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Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

This is all assuming we one day decide to seed life off worlds, although 'Life on Mars' sub section does have a lot of fringe topics, this is not a SETI thread or Ufology thread. A new story of Noah's Ark for Cave creatures? If we 3-d printed large scale structures it is possible plants and other animals could live inside, maybe even a Biodome could be set up where fish animals swim out to a Bidome lake, a flying creature can go in and out of caves like bats or some engineered selective breed of Cave Swallows which help natural pest control on Earth. Birds will be difficult to send to Mars as they can not drink in zero G but they offer good service, Chickens make eggs and Swallows devour flying insects and then they could fly back into some Cave within Mars, and then back out to the Sea or Lake as Salmon or other animals migrate. Cave Swallows are not just found in the USA or Mexico but also Greater Antilles s a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. Troglobites are much different to Earth's surface creatures which hop in and out of caves or holes or are adapted to digging through dirt and living in burrows.  The alien cave eco-system established with Algae transformed into fuel and foods might be the foundation for future colonization. The future alien creature of Mars known as a Troglophile is able to live almost its entire life in a cave. Some Troglobites on Earth have evolved over time and typically have evolutionary adaptations to caves, lava tube life etc. Examples adaptation include slower metabolism, reduced energy consumption, better food usage efficiency, decrease or loss of eyesight anophthalmia, and depigmentation absence of pigment in the integument. Conversely, as opposed to lost or reduced functions, many species have evolved elongated antennal and locomotory appendages, have better senses or evolution in order to better move around and respond to environmental stimuli.

Since this post is in the more care-free alien speculation part of the newmars but it isn't about aliens I thought I might add the name of a group I found in old discussions Mars Exploreers Club
https://web.archive.org/web/20040603235 … about.html

Mars has incredible landscapes for the explorer. Mountaineering, polar, caving and desert expeditions and descents into some of the most expansive canyons in the Solar System all wait for future explorers. Its ice caps are as large as Antarctica and its extinct volcanoes higher than Mount Everest. Although the planet is smaller than the Earth, its total land area for exploration is equal to the area of the Earth's continents combined because it has no oceans. Mars is the only planet in our Solar System that has environments analogous to those on Earth that will one day be host to epic human expeditions. The Association of Mars Explorers is an association for explorers of Mars or the Mars-analog environments on Earth. It has members from across the world, including the US, Australia, Europe, Asia and South America. In the Association they can share and discuss their experiences - scientific, logistic and human factors - with those who have similar experiences. The Association holds a dinner once every two years.

Re-seeding offworld planets with extinct Earth plant and animal species? Extinct creatures could one day be reborn offworld? Mars will have longer summers and longer winters, its length of day 24.62 hours, on Earth the Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythmicity is inside the sleeping and feeding patterns of animals, including human beings. There are also clear Animal Circadian patterns of core body temperature, brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and other biological activities Totally blind subterranean mammals such as the blind mole rat can maintain their endogenous clocks in the apparent absence of external stimuli.  The North American genus of  cicadas insect Cicadoidea Magicicada breed of cicadas spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location, most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts 2–5 years, the Martian natural cycle is almost two full Earth years 687 Earth days, perhaps the Cicada insect will be one of the first to naturally fit into the cycle of Mars. It is possible your natural animal clock might switch both on and off, the Norwegian researchers  have shown that some Arctic animals show circadian rhythms only in the parts of the year that have daily sunrises and sunsets and in one study animals at 70 degrees North showed circadian rhythms in the autumn, winter and spring, but not in the summer.

