when i was a little kid, hollywood aliens used to freak me out
and then i slowly figured out how loving stupid they were
this is my favorite sentient[?] fictional alien species.
The Eosapien.
There are reasons it looks like that. It's called the Eosapien, or the thinker of the dawn, reflecting it's being the last creature encountered in the book "Expedition" and the documentary "Alien Planet".
Expedition entails the ecosystem and planet Darwin IV, a planet with life realistically built around its environment.
It has characteristics that are seen to be shared with many of the species on the planet, particularly those who live in the air.
For one, notice that it has no eyes. Darwin IV used to be very, very foggy, I believe. By the time the fog lifted, creatures that used eyesight were outmatched by those who used sonar.
It flies. That bag on it's head? That's an air bladder. The air on Darwin IV is thick, allowing such traits to be beneficial. It's similar to swim bladders in some aquatic animals.
You see those two limbs? They perhaps were used by it's ancestors for walking, but as the species began to favor the usage of flotation, it didn't need it for that.
And then things got interesting, I presume.
