The Kaldanes are a fictitious

sapient Sapient means to be able to reflect on memories, and or possessing wisdom and may refer to: * Brian Sapient, co-founder of atheist activist group Rational Response Squad * SAPIENT, a scholarship programme * Publicis Sapient, a digital consulting f ...

species existing in the region of Bantoom on the planet

Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...

in the John Carter series of books by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

. Introduced in the book ''

Chessmen of Mars ''The Chessmen of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth of his Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' ...

'', the Kaldanes are almost all head, but for six arachnoid legs and a pair of

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...

. Their racial goal is to achieve pure intellect against bodily existence: In order to function in the physical realm, the Kaldanes have bred the Rykors: a nonsentient complementary species composed of a body similar to that of a Red Martian but lacking a head; when the Kaldane places itself upon the shoulders of the Rykor, a bundle of

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s connects with the Rykor's

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

, allowing the brain of the Kaldane to control its motor nerves and sensory nerves. Should the Rykor become damaged or die, the Kaldane climbs upon another. Although the Rykors breed like other animals, the Kaldanes do not breed except for their "king": The Kaldanes are also imbued with conscious

race memory In psychology, genetic memory is a theorized phenomenon in which certain kinds of memories could be inherited, being present at birth in the absence of any associated sensory experience, and that such memories could be incorporated into the geno ...

, obtained through selective breeding. They are carnivorous, and sometimes feed upon the Rykors. In the Wold Newton Universe, the kaldanes are said to be descended from mutated Sarmaks and, which in turn, were possibly descended from

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

oids.Wold Newton Universe: A Secret History - Sarmaks
In Larry Niven's '' Rainbow Mars'', Kaldanes also appear, although they are called the Tunnel Crabs.

References

{{Barsoom Literary characters introduced in 1922 Barsoom Fictional Martians