Macaclo

The Macaclo are a species of adaptable explorers.

Macaclo resemble a six foot tall root vegetable bristling with legs and manipulatory pincers, crowned with a transparent sensory bulb. The skin of their trunk can change colour through the visible spectrum and extending into near UV and IR. A frill bordering their tapering 'stalk' also displays this ability.

The Macaclo species is defined by extreme neoteny, the species is entirely composed of fully mature juveniles which never grow into the adult form which is still encoded in their genes. This transformation can be induced artificially, but is considered entirely pointless as the result is a barely intelligent prehistoric throwback to the Macaclo's genetic history.

This neoteny evolved when a dramatic climate shift on the Macaclo home-world triggered a global shift in weather patterns and ecosystems. The resulting system had almost no direct physical threats to Macaclo, but was a highly dynamic and fast moving environment which required constant observation and dynamic action to stave off starvation. The Macaclo juvenile brain was better suited to fast adaptation and learning and the species quickly evolved and the adult form became vestigial.

Thanks to this background, Macaclo are voracious omnivores, amphibious, adept at climbing and highly sensitive to change and adept at spatial reasoning. Their social system is complex and fast moving, with an individual Macaclo cultivating and juggling thousands of personal connections simultaneously.
Their neoteny coupled with the absence of physical danger on the planet which initially shaped their culture means they are largely fearless, insatiably curious and often inscrutably childish by the moral standards of other races.

The Macaclo were quick to modify themselves when their genetic sciences matured sufficiently, eliminating all hereditary conditions, making disease a largely irrelevant annoyance, extending the limits of their senses, making themselves more physically attractive and enhancing their capacity to feel strong emotion.
When Macaclo make first contact with other races they engineer themselves to be able to safely consume and enjoy the food of the other race, along with the ability to experience any other carnal pleasures the newly met race holds in esteem.

Macaclo have no central government and rarely construct permanent colonies or habitats in star systems, instead preferring to live on colossal habitat ships which roam the stars according to the whims of their population.

Macaclo refer to the star-faring stage of their development in which they currently reside as "The time when games are played". They see it as a duty to themselves to explore as many unique experiences as individuals and as a species, for their own amusement and for the nebulous goal of strengthening the species.
As a result first contacts with the species have varied wildly based on the whims of the Macaclo involved. Some species have been warmly welcomed into an alliance, others have been immediately attacked, others evasively observed and so on.
There are even reports of Macaclo instigating genocide after an initial meeting simply to experience the destruction of another race.