Insects or Bird or Bat and or other creature might become very important for the new life cycle inside the Biosphere farms and space farms and Mars Biodome. Some selected species could be troublesome, the Salamanders or Bees could have their own troublesome venom or toxin, the Salamander a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, the family Salamandridae are mostly known as newts adult newts have lizard-like bodies and return to the water every year to breed, otherwise living in humid, cover-rich land habitats, it is possible all creature selected for Mars will be non toxic non venomous to prevent allergic reaction with human colonists, Bats are known to spread disease among human. On Mars perhaps the new alien animals seeded on the new world will simply adapt, perhaps even a wild area will be allowed for some insect or animal to find its own natural way, other foods will be strictly monitored and grown and controlled, the new mushrooms could be important, they are rich in copper. They might be selected to have even more natural antioxidant properties, copper helps our cells properly utilize iron for red blood cell production, and it helps our cells create the fuel that keeps both animal and human feeling energetic.
Bio-fuels?
'Combining onion juice and bacteria to produce power.' https://arstechnica.com/science/2009/08 … uel-cells/
Many of the regions on Mars might be run by A.I Robot Farms
'Vertical farming: Why stacking crops high could be the future of agriculture'
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/wh … l-farming/
Onions of Mars may have several health benefits, mostly due to their high content of antioxidants and sulfur-containing compounds. The mushroom would also give B vitamins such as niacin and riboflavin,  study of Onion been linked to a reduced risk of cancer, lower blood sugar levels, and improved bone health and better heart.
With a longer year does Mars need animal of a longer life cycle?
Old animals may go to Mars? 'Meet 5 remarkably old animals, from a Greenland shark to a featherless, seafaring cockatoo'
https://blog.csiro.au/remarkably-old-animals/

Some animals can live to a startlingly old age, from the famous 392-year-old “Greenland shark” to a 190-year-old tortoise in the Seychelles. Two science studies published last week brings us closer to understanding why some animal species can live for so long – far longer than humans.

The animals selected for Mars might travel from the cave out into the farm land of the Biodome and back into the cave once more. With a sustainable colony maybe what Mars will need is good Recipe Suggestions?
Some types of Rodent, Spider Arthropods or Insect or Eastern Newts could provide morale as 'pets', a new Martain folk religion might form with significant influence the death rites of pets, their cycle back into the Soil as new food for plants and their memorialization thereafter, perhaps people will visit the animals of Mars like a Circus or Zoo and the life of the Mars animal also giving colonists some companionship to keep them occupied during down time?

Animals of Earth gone Extinct

Eelgrass Limpet
https://centerforsurfresearch.org/extin … n-animals/
This was a unique sea snail species, which used to fill vast parts of the western Atlantic ocean.
The interesting thing about the Eelgrass limpet is that it exclusively fed on eelgrass, a unique form of seagrass.
Unfortunately, the eelgrass distribution and population began dying off during the 1930s, which meant despair for the eelgrass limpet.
In the last 100 years, a very similar Chinese sea species known as the Littoraria flammea also disappeared.
Dunkleosteus
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/extin … atures.htm
Call the Dunkleosteus a nasty brute. Call it ugly. Even call it old-fashioned. Just don't call it a picky eater or late to dinner.
This powerful placoderm fish subsisted on just about anything it could get its mitts on: Sharks, fish and even other members of his or her own clan. Without actual teeth, the hungry fish used two long blades to snap and crush its prey. The Dunkleosteus apparently had no problem tracking down its meals, thanks to an enormous frame, speedy swimming and mighty jaw. However it seemed to suffer often from indigestion, not surprisingly
Animal and plant species declared extinct between 2010 and 2019. The disappearance of 160 species has been declared by the IUCN over the last decade: most had been gone for a long time and their demise can be traced in large part to human impact. The full list of extinct species. Much like death, extinction is part of life, an inevitable, natural phenomenon that has occurred cyclically throughout our planet’s history. Approximately 99 per cent of species that have walked the Earth are now extinct, having disappeared because of changes in the environment or the appearance of new ones, leading to a constant turnover. The rate of extinction, however, has never been as high as it is today.
https://www.lifegate.com/extinct-specie … -2010-2019

