Theela's species

Taurean females

The Taureans were a humanoid race that descended from a group of individuals who settled on the second planet of the Taurean system when their homeworld began to die.

On that planet, they built a temple and numerous other architectural wonders surrounding it. Unfortunately, what these settlers did not know was that the planet naturally drained humanoid energy.

Taurean upon arrival Taurean succumbed to planet's effects

After living in the Taurean system for some time, the female's bodies were able to adapt and develop a glandular secretion that enabled them to survive, functioning at an unusual psychokinesis level. These adaptations allowed them to manipulate certain areas of the males' brains, and influence their emotional senses. This ultimately drained the men, causing them to weaken and die.

The women learned that, to survive, they must revitalize their bodies every 27.346 star years, making them eternal prisoners the planet, capable of neither aging, dying, nor bearing children. Once all the men on their planet had died, they resorted to revitalizing themselves by means of summoning male crew members of starships, from as far as twenty light years away, through the use of their opto-aud.

Beginning as early as 2119, they began luring starships from the Earth-Federation, as well as the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Once lured to the planet, the men were captured and forced to wear Taurean headbands, which drained energy from humanoids.

File:Taurean TAS.jpg

Taurean females entertain the Enterprise landing party

In 2269, the USS Enterprise was investigating several disappearances within range of the Taurean system when the starship's male crew members fell victim to the Taurean summons. After the Taurean women were defeated by Lieutenant Uhura and the female crew members of the Enterprise, Theela, leader of the Taurean women, agreed to destroy their opto-aud in exchange to be relocated to another system, by a Federation starship crewed by women, on the first suitable planet. Once relocated, according to Dr. McCoy, the Taurean females would become "normal" once again, after only a few months. (TAS: "The Lorelei Signal")

The novelization of "The Lorelei Signal" (as written by Alan Dean Foster and published in Star Trek Log 2) describes the female inhabitants as being "about two and a half meters tall" and repeatedly refers to them as "giantesses."