Pterosapien

Pterosapiens were a post-human race that evolved from a stork-like, wading, predatory Flyer species.

Biology
This particular species was much like storks or eagles in that they had prehensile claws that helped them catch food and eventually function as hands. Unlike their other Flyer cousins, this branch maintained their ability to fly as they also re-developed sapience. Despite being an aerial culture, they were able to build cities (much like nesting or perching aeries) and even re-discovered nuclear science. Because of their ability to fly, their civilization was very cosmopolitan.

Sadly, the Pterosapiens paid a steep price for their evolutionary success. Although their supercharged hearts gave them the ability to evolve intelligence, it was also a major flaw, as it left them vulnerable to cardiovascular disease and individuals usually died before 23 terran years on average. This left a cultural sense of their own mortality, and as a result their libraries are among the richest in the realms of philosophy.

Pterosapiens were a very productive society. Individuals matured by the age of 2 years, and middle aged by 15-16, and had one ten day vacation in their entire lives. There are no real social cliques, as aside from their short lifespans, their ability to fly and diffuse information made any social borders irrelevant and discrimination non-existent.

They belonged to the second wave of posthumans joining the Second Galactic Empire founded by the Killer Folk and the Satyriacs.

Over a timespan of about 80 million years, the Second Empire developed, through the combined effort of all members, into a galaxy-spanning empire, even though the members never met each other personally, and all of the species colonized other planets.

Though they were prepared to face an alien invasion, the Empire didn't think about an invasion from other posthumans, and so the Pterosapiens, along with all of their cousins, were quickly wiped out by the Gravital as part of their interstellar conquest.

Appearances

 * All Tomorrows, by C. M. Koseman (2008)