A random thought occurred to me in the shower today: is Yoda actually a really old mogwai? If you look at the basic anatomy of Gizmo and the other mogwai from Gremlins there are a lot of similarities. They are small, have huge ears, three fingers and three toes on the front of the foot. Mogwai also turn into green skinned mostly hairless creatures closer to Yoda's height after a metamorphosis stage. Perhaps if mogwai are allowed to mature they begin to lose their hair/fur as they become adults and no longer have to follow the 'three rules' as below.
Points for: similar anatomy.
Yoda is 'mischevious' in his initial encounter with Luke, like a more benign gremlin.
Yoda has pointed teeth and claws, as well as being green.
Mogwai/gremlins are magical creatures and Yoda is strong in the force (a weak similarity though)
We never see young members of yoda's people, and only see Jedi members at that.
Points against:Yoda doesn't burn in sun light
Yoda isn't seen to bud little 'Yodas' when wet
Mogwai are seen on earth in modern times, while Yoda is from another galaxy. However humans also live in that Galaxy.
It's possible that Yodas people are very mysterious because they rarely leave their homeworld because of the odd life cycle they must endure, and only go into the Galaxy after maturing beyond the 'three rules' stage. It's also possible that only his people who are trained as Jedi can excercise enough control to withstand burning in sun light and getting wet without multiplying and resisting the temptation to eat after midnight. Also, it just might be the Earth's sun that burns mogwai and not other stars. Mogwai also hate bright light, but Yoda doesn't seem to have any photophobia, in fact he looks directly into Luke's flashlight. Again, perhaps being 900 years old has strengthened yoda's resistance to light.
I know it's silly, but it's always bugged me that we never knew the species name for such a well known character.