Physical Description

Centauran are four limbed, bipedal, forward kneed hinged mammals evolved from plains dwelling equines.  Centauran are covered head to foot in a fine layer of soft hair, and their hair thickens atop their heads and down their backs and tails.  Male and Female Centauran are virtually indistinguishable, though Centuaran females, have slightly larger abdomens and hips, and more pronounced nipples while pregnant and nursing their young.

The Centauran head is elongated with wide space eyes on their side of their long snout below a slight brow ridge.  The Centuaran have a small mouth for the size of their head filled with flat grinding teeth.  Their ears are situated behind their eyes and are semi-rigid flaps that can twist and fold on command.

Centuaran have four digits on their hands, two fingers and thumbs each.  Each digit is tipped with a hardhoof like nail.  Centauran feet are large, slightly conical hooves that need to be trimmed regularly.

Genitals on the males are external, while females house their reproductive organs internally.  Centauran females typically have six fertile cycles a year but only release a mature egg for fertilization during sexual intercourse.

History 

Early Centuaran history is not well documented, what is known for certain is that their ancient ancestors were genetically manipulated and uplifted by an unknown ancient race to force them to evolve into their current bipedal form.  Though the Pharad deny having anything to do with that, they do admit to having briefly, for several centuries at least, enslaving the Centauran before abandoning them.  The Sirian Empire then enslaved them for a brief period before internal strife pulled them back to their main colonies.

This left the Centauran to develop on their own for quite sometime during which they developed a highly militaristic mindset to keep from being enslaved again.  Using the limited technology left behind by their former masters they set out to explore their solar system and built massive defensive fortifications and space stations, especially near their system’s jump points.
The Centauran, knowing that the Pharad resided coreward, and the Sirians outspiral pushed towards their first enslavers expanding towards the Vega sector of space before the Galactic Federation, their nearest stellar neighbor entered their home system of Alpha Centauri.  The automated defensive satellites around their jump point, seeing ships of presumed Sirian design opened fire, kicking off the decade long “Centauri-Terra” war.

The Centauran were unprepared for the full might of the growing Galactic Federation, with its liberated Thal allies and Sirian fleets.  Nor were they prepared to face fleets that took “the long route” through normal space to attack their home system.  By the time the Centaurans finally surrendered their homeworld had been devastated and radioactive fallout threatened their population for centuries afterwards.
Their population on the verge of extinction they submitted to acting as a slave labor force once again.  However, the fledgling Galactic Federation took a modicum of pity on them, and seeing what fierce fortification builders they were granted them lowered citizenship status so long as they continued to build such defenses throughout the Federation’s expanding sphere of influence.

Culture

Despite repeated enslavement the Centauran still have a strong cultural identity and heritage that while not completely homoginized still shows great diversity.  Running races are common amongst their people as triathalon like competitions.  It is strongly suggested that the Pharad or Sirians may have had Centauran Slaves with them when visting early Earth helping to instil the mythical Centaurs in that culture, especially as, even now, Centaurans prefer to hunt with bows.

Major Religions/Philosophies

Little is known of Centauran religion, though evidence of several does exist, though their exact philosophies are unknown.  These include:
Sabi, Fleknar, and Ebla.

“Protect the herd, run if you can, fight if you must, when all else fails submission is preferable to dying.”

Population

50 million and rising as of last GF Census

Notables

While still considered a slave race, the Centauran enjoy greater freedomes then most, especially when it comes to self governance.  The exact reasoning behind this is unclear, but it is believed that the Pharad are the major proponents of this as they regularly visit the Centauran homeworld, unlike most other Federation races.

Psionicism- Telepathic and Telekinetic abilities, most Centuaran Psionics average at a level 5, with a few level 8.5.  Psionic growth in the Centauaran is one of the highest tracked as each new generation has a higher percentage of at least telepathic children, especially those born on their homeworld.

Sub-Species

No true subspecies though regional differences in size and fur coloring and composition are notable.