I don’t think we have to look farther than our own planet. After humans, the dominant life forms are plants, insects, fish, birds, reptiles and mammals. We can eliminate plant life, as they aren’t likely to ever evolve sentience, a nervous system, mobility, etc… Fish and insects barely evolve brains past brain stems. Birds and reptiles have a poor brain to body mass ratio. Among mammals, dolphins are able to communicate with a healthy brain to body ratio, and primates have thumbs, a huge plus in using tools and controlling their surroundings. I think the ability to communicate, thumbs and brains would be an important prerequisite for technological evolution.
Then, we could compare humans with the other groups. What singular characteristics do the other things have that humans don’t, yet humans were able to develop better and faster? Plants, for example, breathe carbon. Most mammals are covered in body hair. Spiders and insects have multiple legs. Wolves, gators, dogs, etc. have a huge amount of jaw pressure, prominent teeth, and a sharp sense of smell. So, we can logically say that none of those were necessary for humans to make the leap to technology.
Basically, we were strong enough make, build and use tools, but weak enough that we had to use them. Without body hair, we had to make clothes and build houses. Without strong jaws and senses for hunting, we made weapons.
Therefore, the key human features that allowed us to create technology were almost random luck that they all occurred in one organism at the same time, yet we were missing key physical characteristics that would have allowed us to avoid technology altogether. If humans had gills and webbed feet, for example, what technology would not exist today? If humans didn’t have eyes, what new technology would we have made? Could we have made anything without eyes?
So, through deduction, we can say:
- Key features of humans allowed us to become what we are today.
- Characteristics of other organisms that humans don’t have aren’t necessary, and may actually hinder technological advancement.
- Aliens that have similar tech as us would have a similar situation as 1 and 2.
So, we can say:
2 eyes: important. More than 2 eyes is unnecessary.
2 arms: possibly important, as there aren’t any species with only one arm, but several with more arms that weren’t as successful.
Thumbs: vital.
2 legs: I don’t think anyone would disagree that 0 or 1 leg isn’t that great, but would 4 or more legs be better or worse? With more than 2 legs, would we have cars?
Large brains: vital.
So, I would say that in terms of thumbs, arms, legs, eyes, and brains, an alien species would need similar structures, but maybe not placed in the same way. To maximize brain size, a crab-style body might be better, with most of the torso being used for the brain. An external skeletal system would bump up against #2 above, so probably an internal skeleton would be better. Internal organs, vocal chords, lungs, etc could also be contained in the torso. To maximize brain size, I think combining the mass of the head and torso with some of the arm/leg mass would be better. The total mass would be equivalent to humans today, but a shorter, wider, deeper and thicker torso, no head, and shorter arms/legs.