Could mice discovered on the peaks of the Andes survive on the surface of the planet Mars? 
Tristan Bergen Oct 27, 2023 9:00 a.m. 5 min
A team of researchers recently found out mummified remains of mice on the summit of the Puna de Atacama volcanoes in Chile and Argentina, the environment on Earth, which is closer to that of the planet Mars. A discovery that challenges our beliefs about the survival of this mammal species.
Researchers believed it was impossible for mammals to survive under these conditions.
The peaks of the Puna de Atacama volcanoes between Chile and Argentina are among the highest in the world Conditions that are not conducive to lifee. Lack of oxygen, extreme temperatures and weather conditions or even the risk of volcanic eruptions, there are many parameters that prompt these sectors to be observed very few living things, whether animals or plants.
Generally, flora and fauna are found around the watering holes 4,000 mAt these altitudes the conditions are much milder, so life can actually develop there. These are above too extreme so that a complex life form like mammals can really survive there, At least that’s what the scientists thought.
However, during a recent expedition that involved climbing more than twenty peaks, including 18 at an altitude of over 6000m, biologists at the University of Nebraska have made a completely unexpected discovery. They actually discovered it 13 mice mummified at more than 6000 m altitude Some of these are accompanied by skeletal remains of other congeners.
Researchers were able to find 13 mummified leaf-eared mice from several volcanic peaks in the Andes. Read to find out more. #Science #STEM #Artificial intelligence #Astrophysics #climatechange
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— ScienceTimes (@ScienceTimesCom) October 24, 2023
The first was discovered on the summit of the Salín volcano in Argentina, and seven others quickly followed nearby. Of the 21 peaks examined so far, the researchers managed to identify a total of 13 mice. some are a few decades old and others are over 350 years old. It is a leaf-eared species, Phylottis vaccarum, although it is known to thrive at much lower elevations in the region.
Could these mice survive on Mars?
This unexpected discovery quickly led scientists to ask deeper questions about these mice, particularly regarding their ability to survive in such an environment. Indeed, the very inhospitable environment in which they were discovered is very close to that on the surface of Mars.
This is particularly related to this the thin atmosphere, low oxygen levels and sub-freezing temperatures They dominate these peaks of the Andes and, to this day, are the terrestrial environment most similar to that of our neighboring planet. Several expeditions were also undertaken there to train certain candidates of the commercial astronaut program PoSSUM and a candidate of the MARS ONE projectUX conditions on the Red Planet so that they can head to Mars in the next ten years.
I wonder if these mice could actually survive on the Red Planet is therefore legitimate because they made it, at least temporarily, on Earth under very similar conditions. It would therefore be interesting to try the experiment with some specimens of this species as part of a future human expedition to Mars.
Despite everything, scientists are still trying to understand it how these mice managed to live in this barren and rocky world, dominated by ice and snow. How can they withstand temperatures that never exceed 0°C and where oxygen levels are well below normal? DThe work of the researchers who made this important discovery is still ongoing and answers are sure to be provided in the coming months.