Skrit Na

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The Skrit Na are a race of aliens from the Animorphs book series by K.A. Applegate. They are similar to the Jawas in Star Wars in that they scavenge for profit. They also capture specimens from the many planets they visit and either perform strange medical procedures on them or put them in a zoo on their homeworld. The Time Matrix was first discovered on a Skrit Na ship.

They have a life cycle similar to caterpillars and butterflies: they start as Skrit, which are similar to giant insects. The Skrits seem to be relativately unintelligent, and are used to perform simple tasks on the ships. After some time they weave a cocoon. A Na emerges about a year later, which looks like the famous "Grey" aliens reported by alien abductees, and in fact, it is suggested that the Skrit Na are indeed the Greys, given that their appearance, activities and even their ship design is the same. Elfangor describes the Na emerging from a "dead" Skrit, which may indicate that the Skrit does not transform into a Na, but actually gives birth to it or something similar.

Due to their strange life cycle, Skrit Na are considered poor hosts for the Yeerks, so the race was never conquered; rather, the Yeerks seem to have developed a kind of trading partnership with the Skrit Na, not caring much that the Skrit Na usually steal or abduct their loot. This is seen in The Andalite Chronicles, where the Skrit Na acquired the Time Matrix and were willing to trade it to the Yeerks without knowing what it was. The Skrit Na have a less friendly relationship with other species, due to their illegal habits. Elfangor comments in The Andalite Chronicles that no other species can understand the Skrit Na's unusual actions, and hypothesizes that they do not understand themselves either.

The Skrit Na are mentioned briefly by the character Father in The Ellimist Chronicles, where Father claims to have assimilated some into his being, meaning they were already space-faring by this point in the Animorphs timeline. This is interesting, considered the main events of that book take place more than 65,000,000 years in the past, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and the Andalites were unadvanced and not completely evolved. This would make the Skrit Na one of the oldest races in the Animorph universe, though it is never explained why their society and technology are not significantly more advanced than that of most other races in the series.