From "WikiDex: The Free Encyclopædia"
Retrieved September 23, 2013
Acrid (xenosophant): Physical Description
Acrids are a species of telepathic octopodal xenosophant native to the fourth planet of the Zeta-1 Reticuli system. While similar in body structure to the various human subspecies (bilateral symmetry, a distinct head containing a brain and sensory organs, arms and legs, and separate cardio-pulmonary and digestive systems), the largest differences are the additional limbs (four tentacles rising from the acrid's back), a complete lack of any vocalization ability, and short-range (under 10 meters) telepathy. Unlike most terrestrial or kzintal animals, acrids are hermaphroditic, though like terrestrial mammals and kzintal pseudo-mammals, acrids give birth to live young. A typical acrid pregnancy lasts 20-22 weeks, and acrids reach sexual maturity in 12-14 years. A healthy acrid can expect to live an average of 60 years, with some extreme examples living well into their eighth decade.
The skin of the acrids is grey (though some have nearly white skin, and others nearly black) and devoid of any hair. Their eyes, which are tetrachromic (400 nm, 475 nm, 550 nm, and 600 nm), appear silvery due to the highly reflective mirror-like surface (their photoreceptors are more sensitive than most terrestrial species, and so require less light), and are proportionally much larger than most human sub-species eyes (elves have a similar skull to orbital ratio).
Acrids have an average standing height of 1.3 meters, though vary between 1 and 1.5 meters in height. Their tentacles have an average length of 2 meters, but can extend as long as 2.5 meters, or as short as 1 meter, in extreme cases.
Acrid skulls, and thus their brains, are significantly larger than any human sub-species, though most of the difference in size is devoted to the telepathic abilities the acrid possess (this is a purely biological telepathy, and has no relation to the magical telepathy usable by some human mages or the contact telepathy of kzin'shasas).
Although naturally of a similar strength to average humans, most adult acrids utilize bio-mechanical suits allowing them strength akin to giants or kzin'shasas, and reflexes akin to murgars.
Unlike humans or kzin'shasas, acrids have no natural magical ability, though like humans and kzin'shasas, some acrids born on Earth after the Independence War have developed psionic powers due to prenatal phlebotinum exposure (though like humans and kzin'shasas over a third of such pregnancies miscarry, and a further third do not reach sexual maturity due to phlebotinum-induced cancers).
Like the murgars (and other murkish lifeforms) and unlike terrestrial or kzintal lifeforms, acrids are a dextro-protein species. It is supposed that other reticulan life is also dextro-protein, but none were on the acrid mothership Acridis upon its arrival in 1997.