Physical Description
Their body is like a long curved cigar covered in leathery skin which is in turn covered by steel-strong denticles; sharp-edged, triangular enamelled scales. Their thick tails curve seamlessly into their bodies which gradually taper to a long, thinner neck. Their arms have four opposable thumbs. They move about by flexing a longitudinal strip of muscles in their cartilaginous tail, while two tail-hook "legs" catch the ground and push. Their heads are wide, flat wedges that are tipped by a wide mouth filled with pointy sharp teeth. Ptatl chomp off big bites and swallow their food without chewing.

They have small, black, semi-circular eyes on the top/side of their head which have a set of  reflective internal lenses to maximize night vision. They see gradations of heat through their primary lenses with the reflected light colour spectrum mildly imposed by secondary lenses. The tip of their nose is extremely sensitive and covered on both sides with rough-textured chemical-sniffing cells. They have a layered sense of smell, being able to detect individual components in a compound aroma: in other words, they don't smell "stew", they smell meat, carrots, peas, salt, etc. They have a network of special receptors along their chin, neck, and the side of their head that sense magnetic fields. These receptors contribute to both their local sense of orientation and direction and to their ability to perceive the world around them as environmental magnetic fields pass through beings and objects. Vibration sensor sacs, called "lateral lines", run along the sides of their heads, down their neck, along the sides of their body and particularly along their underbody. These are shallow, complicated ridges of cartilage that replace traditional ears, processing a wider frequency and dynamic range and sensing motion and vibration through both air and earth. They are quite sensitive and can decipher information regarding direction and intensity of motion around them. Their skeletons are composed of an extremely complicated matrix of primarily small, strong bones with cartilaginous joins for flexibility. Their brains filter and combine the myriad senses.

Their vehicles and starships include highly sophisticated sensor arrays that feed information to all their senses. Their use of casual clothing is limited, as it blocks too many sensory inputs, and protective equipment tends to incorporate miniaturized versions of the sensor feeds found in their vehicles.

Attitudes
The weak are abandoned, the strong survive. Independent action is key, and the earning of one's lot in life is paramount. There is no fate, one earns one's own destiny. Society is a structure that culls the weak and forces the strong to work harder for the good of all. On one hand, it's great to use technology to make yourself stronger but it shouldn't be a crutch for the weak. The Ptatl, despite their performance-based culture, are not fixated on physical competition or the ability of one member of society to "crush" another. They are quite open-minded and see that things like art and statesmanship make the whole race stronger and smarter and more creative. Because of their varied and often subtle ways to sense prey, they evolved the attitude that stealth and guile are as acceptable as power and speed.

Heroes and personal reward factor highly in society. Exemplary citizens are to be rewarded and encouraged. Those who cannot find a spot to excel in life are excluded from the society for the good of that society. Banishment is neither personal nor a punishment, being seen as an opportunity for the week to go beyond their current confines, revealing and developing their strengths by finding appropriate challenges beyond normal Ptatl society .

Culture/Political
Leadership is taught by the Ptatl in a series of Governmental Colleges that develop their students over the course of their entire lives, with equal emphasis on physical, moral, intellectual, strategic, artistic, and emotional improvement. A series of tests and the evaluation of individual personal activities constantly rank the abilities of each student. The most appropriate candidates are chosen for the most appropriate roles in government. During their tenure in power, leaders still attend the Governmental Colleges and must constantly prove their worthiness to remain in power.

The Federal government of the Ptatl Shivery is run by the Prime Power, who is assisted by appointed Prime Ministers that represent duties, from the development and enforcement of laws, to the construction of maintenance of infrastructure, to the Shivery's military and colonization efforts. Local governments are structured similarly, with local High Powers assisted by High Ministers.

Ptatl are predominantly found within the Twilight as members of their small racial empire called the Ptatl Shivery, though they are not exclusive to it. Their are several independent Ptatl worlds, like Ygnus, and many Ptatl have travelled to other galactic empires to find themselves a home.

Breeding
Ptatl eggs are fertilized and hatch inside the mother's inner womb. Freshly hatched young must make their way to an outer womb where they will remain and develop until born live. The mother's body is designed to only supply so much nutrition to pups, including the carcasses of those who were unable to survive the journey to the outer womb. While in the outer womb, the hatchlings are provided with enough nourishment that about three-quarters can survive: the weak are eaten by the strong. Parents nurture their young, who immediately start a diet of regular Ptatl food and are relatively able to care for themselves. The Ptatl have little concept of "helpless baby".

History
In the Akilim system, the Ptatl evolved from a sort of shark-like/dog-like/gator-like predator. It used its two large front fins and tail for locomotion, while its rear fins become opposing talons that would grasp prey like a set of tongs. From a primarily aqueous existence, the primordial Ptatl would pull themselves onto land, where their strong swimming tail and rear grasping talons would develop into specialized tools to propel powerful lunging attacks from ambush. The front fins would become more and more specialized to grasp and hold prey, and to pull their bulky bodies from place to place. Over millennia, their heads shifted onto long, semi-cartilaginous necks and their front pulling talons raised off the ground to develop into useable hands. They gradually traded speed and power for intelligence and the ability to use tools, which remains a key element in their modern thinking.

War
The Ptatl are aggressive, competitive fighters. They tend to design more generic carrier-type ships that stock a wide variety of small ships to do most of the fighting and defending. Whether pilot, captain, or ground forces, the Ptatl tend to gravitate toward jobs in which they truly excel.

They are not exceptionally advanced space-farers, using a variety of debatably crude technology they themselves developed along with purchases from willing interstellar corporations. They defend their own territories fiercely and are intrigued by exploration and knowledge, though they are not necessarily driven by conquest. They are opposed to the notion of keeping slaves or harshly subjugating another race, as there is no honour in making someone do something at which they do not excel.

Naming Conventions
The Ptatl use a single-name system. They combine a family-name prefix with a personalized suffix to form a single moniker. Szad of the Butep family carries the name Butepszad.