Vaikan/Evolutionary history

Vaikan have changed significantly ever since they first evolved.

Early history
Vaikan share a common ancestor with four-legged monkey-like cliff crawlers. These cliff crawlers had opposable thumbs, yet stout bodies and were designed to scale large cliffsides amidst the rugged terrain.

Egg laying was favored as the cliff monkeys could hide their eggs within crevices without having to carry extra weight.

Bipedal evolution
Ucharpli was already in an ice age, but further climate change caused resources to grow more scarce than they already were. An early ancestor of Vaikan evolved known as a Muruu-kai, bipedal blue ape-like creatures. Like the cliff monkeys, Muruu-kai had excellent climbing abilities, though they lost opposable thumbs on their feet.

Muruu-kai were very short, no more than two feet tall, and they had a stout appearance.

Later evolution
Climate change grew more rapid and Muruu-kai would eventually evolve descendants that lost hair, eventually becoming the early ancestors of Vaikan. During this time, they were three feet tall and retained much of their cliff scaling abilities. They were particularly low on the food chain, and thus, they acquired the ability to induce an electrical discharge through their fingertips. This worked well with the large metal deposits in their habitat.

When modern Vaikan evolved, they had taken on their modern appearance, though it was rare for one to reach four feet high.

Space microevolution
Since Vaikan started to colonize habitats in space, they had gotten taller and thinner as more and more food became available. The large deposits of adipose tissue they used to carry on their bodies would shrink to become only slightly pudgy in appearance.