Each clue indicates a word that has an animal word as a substring. Put the baby version of each animal in the nearby blanks, and extract the letter indicated by an asterisk:
Sisko's rank, for the first few seasons: COMMANDER > MAN > BOY
Things that spin around real fast and pick up houses and drop them on witches: TORNADOES > DOE > FAWN
Mean look that rhymes with "bowel": SCOWL > COW > CALF (If you try "owl" > "owlet," you won't have enough spaces!)
Point at something; or activate your turning signal; or, if you're an actor, do a lousy job of conveying real emotion: INDICATE > CAT > KITTEN
Country where Mma Ramotswe solves crimes and drinks bush tea: BOTSWANA > SWAN > CYGNET
Works by pseudo-Eratosthenes, or pseudo-Apollonius, or pseudo-Aquinas, or Hermes Trismegistus: PSEUDEPIGRAPHA > PIG > PIGLET
The extracted letters spell the non-thematic answer, OFFICE.