Evolutionary tweaks await humans, scientist claims

LONDON: Gills, webbed feet and cat’s eyes are just some of the features we could develop in the future, a scientist has claimed.

Experts calculated how the human body could change to adapt to three possible scenarios in a “water world” caused by rising sea levels; another ice age; and humans colonising another planet.

Dr Matthew Skinner, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Kent who examined the potential future environments, said some changes – such as webbed feet – could take place very quickly as some people already have a genetic mutation that produces webbing.

But other changes to allow humans to live in extreme conditions might only take place over hundreds of generations of natural selection, or require genetic engineering.

To adapt to a “water world”, Skinner predicted that humans would develop webbed hands and feet to help us swim. Regular foraging in shallow waters could also lead us to develop gills to help us breathe.

An additional layer in the retina – which cats have – would help us see in poor light under water. We might also evolve an extra translucent eyelid to protect our eyes when submerged.

If a meteor strike ushered in a new ice age, Skinner said our skin could become much paler to produce more vitamin D from less sunlight, we would have more body hair and be more muscular. – Daily Mail