 What is NOT a similarity between Taphetta and the rest of the crew?
In repose, Taphetta the Ribboneer resembled a fancy giant bow on a package. Taphetta rattled the head fronds together in a surprisingly good imitation of speech. Obviously there was no contact throughout the ages before space travel— and yet each planetary race can interbreed with a minimum of ten others ! "Outside of your own world, there's nothing like your species, except superficially, and that's true of all other creatures, intelligent or not, with the sole exception of mankind. Actually, the four of us here, though it's accidental, very nearly represent the biological spectrum of human development. "And so, to account for the unique race that can interbreed across thousands of light-years, you've brought in the big ancestor," commented Taphetta dryly. Still, Taphetta the Ribboneer was an experienced pilot and could be very useful. The theory is that humans who can mate with each other were once physically close. When we project back into time those star systems on which humans existed prior to space travel, we get a certain pattern. "I'm complimented that you like our contract so well," said Taphetta, "but I really must have our own unsimplified version. It would do no good to explain that Taphetta wasn't a worm, that his evolution had taken a different course, but that he was in no sense less complex than Man. It was a paradox that some biologically higher humans hadn't developed as much as lower races and actually weren't prepared for the multitude of life-forms they'd meet in space.
 All of them have a comparably good reputation
 All of them are critical to the success of the mission  All of them are respected in their fields  All of them have a comparably good reputation  All of them are smart