Iztheptar

When they were free, iztheptars lived in hives unified by telepathy. The Azlanti Star Empire used various techniques combined with iztheptar adaptability to strengthen loyalty, further lower individuality, and diminish potentially subversive telepathy. Now, iztheptars contentedly serve their enslavers in roles varying from high-risk explorers to exotic pets.
These creatures have unique reproduction. If an iztheptar perishes, part of the dead creature grows into an infant with genetic material altered based on the local environment, influencing traits and personality. An infant iztheptar imprints on the first beings that care for it, a trait useful for the communal creatures that was easily exploited by the Azlanti.
Iztheptars are natural survivors adept at biotech. They use both capabilities to endure extreme environments and alter local flora and fauna to suit their needs. Azlanti send iztheptars ahead of colonists to test environments and push ecosystems in favorable directions, with little concern for the iztheptars’ survival. The statistics here detail just such a tough iztheptar terraformer.
An iztheptar matures at 7 years and can live for centuries. An adult iztheptar is 3 feet tall and weighs 55 pounds.