Vernor Vinge, in Fire Upon The Deep, explored that idea in pretty interesting ways. I didn't love the book (I like him as an author, and this one is considered

Vernor Vinge, in Fire Upon The Deep, explored that idea in pretty interesting ways. I didn't love the book (I like him as an author, and this one is considered a classic, but it didn't really grab me), but the Tines (dog-like pack animals) were an interesting thought experiment. In it, a single Tine is roughly akin to a smart dog, but when combined into a pack (linked via some sort of sound-based communication), they're of roughly human intelligence (or better) and able to perform advanced tasks, allowing them to build complex machines. Their individual pack members act as limbs in a whole "person". When one member dies, it is more like an amputation than a death...and a new pack member can be added, while mostly keeping the character and memories of the whole person. Thus Tines are potentially very long-lived (like great grandfather's ax). There is discussion of emotions that members and packs experience that humans find foreign. Belonging to a pack being one of them; a lone Tine member that can't merge into a new pack is considered a tragic case. Anyway, probably worth a read just for those novel ideas about other lifeforms.