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Originally Posted by Lhunardawen
They might be, for all we know. But I believe they can still reproduce successfully if they are not of the same species. Look at the horse and the donkey. Or the members of the feline family.
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Quite right about the donkey, but remember -- donkey's are sterile. The textbook def'n of species (at least one part of it) is (searching memory back to first year bio) that they are able to produce off-spring capable of reproduction.
Elves and Men can have children together who then go on to have children -- ergo, the same species.
But like I said above, this does not settle the ear debate, since ear shape could easily have a lot of variation (in fact, it does in human populations: some of us have full lobes, others have lobes that are attached).