SOURCE: "The Ambassadors" (Startling Stories, June 1952) by Anthony Boucher

DESCRIPTION: "That the Martians were mammals was self-evident. Certain points concerning their teeth, their toes, and the characteristic tufts of hair on their cheekbones led Professor Hunyadi to place them, somewhat to the bewilderment of his nonzoological colleagues, as fissipede arctoids...'My ultimate classification, gentlemen...must be Canis lupus sapiens. In other words, as man may be said to be an intelligent ape, we are confronted with a race of intelligent wolves.'"

PLOT: When spacefarers arrive on mars they find the locals to be a race of intelligent wolves. As to be expected the two races have difficulties so Professor Hunyadi, looking through memoirs of his native Transylvania strikes on the solution: appeal to the werewolves of Earth to come out of hiding and act as ambassadors.  Once the public is convinced that werewolves do exist many come forward and the problem is solved. The were-apes of mars also fulfill this need. Professor Hunyadi ends his career by searching for a planet peopled by vampires, he being the perfect ambassador.

WEREWOLF FACTS: Boucher 's werewolves are not moon-afflicted creatures but an entire race of intelligent wolf-creatures. These aliens have legendary creatures known as were-apes, Martians who turn into apes.

INTERESTING FACTS: One of the many humorous werewolves that come out of the closet includes a wolf-dog who is a movie star, choosing that career because there was less competition than in human acting. This idea appeared in Boucher's previous classic "The Compleat Werewolf".