate species. Thus, only Kran are a separate species.\".
Obviously there then is the issue about the need for races to be descendants of one single species, and that this is impossible within the history of Yliakum which says that they all were either created or came from different, unconnected places so they cannot share a common lineage, unlike in other RPGs where this is at least a bit possible.

 Oh yeah... Then Horses and Donkeys are races then aren\'t they? Species can cross-breed, it\'s a common thing. Race is not genetic, it is a social thing, at a genetic level race is non-existant.

[Ghostslayer]

Originally posted by Cyrus Arckum

Originally posted by Seytra

Originally posted by Cyrus Arckum
Since when did Species and Race mean the same thing? When Planeshift continued following the mistakes of previous RPGs?

Since back about 1 year when there was a discussion about interracial reproduction in Yliakum (at least that was what convinced me). The conclusion was that \"Since all races of Yliakum can intermingle and produce fertile offspring, save the Kran, they must be separate races, but cannot be separate species. Thus, only Kran are a separate species.\".
Obviously there then is the issue about the need for races to be descendants of one single species, and that this is impossible within the history of Yliakum which says that they all were either created or came from different, unconnected places so they cannot share a common lineage, unlike in other RPGs where this is at least a bit possible.

 Oh yeah... Then Horses and Donkeys are races then aren\'t they? Species can cross-breed, it\'s a common thing. Race is not genetic, it is a social thing, at a genetic level race is non-existant.

You missed the one key point.  Horses and donkeys are still species because they produce offspring that are infertile.  The fact that they are able to breed and produce offspring just means that their genetic material must be close.

But yes, you are correct, race is not a proper distinction for anything, its just someting some people decided to use after noticing small variations due to natural adaptations.

[Cyrus Arckum]

Also incorrect. While Mules are commonly infertile that does not mean that they all are. There are several instances where half-breeds are able to breed, it\'s just uncommon. This does not however, deny them the right of being a seperate species.

[Zan]

Cyrus, it\'s a generally accepted definition in biological sciences. If two individuals can procreate and produce fertile, healthy offspring (all the time over all generations, not rarely) then they are considered to be from the same species. It\'s not uncommon that two species, that lay close together on the ladder of evolution can still procreate but their offspring will normally be infertile. This is the case with a donkey and a horse, resulting in mules. Mules cannot survive on their own for X number of generations, rarely can they produce another generation but then it will stop there.

I don\'t know why this discussion is kept here ... or why it is even kept at all. The definition of what different species are is correct, check any decent biology manual. Race has not much to do with it though, since that is just a label given to visually different individuals of the same species.

Lets not nit-pick at rules that were made long before us by people who did a whole lot more research into the matter and get back on topic here?