Paleoanthropologist Matthew Skinner of the University of Kent stated that the human body can acquire limbs with developed membranes (like in aquatic animals) and a thick layer of adipose tissue (like in seals). According to The Telegraph, the scientist made his prediction in the latest issue of the Extant series.
New features can develop in humans during evolution and become a response to rising global sea levels. The appearance of membranes (skin between the fingers of animals moving in water) and a reduction in the hairline will allow, in particular, to move faster on the water.
Skinner predicts lengthening of the limbs (and their evolution into membranous limbs), like in ducks, and a decrease in lung volume (for comfortable underwater). Human eyes will begin to resemble feline vision organs (in order to better see in muddy water).
The membranes will provide a greater area of contact between the limbs and water, and a new layer of tissue, the tapetum, may appear behind the retina, which will allow people to see better in low light conditions. In addition, the person will have more fatty tissue (for keeping warm in cold water).
The rise in sea level can be caused by the melting of glaciers, arising, in particular, due to anthropogenic factors (for example, the emission of greenhouse gases). As a result, the natural habitat of man will not be land, as it is now, but sea areas.
Evolution of men.
Evolution of a woman.
As an alternative scenario, Skinner called the man of the future, who developed from the present after a large asteroid fell to Earth. The catastrophe will lead to the immersion of the planet in a new ice age, as a result of which the permeability of the atmosphere to sunlight will decrease.
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Lack of radiation from the luminary will lead to lightening of human skin and hair (for better absorption of vitamin D). The nose and face as a whole will increase (for better warming of cold air), as well as the amount of hair and body size of people (for heating in cold conditions).
On the contrary, a person living on Mars, according to Skinner, should decrease in size. This is due to the lack of natural competitors and a decrease in the need for physical activity. According to the scientist, human jaws will evolve the fastest (decrease), and teeth will disappear altogether.
The latter is associated with the practice of heat treatment of food and the use of ready-made products. "In theory, we could look like newborns, whose mouths are only meant to swallow, but have a large brain," concluded Skinner.
