TELLARITES

Home Planet: Miracht (Tellar), 61 Cygni
UFP Founding Member

Mean Height: 150cm

        Tellarites are generally of a large, rotund body shape.  They have
upturned noses, and have had faces comparable to that of a Terran pig. 
The legs of a Tellarite ar eof specific interest.  Unlike most
mammallian species encountered by the United Federation of Planets, the
Tellarites have legs similar to those of horses and other four-legged
Terran animals.  Their lower limbs are hooverd, ending in a hardned
split dermal ad with a dewclaw in the rear.

        They are thought of around the galaxy as a loud and boisterous species,
argumentative, and prone to disagreement.  This may be true, but only
because the Tellarites so value the art of debate.  Perhaps the best
ambassador in the universe is a Tellarite who can keep his debates
uninsulting to the other participants.

        In comparison to the other races of Federation space, the Tellarites
are rather short-lived, existing for an avergae of around 87 Terran
years for a male, and 93 for female.  Due to this, they mature at a
faster rate, and, a Tellarite has reached adulthood at age 12.

        While they are born with extremely sharp eyesight, this deteriotates as
they age, and, by the time they are fully grown, Tellarites are very
nearsighted.  However, their other sense (particularly hearing and
smell) as well as an exceptional sense of balance and direction make up
for this a great deal

        The Tellarites firster with an alien species was with Humans
explorering away from Earth.  This first encounter lead to widespread
planetery panic as rumours of an evil Earthling invaion spread. 
However, these rumours were quickly disbanded by public displays of
friendship between Terrna and Tellarite officials.  After this, the
Tellarites joined Earth, Vulcan, Centauri, Andor and Rigel as founding
members of the United Federation of Planets.  The Tellarites have been
important members since that date.

        This species is prolific in Starfleet, but they are not found as often
on starships as in bases and starbases.  This is due to the Tellarites
extreme aptitude for engineering, and ship design, leading them to
choose less-mobile assignment swithin Starfleet.  However, many
Tellarites display other skills, alents, etc. as any other species, and
may be found in almost any area of expertise, aside, perhaps, from
counselling.

        On their own planet of Tellar, they have a rather lax social order. 
Peopel engage in open-marriages, and children are taught to not respect
their parents, but teachers.  Teachers, tutours, professors seem to be
as close to the traditional role of parent as the Tellarites actually
get.  Thusm, in Starfleet Academy, and in other learning instutitions,
Tellarites get along well as they study hard in order to impress their
teacher.

(with information from "The World of the Federation" by Shane Johnson
[Pocket Boosk, 1989], and "Prime Directive - Federation Sourcebook" by
Timothy Olsen and Mark Costello [Task Force Games, 1994]).