So, do you exclude that over the many years of coexistence, some races have exchanged experiences and technological advances or just stolen them? And for you, a fantastic race must necessarily be alien and incomprehensible, both physically and socially?
Not some, all of the playable races in D&D look similar enough to the humans. That's why I disagree with the 'elves are an alien species' argument; there is nothing alien about them. To make it clear: I don't care if a fantasy race is basically a " copy&paste, only make it fashion" version of a human. But, as I wrote before, I don't have any respect for unoriginal lore like that.
D&D is a setting of "borrowed" features. Heck, from what I remember the Tolkien estate sued at some point, because they "borrowed" too much. And so they had to change the lore.
They may be not alien like Illithids. However they have unique body and face features.
