Betelgeusian

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

The Betelgeusians were a sentient avian species that had been encountered by the Federation by the 23rd century.

During the 2270s, at least two Betelgeusians served as a Starfleet sciences division officer aboard the USS Enterprise during the V'Ger incident.

When James T. Kirk arrived at the air tram station in San Francisco, on stardate 7410.2, three Betelgeusian ambassadors were on the nearby platform. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

[edit] Background

The Betelgeusians were designed by Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher for The Motion Picture.

In 1980, Mego released a 3¾" Betelgeusian action figure as part of its second series. [1]

In an article appearing in the January 2002 edition of Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9 entitled "Who is that Alien?", the following information about the Betelgeusians, as taken from Fletcher's original background notes, added:

"The inhabitants of the real star Betelgeuse were seven-foot-tall humanoids who were actually descended from a race of leopard-like eagles. They had claw and bone-like structures like a condor, but walked upright."

This information is not canon, but is considered to come from a Memory Alpha permitted resource.

The robe worn by the Betelgeusean ambassador was one of many costumes scavenged from storerooms around the Paramount lot for the San Francisco crowd scenes. This particular robe was originally hand-picked by Cecil B. DeMille for a 1938 production, and was made of silk thread with real gold and silver details. It's estimated cost was at least $10,000, probably making it the most expensive costume worn by an extra (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture). The robe was auctioned in 28 July 2006 as lot 577 in Profiles in History sale 25, with an estimated price of $1000-$1500.