Animal and plant species declared extinct between 2010 and 2019, the full list

In 2009 the Australian government launched a plan to capture the remaining bats of Christmas Island pipistrelle to raise them in captivity and avoid extinction, but only one specimen was found
Calathus extensicollis (Pico ground beetle)
This large ground beetle was native to the high-altitude forests on Pico Island, in the Azores archipelago. Over 150 years have passed since the last sighting and the IUCN declared the species extinct in 2018.
Galba vancouverensis
This freshwater snail lived on Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands in Washington state, in the US. Scientists lost track of it in 1939 – it probably disappeared due to pollution and the expansion of human activities. The IUCN declared it extinct in 2017.
Geonemertes rodericana
This worm was seen just once in 1918 in the rainforests of Rodrigues island, Mauritius. Its habitat was razed to the ground for agricultural purposes, causing its extinction, which was made official by the IUCN in 2014.
Pacifastacus nigrescens (Sooty crayfish)
This crustacean belonging to the Astacidae family lived only in waterways around San Francisco Bay, in the US. It was described in 1857 but wasn’t sighted throughout the whole of the 20th century. Its decline has been linked to the arrival of invasive fish species and urban development in the Bay Area. The species was declared extinct in 2010.

In the future we might have satellites orbiting Lagrange point, warning and giving info on Solar Storms, the Sun activity warnings could be broadcast to a Mars colony. Perhaps some smarter animal could be trained to warn themselves, some animals might not need as much warning as others for example type of Mole, Rabbit or Bee or Ant inside its own shelter might not need protection.  To instruct animals to make shelter sounds of a thunder storm, or 'flash' or high pitched noise could be sent out in your Mars BioDome warning your animals to take shelter under a tree real or artificial, hide in some cave, a robotic blanket might cover your dome and shield it or some physical shield like Origami unfolds and protects your Dome from Storms and Radiation.

Inside your cave the Troglofauna are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings, it is possible we might selective breed creatures for off world, maybe have some kind of half animal half robot cyborg or resurrect past species trhough cloning and genetic engineering or DNA modification. Troglofauna have adapted to the limited food supply and are extremely energy efficient, food is found from cave guests,  cave foods for animal and plant is found from trogloxene carcasses, egg deposits, and faeces such as bat guano. Troglofauna and stygofauna are the two types of different subterranean fauna. Both associated with caves or subterranean environments – troglofauna are associated with caves and spaces above the water table and stygofauna with water. Troglofauna insects may evolve from other insects that once needed to fly, their evolution may exhibit a lack of wings and longer appendages. Trogloxenes are cave guests, perhaps on Mars the alien species only occurring sporadically in an underground habitat and unable to establish a subterranean population.  Troglofauna enjoy enviornments that surface creatures which visit a cave do not enjoy, the Troglofauna often thrive in a humid environment
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/ … -text.html
The above link is dead but it can be found in archive

Cave creatures live buried alive. Troglobites—the technical name for these millipedes, spiders, worms, blind salamanders, and eyeless fish—are made to navigate, mate, and kill amid perpetual darkness, desperate starvation, poison gases, and endless labyrinths of stone. Evolved in isolation and unable to disperse, species often consist of just a handful of individuals in one cave, or one room of one cave. Their existence raises many questions. How did they get there, and when? How do they survive—and how much longer can they hang on? Increasingly, many are threatened by pollution, quarrying, and vandalism. Ultimately, they are connected to a surface ever more populated, and penetrated, by us. They are the wildest canaries in the coal mine.

Meet the elusive troglobites, cave-dwelling creatures that navigate without eyes, go for weeks or months without food, and can live for more than a century.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-07-29 04:08:08)

tahanson43206

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Registered: 2018-04-27

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Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

For Mars_B4_Moon

Best wishes for success with this interesting new topic!

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

Troglobionts In the Dark
https://www.npca.org/articles/991-in-the-dark
Cave biologists spotlight the most obvious adaptations by distinguishing among three types of cave animals

World’s largest, heaviest cave fish found in state
https://theshillongtimes.com/2020/02/13 … -in-state/

New Delhi: After discovering several new species of frogs, reptiles and bats, scientists have now found the largest and heaviest subterranean fish in one of the caves in Meghalaya.
There are about 250 species of subterranean fish known on Earth, eking out a living in a world of permanent dark and scant food. They are usually small, generally a few inches long, since there’s usually little food or prey to eat.
Interestingly, like most other troglobites (an animal species or population of a species strictly bound to underground habitats such as caves), the creature is basically blind and eyeless though it apparently has some ability to sense light. But the discovered a cave fish is much bigger — growing to nearly a foot and half in length and weighing about 10 times more than any known species.
Locals have reported occasionally seeing the newfound fish in Chympe cave in Jaintia Hills, where waterfalls cascade into a subterranean pool.

