Transfigurations is a novel by Michael Bishop published in 1979.
Transfigurations is a novel in which an anthropologist studies the Asadi, a culturally and technologically undeveloped anthropoid alien race on a world named Boskveld, who communicate through bioluminescence. Egon Chaney, the original anthropologist sent from the Galactic Community ("Glaktik Kom") to Boskveld, disappeared six years before the events of the story took place, but his daughter Elegy Cather has taken over her father's mission, accompanied by a genetically modified baboon/chimpanzee hybrid, Kretzoi, who may be able to communicate directly with the Azadi. Cather and her associates hope to prove that the Asadi have developed sentience, technology and religious ritual [1]
Greg Costikyan reviewed Transfigurations in Ares Magazine #8 and commented that "Despite its narrative flaws, Transfigurations is exceptionally well written, and Bishop is a writer whose work deserves close attention."[2]
Kirkus Reviews states "Some intriguing speculations about behavior -- but Bishop's usually engaging curiosity blends poorly here with the traditional furniture of outer-space fiction."[3]