Tar-Aiym

The Tar-Aiym are an extinct species of sapient creatures which dominated a large area of space half a million years ago.

Biology
Members of this species resemble a combination of a crab and a Kodiak bear. Their bodies are broad and muscular, mostly covered in long silver-white bristle fur, with some light-brown areas. The chest is protected by a mottled white carapace. They're supported by four jointed legs. From each shoulder sprouts a thick tentacle which bifurcates in two, resulting in four arms, each of which branches further into four fingers.

The face is dominated by a curved white beak and has four eyes. The two innermost eyes are larger and have vertical slit pupils, whereas the outermost eyes are smaller with round pupils. There are no visible nostrils or ears. Short fangs are visible protruding from the beak, even when the mouth is closed.

They communicate by telepathy and are capable of scanning the minds of other creatures.

Culture and society
The Tar-Aiym were an expansionist civilization. War was the sole reason for their existence and they made it into an art form, using their psychic abilities to instantly determine the skills and capabilities of their opponents.

History
About 500,000 years ago, the Tar-Aiym waged war against their greatest enemies, the Hur'rikku. The war lasted for twenty thousand years until the Tar-Aiym developed a plague so deadly, it ended up wiping out not only the Hur'rikku, but also the Tar-Aiym themselves and all other species in their area of space, which became known as the Blight.

Appearances

 * The Tar-Aiym Krang, by Alan Dean Foster (1972)
 * Bloodhype, by Alan Dean Foster (1973)