Liir'aalu

Liir'aalu, or Liir for short, are the principle indigenous sapient lifeform of planet H-915, aka Avuura.

Overview
Out of all the varied wildlife of planet H-915, aka Avuura, the Liir are one of the most remarkable and well-documented, being highly social and intelligent insectivores who communicate with complex flute-song created via specialized hornlike nasal cavities atop bony jawless faces, with narrow pointed snouts to facilitate piercing the nests of the arboreal termite-like creatures they feed on. Of these traits their intelligence is the most noteworthy, understood as full sapience on par with baseline humanity. As a result, it’s not unheard of to see Liir in the engineering and comms divisions of starships, with their keen hearing and acoustic capabilities making them well-suited for the latter.

Subspecies
There are three known subspecies: Highland, lowland, and Viaran.


 * Highland Liir are found in higher-elevation mountainous regions and possess adaptations for colder environs, notably an abundance of spiny hairs and stocky builds standing at around 5-to-6 feet at the horn. Their voices are also noticeably deeper and carry much farther owing to their unique horn structure.


 * Lowland Liir are found in low-lying temperate forests and jungles and are the most well-represented outside of Avuura. Most Liir one might meet are of this type and stand at, on average, around 6-to-7 feet at the tip of the horn.


 * Viaran, or dwarf liir, are a subspecies found on the supercontinent Viar. Smaller and adapted for the craggy foothills and caves found in their home range, they are known only from descriptions by Liir who claim to have encountered them and from remotely-captured footage. Contact has not been made, though they are known to stand at around 4-to-5 feet.