They're closely related, but can a species that (I'm going to say evolved, don't yell at me) evolved really be considered the same species? We might have to say primates are the Children of Illuvatar if we're doing that.
They were created in the first age, but not conceived in the third theme, which is really the criteria of a Child of Illuvatar.
[ June 02, 2003: Message edited by: Beren87 ]