The Kdatlyno are a sapient species of completely blind bipeds from Kdat, which see the world through radar.
Biology[]
Kdatlyno are large creatures, standing about 10 ft (~ 3 m) in height. They have flat feet, proportionally long arms and silver-tipped spikes on their elbows and knees. Their skin is tough, brown, draconic-looking and impervious to knives. Their hands are superficially humanlike, but with eight retractable claws on the knuckles. Their faces have neither eyes nor nose: only a mouth and a goggle-like tympanum on the center of the face, where the skin is stretched like a drum.
In terms of physiology, they breathe the same air and use some of the same proteins as Humans, but still can't consume the same food.
Culture and society[]
Kdatlyno have been enslaved by Kzinti, but were liberated by Humans. In the 27th century, the Kdatlyno sphere of colonized space is about 15 light-years across: about half the size of the Humans' sphere but larger than the Puppeteers'. They create artistic sculptures that are meant to be touched rather than seen.
Appearances[]
- "At the Core", by Larry Niven (1966) (Mentioned only)
- "Grendel", by Larry Niven (1968)
- "There Is a Tide", by Larry Niven (1968) (Mentioned only)
- Ringworld, by Larry Niven (1970)
- "The Borderland of Sol", by Larry Niven (1975) (Mentioned only)
- Crashlander, by Larry Niven (1994)