Entwives

[Laurinquë]

I suspect the Entwives are still about, somewhere. There must be at least one Entwife about. On wheather they had X and Y chromosomes, this I doubt, I agree with claudea99 that it the sex determination of an Ent was just as it would be in any plant that has diffrent male and female plants. The real question is whether trees that were both male and female could become ditinct sexes when they were "awakened" or whatever by the Elves.

[Aganzir]

Now I can imagine an Entish initiation rite... Entings send a long time alone in the forest and find themselves a tree species and, depending on it, also a gender.

[claudea99]

I thought I was on to something... but with the minimal of research, it seems that "entseeds" are hardly a new idea..

[Meriadoc1961]

Is it assumed, then, that the Ents and Entwives were of the plant kingdom? Could they still not have been of the animal kingdom? I guess it is easy to assume they are of the plant kingdom, but this is just a thought that came into my mind. And it would make a difference, then, as to how any offspring are reproduced.

Merry

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Meriadoc1961

Is it assumed, then, that the Ents and Entwives were of the plant kingdom? Could they still not have been of the animal kingdom? I guess it is easy to assume they are of the plant kingdom, but this is just a thought that came into my mind. And it would make a difference, then, as to how any offspring are reproduced.

If they are of either. In the case you want to make such classification in the first place, it is possible that a separate group can be made for them. Something like Fungi - they also used to belong under plants, yet there were some things in which they differed from the plants too much for the scientists to keep them in the same group.

[The Might]

I think there might be something to Aganzir's idea.
It may well be possible that Ents took the shape of the tree that they guarded as for example Quickbeam who is said to have guarded Rowan trees also resembled them.

Due to their many animal-like characteristics I would speculate that the first spirits that became shepherds of the trees belonged to animal kingdom, looked plant-like (probably to blend in with the other trees) and could assume the form of the trees they guarded.
As such I believe breeding would be pretty much like in most other animals.

An interesting quote for this is:

... some (Galadriel) were [of the] opinion that when Yavanna discovered the mercy of Eru to Aulë in the matter of the Dwarves, she besought Eru (through Manwë) asking him to give life to things made of living things not stone, and that the Ents were either souls sent to inhabit trees, or else that slowly took the likeness of trees owing to their inborn love of trees. ~ Letter #247

Considering the infromation we get from the books I personally have to go with the second theory.

For more informatin I recommend the quite nicely done essay on Ents by Ardamir.

Before reading the essay I was myself quite sure that there were no more Entwives, though after doing so the idea of some Entwives having managed to escape Sauron's attack seems to me if not likely or probable, then at least possible.

[Gwathagor]

Interesting theory, Might, concerning the shape-changing of Ents. I suppose it's possible, but I would have thought them more, um, concrete and earthy than to go about actually changing their form. Certainly, they bore a superficial resemblance to trees, in certain of their characteristics (quality/quantity of beard, number of fingers, size, color, texture), but the resemblance didn't extend to their physical structure. Ents are closer to trolls than they are to trees, in that their figure is essentially mannish (two arms, two legs, head, face), and I, personally, don't imagine them using quite the kind of magic necessary to change that. Entish "magic" is more, well, natural and down-to-earth. It's like a speeding up of natural processes; the things they do that might be considered "magical" are things that happen anyway, only much, much faster. Shape-changing wouldn't be in their line of work, because it's unnatural.

EDIT: Well, Might, I just read the essay you linked to, and your theory makes a great deal more sense based on hints and suggestions in some of Tolkien's letters. I'm still skeptical, but it's definitely within the realm of possibility.

EDIT 2: I'm even less sure of myself now, after reading the part where Treebeard says: "sheep get like shepherds and get like sheep; but it is quicker and closer with Ents." It gives even MORE credence to The Might's theory, darn it. To what extent had you envisioned the Ents taking the shape of trees, Might? Would it be an literal physical change, as in the sprouting of branches and roots?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Meriadoc1961

Is it assumed, then, that the Ents and Entwives were of the plant kingdom? Could they still not have been of the animal kingdom? I guess it is easy to assume they are of the plant kingdom, but this is just a thought that came into my mind. And it would make a difference, then, as to how any offspring are reproduced.

What branch of the animal kingdom would Ents belong? It would be interesting to see a family tree of sorts. Perhaps they have roots in both flora and fauna kingdoms. As far as reproduction, I have no theory that would bole anyone over, and I have yet to hear the phrase 'Got wood?' pulled out of the gag trunk.

[Bêthberry]

It is rather interesting that the Legendarium includes two (possibly) extinctions: that of the ents and that of the dwarves. The elves sail west and so that does not count quite as an extinction while the hobbits are said still to be around but in hiding.

So, two extinctions, both apparently brought about by the lack of female members ( ) of the species. Yet in the study of paleontology and biology, extinction is not generally related to gender, but to some sort of disruption in the ecosystem, such as catastrophic volcanoes, extra-terrestrial meteors, gas hydrates--at least at the level of mass extinction.

So was Tolkien getting all hung up on sex or was he saying that it was Eru's will that the dwarves and ents became extinct? Or is extinct too strong a word?

[Eönwë]

Well, Bêthberry, if they were like amphibians they they could... erm.. change... erm... gender, but I don't think that's really posssible in this case (I was talking about dwarves, but actually, it could be possible with ents)

But why was there a lack of female dwarves?