Extremophiles: The Most Extreme Life Forms on Earth
https://kidsdiscover.com/teacherresourc … rms-earth/

Extremophiles live where no other life can, under conditions generally considered fatal by the rest of us. They are typically microscopic organisms such as bacteria. Take, for example, the sci-fi sounding “Strain 121.” This iron-slurping microbe holds the world’s “hottest habitat” record. Discovered in 2003, it thrives at 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit), on a volcanic vent on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Yellowstone’s hot springs get their color from extremophiles like metallosphaera, which uses iron for energy and can live in conditions that are not only extremely hot, but also so acidic they approach battery acid. Yellowstone’s extremophiles were some of the first ones discovered and studied.

At the other end of the temperature spectrum is the bacteria found living in a frigid, briny lake trapped under 60 feet of Antarctic ice. No light. No oxygen. Temperature of 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Ron Oremland told me that he thinks his Searles lake extremophile holds a special place among these extra-special organisms, because it survives under such a variety of typically fatal conditions: extreme arsenic content, extreme salinity, extreme pH. He calls SLAR-1 a “poly-extremophile.”

Whether they thrive with a multitude lethal conditions, or just one, I find extremophiles fascinating. First, there is the “wow” factor. But in a larger context, extremophiles provide thought a provoking challenge of the notion of life as we know it. For example, since some can live without oxygen or light, they may give us a glimpse into the earliest life on Earth, back when our home sweet home was not quite so sweet.
But perhaps even more intriguing is the notion of extremophiles as aliens. After all, if extremophiles can live in Earth’s most hostile environments, why not other places in our solar system?

In fact, NASA scientists spend a lot of time thinking about extremophiles. Could extremophiles persist on Mars, where there is strong evidence that water once flowed across the planet’s surface? Or Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, where it seems there may be an ocean under the moon’s frozen white surface. And maybe, just maybe, our idea of normal “life” needs some re-thinking. I like this quote from NASA expert Richard Hoover: “If these organisms could talk, many of them would probably consider humans as extremophiles because they aren’t killed by all this “toxic” oxygen that we breathe every instant!”

Activity: The Hunt for Extremophiles
Have students select an extreme environment on Earth, like Yellowstone, sea floor volcanic vents, Antarctica, or one of the candidate solar system bodies such as Enceladus, Mars, Earth’s moon, or Europa.

Fun Animal Quizzes

Living in the Dark
https://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/A … 60164.html

Cave-dwelling gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Brazil: state of the art and conservation
https://www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/8JCzCqhb6fDp7Vx3XLqbZ7b/

Scientific Cave Maps, up-to-date list of exclusively cave-dwelling gastropod species recorded in Brazil

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-08-02 03:16:05)

Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

Caves Offer Temperate Hope for Future Moon Exploration

https://eos.org/articles/caves-offer-te … xploration

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

Zinc battery made with crab shells safely degrades and recycles. Scientists have sourced chitosan from crab and shrimp shells for use in a more environmentally friendly battery.
https://newatlas.com/energy/zinc-batter … -recycles/

California 'Hell Hole' Caving Video Terrifies the Internet: 'Nope'
https://www.newsweek.com/viral-video-he … ic-1714748

Extremely Rare and Interesting Subterranean Species: Understanding Troglobites
https://worldofcaves.com/extremely-rare … oglobites/

Today, troglobites are a hotly debated topic. Many people want to know more about them and their mysterious lives below the surface of our world. Troglobites are fascinating creatures that live in caves or other subterranean environments for part or all of their life cycles, due to environmental conditions such as lack of light (troglo) and extreme heat (batesian).

Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

Robo troglodytes those AI Robotic Spelunking Troglodytae

University of Arizona engineers have developed a system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts - robotic exploration of caves on Mars and beyond

https://news.arizona.edu/story/hansel-a … and-beyond

"Lava tubes and caves would make perfect habitats for astronauts because you don't have to build a structure; you are shielded from harmful cosmic radiation, so all you need to do is make it pretty and cozy," said Wolfgang Fink, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UArizona.

Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

Man trapped 3,400ft inside cave shares emotional video after being 'close to edge'
https://www.ladbible.com/news/world-new … 1-20230908

Complex cave rescue looms in Turkey as American Mark Dickey stuck 3,200 feet inside Morca cave
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-cav … orca-cave/

Lessons from the Animal Kingdom

Troglobionts (or troglobites): species, or populations of species, strictly bound to subterranean habitats. Troglophiles: species living mainly aboveground but also in subterranean habitats. These are further divided into eutroglophiles (aboveground species also able to maintain a permanent subterranean population) and subtroglophiles (species inclined to perpetually or temporarily inhabit a subterranean habitat, but strongly associated with aboveground habitats for some functions). Trogloxenes: species only occurring sporadically in an underground habitat and unable to establish a subterranean population.

'THE ORIGIN OF TROGLOBITES'

https://web.archive.org/web/20110720235 … 33-141.pdf

Biospelaeologists have long appreciated the importance of the majorclimatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene in initiating troglobite
speciation. Caves of the temperate zones have served as refugia forancestors of troglobites against the climatic vicissitudes of the Pleisto
cene (Barr, 1968). The ancestral species were in many cases cryophilic, becoming widespread in taiga-like forests which bordered advancingcontinental glaciers (Jeannel, 1923), but becoming extinct or surviving in caves as the glaciers retreated and the climate of the cave regions became warmer and drier (Barr, 1968). Holdhaus (1933) and Vandel
(1958, 1965) have documented much of the evidence that the presentdistribution of European cave faunas reflects the influence of Pleistocene glaciations.
Barr (1968) points out that elements of the North American cave fauna are thermophilic relicts dating from warm interglacial or pre-
Pleistocene periods. Almost all biospclaeologists now accept that climatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene led to elements of warm- or cold- adapted communities becoming stranded in the protective environment of caves as their community retreated from an increasingly adverse
surface climate.

To survive in an environment where food is scarce and oxygen levels are low, troglofauna often have very low metabolism. As a result, troglofauna may live longer than other terrestrial species.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-09-08 05:19:00)

Mars_B4_Moon

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Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Astrobio:Troglobite & Troglophiles for Mars, the Moon, Titan, Europa

There was also discussion in a Goats of Mars topic I posted with other discussion, Spiders, Mice of Mars. A colony and Biosphere with the Aquaponics food market, later a nature reserve with a series of selected and bred animals based on Arctic Fox or Sand Cats for the new Biodome ecosystem, the meat eater predator keeps the Herbivore population in check and also healthy by hunting the old and the sick.

'Wrens' going into caves might be troglophiles? Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly known simply as the "wren", as it is the originator of the name. The name wren has been applied to other, unrelated birds, particularly the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) and the Australian wrens (Maluridae), maybe cloned or transported by Egg no longer in Zero-G but Artificial Gravity wheel? the Birds Unable to Swallow in Space Stations?

A small Wren can go inside a cave to hunt for insects but mostly lives outside in the open the name is a German scientific reference to the cave-like domed nests it builds and its habit of staying concealed in the undergrowth, bats and cave swallows are more suited to the life of Caves.

The Cave Swallow will need mud for the nest, number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants they avoid winter and move North to South for the seasons so a system would be set up so they can transport from one region of Mars to another during the long winter; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory.

'Cliff Swallows gathering mud'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb05TIh2_go

Extremely Rare and Interesting Subterranean Species: Understanding Troglobites
https://worldofcaves.com/extremely-rare … oglobites/

6 Strange Cave Dwellers – The Troglobites
https://www.lazerhorse.org/2016/03/20/t … -dwellers/

'Mark Dickey speaks out about rescue from Turkish cave l GMA'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsPicsmCib0

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-09-23 05:23:55)