Martian evolution

Mars and human evolution.

It's fun to think about humanity settling on other planets, outposts of familiar homo sapiens spread among the stars.
But there may be nothing at all familiar about these distant future space farers.
Human populations on othere plantes may evolve into things that look nothing like humans as we know them.
And it will start with mars.

Humans may not become interstellar species but we for sure will take a shot at becoming interplanetary.
Unless humanity manages to self-destruct.
Perhaps soon, or prehaps in the far future we will try to colonize Mars.
The challenges for the first few generations of colonists will be hard, but if those challenges are met, we may reach a time when many generations of humans have lived and died on Mars.
Those people will be very different to us.

How will humanity change under the influence of The Red planet?

Will they become a species distinct from Homo sapiens?
Whenever a human population is isolated, characteristic changes to the genotype develop.
Changes like, sets of genes that defy skin pigmentation,height or build, immunities.
The more isolated the group and the more extreme the environment, the quicker the group adapts.

For example

Populations on Tibet have developed genetically coded larger lung capaities and higher hemoglobine production.
The traits developed soon after they moved from China to the Himalayas approximately 3000 years ago.
Mars is way more isolated and extreme.
How will the humans adapt there?
Evolution is blind . It's an emergent effect of mutation and natural selection.
Mutations that improve the function of a gene or add a useful trait are rare but they are more likely to spread over a population.
Natural selection also maintains the traits that we have but if a genetic trait is no longer needed the random mutations will eventually destroy it.

So what kind of traits will get developed on mars or which are more likely to decay?
The Martian environment is very different from earth's.
We will have to terraform Mars, to make it habitable for humans.
Mars has a surface gravity 38% that of earth.
Low gravity requiers less bone and muscle strength, perhaps after generations Martian humans will become way weaker.
We know that the zero G experience in space leads to decreased bone density and muscle mass in astronauts.
Over the years of human life on Mars, this could be a huge health issue.
Another really important issue may be childbirth, a mother's pelvis needs to withstand significant pressure that has nothing to do with the gravitational field.
Brittle bones may greatly increase both infant and maternal mortality.

So will Martian humans become stockier or skinnier?!

Eventually humans will adapt and develop a resistance to the low gravity will adapt and develop a resistance to the low gravity environment.
The low gravity may also affect the height , it takes a lot of effort for our hearts to pump blood from our feet tou our heads.
In low -G, the heart doesn't have to work so hard. So it is less of a disadvantage of being very tall.
A life on low gravity Mars Could be at serious risk for early cardiac problems.
Having some extra height would keep the heart more healthy and more active.

The gravity isn't the only difference between the Earth and Mars.

The lack of a decent atmosphere is not something we can easily evolve to deal with.
Humans will always need some degree of technology , for a survivable air pressure and oxygen level.
But if these technologies aren't perfect or consistent we may see some adaptation.

This is true if we manage to terraform Mars.
Because probably whatever atmosphere we build wont be as thick as Earths.
We might expect future Martians to be incredible endurance athletes.

Mars's thin atmosphere and lack of an ozone layer also means the suface bombarded with hard UV radiation.
It's deadly and requires artificial protection.
Is Mars sterile?
The final really important issue is that Mars is sterile.As far as we know,Mars has no microbes whatsoever.
On Earth the human immune system is constantly being tested exercised, by exposure to Earth's biosphere.
Which contains countless bacteria and viruses.
In an environment absent those pathogens, the genetics that code for immunity will gradually mutate in to uselessness.
Future martians will be highly susceptible to earth diseases.

There will be an inevitable drift between the Marian and Earth populations.When populations of the same animal species are isolated from eachother they drift apart genetically.At first the changes will be just cosmetical, but eventually there will be a drift in function.
And at some point the populations will lose te ability to breed together.
At that point we consider the populations separate species.

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