This is an original species that I have developed for an original science fiction universe (which developed from a Mass Effect time line).
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The Quetzal (translated to English as ‘Human’) are a serpentoid reptilian species evolved on the Earthlike planet Cterin (translated to English as ‘Earth’) orbiting around 61 Virginis.
About 10000 of them have survived an interstellar war about 3000 years ago and went into cryostasis, hiding out in the Saturn moon Atlas, together with the survivors of one of their allies, the Turukal. Following their discovery by three human spacecraft, the ESA/Euroforce Marco Polo, the NASA/US Space Force Lewis & Clarke and the Soviet Smirnova, they moved to Earth, where, after a year of quarantine on Diego Garcia, they were granted asylum.
Biology
The Quetzal are distinctly non human life forms and their genetic code is based around six nucleic acids, rather than the Earthern four. Part of these nucleic acids contain mercury and arsenic, just as some parts of their cellular structure, making them inedible for all Earthern life and preserving their bodies in a natural mummification after their death.
Their average life expectation of the Quetzal is Earth 92 years.
The Quetzal are omnivores, however they prefer a largely carnivorous diet. Next to their stomachs, a liver like organ is the main part of their digestive tract. This organ is essentially a biologic chemical factory able to break down any food they digest and turn it into material their body can make use of. This is because their homeworld had not only one, but three genesis, leading to three different types of different forms of life with different biologies to co-evolve. This lead to the evolution of this special organ and the ability of the Quetzal to eat and digest any form of organic and even anorganic matter.
This lead to a number of surprising revelations. Like Sevadil drinking mineral oil and noting that it does taste better then the one he got at home[citation needed].
Procreation
The Quetzal do not have genders in the sense as humans know it. Rather they are commonly gender neutral and only develop male or female gender specifics during a special time two years. The selection of the gender for each cycle is random and can not be manipulated.
The gender of each Quetzal stabilises within about two weeks, before they fall into a form of mating frenzy. Males and females can mate with up to one hundred different partners within two days. After these two days the males immediately return to the neutral forms, while the females begin to generate up to fifty eggs. These eggs are then laid into prepared containers where they are incubated by the parent, who also returns to the neutral form after laying the eggs.
Only about twenty five eggs hatch after two month, and only up to eight hatchlings survive their first weeks. This is not seen as a problem by the Quetzal as any more surviving hatchlings would have lead to overpopulation on their homeworld.
It also leads to different forms of interindividual relations. The closest relations between two Quetzal is the sibling relation, with the parent-child relation being the next strongest. Outside of this there is only a concept of platonic love between two Quetzal.
However since any Quetzal could be related to any other Quetzal within their city or town, they share a much closer bond than humans living in the same city or town and as such have developed a closer knit society then humanity.
As such the Quetzal are the only known intelligent R-Strategists, through compared to other R-Strategists in the animal kingdom they are extremely nurturing, even through they do not care much about one of their offspring dying.
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