Bandar

Bandars, also sometimes called cat-monkeys, were a species of small aboreal s native to Neroth. While bandars had no culture, their intelligence and cleverness, communal societal groups, and ability to use rudimentary tools caused them to be labeled as.

Characteristics
Small creatures, bandars stood at a meager 0.4 meters in height. Their bodies were slim and muscled, covered by short that ranged from cream, brown, black, and white in coloration. Their were long, ending with four fingered hands; likewise, they had four toes on their feet. Their long tails were prehensile and they used them to climb, swing, or hang from trees, as well as grasp or manipulate objects. While they were primates, bandars displayed certain traits, such as whiskers, large ears, and felinoid eyes.

Bandars lived an arboreal lifestyle in the upper jungle canopies and rarely ventured to the ground. Their diet consisted mostly of plants, leaves, fruits, and nuts although they did periodically catch insects or raid bird nests for eggs. Bandars lived in structured communal tribes in which all of the members shared food and cared for one another. They mated for life, forming pair bonds, and female bandar usually gave birth to one to three offspring every year. Curiously, if two bandar tribes crossed paths, they would socialize, cooperate, and groom before parting: interspecies violence was virtually unheard of.

While they were preyed upon by many of the planet's predatory species, bandars were very quick, agile, and clever. They were capable of creating and using rudimentary tools, such as stick "spears" to ward off predators, vines to use as fishing lines, and leaf baskets to carry young or food in. Furthermore, bandars built treetop "villages" of nests to live in. They were also very curious, friendly, and rather mischievous: bandars that lived close to cities would frequently approach and engage with sentients and some had a proclivity towards stealing.

As they were semi-sentient, bandars were protected by law from poaching or trafficking.

Behind the scenes
Bandar is the Fiji Hindi word for monkey.