I also imagine it's beneficial to - have a body that can manipulate tools easily (octopus would fit this) - have a long enough lifespan to be able to actually

I also imagine it's beneficial to - have a body that can manipulate tools easily (octopus would fit this) - have a long enough lifespan to be able to actually learn and discover - live in an environment that supports primitive metalcasting, mining and agriculture to bootstrap your civilization