Drommian

The Drommians are a spacefaring extraterrestrial species hailing from the planet Dromm and one of humanity's closest allies in intergalactic affairs. They have assisted humanity in the exploration of planets such as Mesklin and Tenebra.

Biology
Physically, Drommians are enormous creatures, about ten feet in length. They have an elongated, otter-like body and five pairs of short limbs. The first two pairs differ from the others for having non-webbed hands and therefore can be used for manipulating tools, although Drommians will more often than not walk on all ten limbs; despite the fact that they are perfectly capable of standing on only two or four if they wish to. They evolved as amphibious and gregarious creatures on a planet with gravity four times stronger than that of Earth. Their skin is hairless and smooth. Their offspring grow physically fast, achieving adult size at one year of age; while their maturity growth is slower: it is stated that a Drommian aged four is socially comparable to a Human aged seven. When on Human environments, Drommians must carry oxygen tanks, for they need an atmosphere with oxygen partial pressure about a third greater than Earth's to breathe.

Culture and society
Under stable circumstances, Drommians are peaceful and extremely polite, and speak with shrill voices. However they are stubborn and impulsive, and are infamous for their tendencies towards paranoia: if a Drommian finds a locked door he has no access to, nothing in the world will convince them that it isn't there to hide some sort of secret from them. Under the slightest sign of danger or what they consider inappropriate behavior, the normally gentle Drommians will suddenly change to a deep, authoritative voice and a brute, verbally hostile attitude. They take all things with extreme caution and do not tolerate anything they perceive as incompetence or lack of proper concern.

Appearances

 * Close to Critical, by Hal Clement (1958)
 * Star Light, by Hal Clement (1970)
 * "Under", by Hal Clement (2000)