There wouldn't have been anything directly after Xeno Ethics I don't think...it would have been in some other spot.
Small disclaimer: I only played the Alterians about twice, so a bunch of my memories are fuzzy here. Thalans/Korath/Kyrnn got too much of my attention.
If you're right and it's just the custom race using their tech tree...then it wouldn't be the only custom race using a tech tree that has oddities. Custom race Thalan tree has the ability to start with Industrial Revolution and have standard factories after all...
I swear that the game deliberately gives the Thalans either a +100% or +300% bonus tile every frickin' time. Oh well, at least there's a steady supply of soldiers...
Yeah, and any player who'd do that also has rocks in their head. ~walks away quickly to delete his game where he accidentally placed it on the food tile~. You know, you get used to placing factories/morale/labs etc on those farm tiles on purpose, you often forget that the building has a food bonus attached to it as well.