Skralf

Skralfs (generally pronounced ghz-kralf) are a species of anthropomorphic cats.

Physical
Skralfs vary greatly in physical traits, almost as much (if not more so) as non-Skralf cats and humans.

Their adult height tends to range from 5'3" to 6'10", similarly to humans. However, they tend to overall weigh slightly less.

They are generally built for speed, quick reactions, and flexibility. The flexibility of their spines is almost that of a domestic cat's, and they do much better in high distance falls than humans, but not nearly as well as a domestic feline.

Behavioral
Skralfs have human-like intelligence, however, are different in certain areas. They show increased aptitudes for empathy, compassion, honesty, passivity, language, sociality, usage of the forces, and creativity, while also having decreased aptitudes for mathematics (mostly in speed), physical strength, self-preservation, emotional regulation, and memory compared to that of humans.

The majority of Skralfs speak a common language: Skralfabet.

Evolution
The Skralfs started out as tetrapods, rather than bipeds. However, they began larger than they currently are now, unlike cats of today.

The majority of their time was spent in hunter-gatherer societies where resources were few but travel was too risky. They protected their territories as small tribal groups and eventually developed a communal way of living. During these times is when their empathy and sociality became important, and what led to the communal nature of Skralfs today. In those times, depriving one member of food meant one less hunter, one less protector, or one less reproductive option. Thus, the best option was to equality distribute or risk losing genetic variation or even the potential for a mating partner in general. The older would often sacrifice themselves for the sake of allowing the younger to survive, and this was especially common between parents and kittens, even when the kittens weren't their own. This last point is likely why most Skralfs today view nearly all young as their own in spite of not being genetically related.

Their bipedal nature developed when carrying objects with or in their paws, such as prey, medicine or weapons, became useful. Those that could hold items the best and for the longest distances, especially in their paws, survived the longest and eventually it came to the point that the Skralfs became bipeds.

The language of Skralfabet was developed when they joined together with other tribes after travel became safe due to environmental changes, and aside from a few cases where tribes didn't mingle well, most joined together. They didn't travel multiversally until long after they'd developed to the form they are now. Most modern Skralf civilizations outside of ones such as Felic Anima and Felinec are only several hundred thousand years old, and in that time kept extensive contact with their origins due to the Skralfs' early mastering of portal travel.