Other people may well disagree with me on this (that's the Digest for you), but here goes anyway:
<<Can anyone point me to references on the distinctions between beast-men and hsunchen?>>
The simplest distinction is that a beast-man is physically part human part animal, while Hsunchen are humans who take on the attributes of animals and have access to magic enabling them to transform into same. OTOH, some Digest contributors, notably Thomas Gotschall, have proposed that Hsunchen are not human, and this view is supported in the Basmoli write-up from ToTRM. But even if we accept this (personally, I don't but YMMV) Hsunchen appear physically very similar to humans, while beast-men do not.
With the exception of scorpion men, who are tainted by chaos, the majority of beast-men worship a generic nature cult, whereas Hsunchen worship specific animal totems - in both cases supported by a wide range of spirits.
<<There don't seem to be many deep references on beast-men>>
I believe the next issue of Tradetalk will deal with this area in some detail.
<< I suppose the big question, mythically/ecologically speaking, is why Glorantha contains both types of beings in more or less the same regions and ecologies. They're clearly related (Bagog offers spells to gain a scorpion's carapace and claws) but not the same (Bagog doesn't offer Become Scorpion).>>
There isn't much of a problem ecologically speaking, because they do inhabit different niches and geographic localities. There are no Hsunchen in Beast Valley AFAIK, and no beast-men in the Telmori regions of Dragon Pass. Scorpion men and Telmori do both inhabit Dorastor, but scorpions and wolves aren't all that similar.
Mythically/historically, many of the beast-men of Dragon Pass may have been created by the EWF while Hsunchen have quite a separate origin dating back well before the Dawn.
<<And while I'm at it, are dragonewts really just a kind of dragon hsunchen (probably not)?>>
Right. IMO Dragonewts are completely alien, so they are neither beast-men nor Hsunchen. Same goes for newtlings (who are, incidentally, amphibians and so obviously can't be Dragonewt-Hsunchen anyway). Ducks, on the other hand, are fairly human in the way they act so they are regarded as beast-men by Sartarites (incorrectly, IMO).
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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