Webbed feet, cat’s eyes and gills: How humans could evolve in a wetter world

GILLS, webbed feet and cat’s eyes are just some of the features we could develop in the future, a scientist claims today.

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

Dr Matthew Skinner, a paleoanthropologist 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’, Dr 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, Dr Skinner said that our skin could become much paler to help us produce more vitamin D from less sunlight, we would have more body hair, and would develop more muscular physique.

Our noses and faces would become bigger to help warm inhaled cold air in the nasopharynx, the area behind the nose.

And if we were to colonise other worlds, the body could evolve to have longer arms and shorter legs, similar to orangutans, as walking is not as easy in low gravity.

We could develop opposable big toes as our feet become more useful for gripping things in low gravity. Humans may also reduce in size, thanks to a lack of predators in outer space.

Dr Skinner produced his predictions as the new series of science fiction drama Extant is launched on the Syfy Channel this week.