Agreed, a cockroach can't survive on Mars anywhere as far as we know. It needs oxygen. For the most part the sorts of creatures we can expect on Mars are lichens, green algae microbial films.
There are also some tiny millimeter scale multicellular "animals" that can survive without oxygen, and a few worm like creatures that can manage with hardly any oxygen. So maybe there could be animals of some type on Mars as well, but our insects couldn't survive there.
This polar lichen photosynthesized and metabolized normally through 34 days of simulated Mars - duration of experiment (credit DLR)
discovery in 2010 of multicellular creatures living without oxygen (more details from the researchers)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil...
a species of Loricifera, live in anoxic conditions, and make no use of oxygen at any stage in their life cycle. They rely on hydrogenosomes in the place of mitochondria.
Of course - that doesn 't rule out the possibility of some habitat with more oxygen, say in a cave below the surface or whatever. We are nowhere near the point where we can say we understand Mars completely, what habitats exist there. But - it would have to be isolated from the surface to have significant amounts of oxygen, because otherwise it would just be lost to the atmosphere, the near vacuum which is the "atmosphere" of Mars. Water on Mars also could perhaps have oxygen in it. Maybe enough for some aerobes? But it would be a little surprising to find a habitat that a cockroach could survive in on Mars, even in caves.
Might there be Microbes on the Surface of Mars?
How Life May Exist On Mars With Atmosphere Close To Equilibrium
And the sorts of places we might look for life there:
Where To Search On Mars For Droplets, & Shallow Flows Of Liquid Water - Where Microbial Life May Flourish
Will We Meet ET Microbes On Mars? Why We Should Care Deeply About Them - Like Tigers
There are also some tiny millimeter scale multicellular "animals" that can survive without oxygen, and a few worm like creatures that can manage with hardly any oxygen. So maybe there could be animals of some type on Mars as well, but our insects couldn't survive there.
This polar lichen photosynthesized and metabolized normally through 34 days of simulated Mars - duration of experiment (credit DLR)
discovery in 2010 of multicellular creatures living without oxygen (more details from the researchers)
a species of Loricifera, live in anoxic conditions, and make no use of oxygen at any stage in their life cycle. They rely on hydrogenosomes in the place of mitochondria.
Of course - that doesn 't rule out the possibility of some habitat with more oxygen, say in a cave below the surface or whatever. We are nowhere near the point where we can say we understand Mars completely, what habitats exist there. But - it would have to be isolated from the surface to have significant amounts of oxygen, because otherwise it would just be lost to the atmosphere, the near vacuum which is the "atmosphere" of Mars. Water on Mars also could perhaps have oxygen in it. Maybe enough for some aerobes? But it would be a little surprising to find a habitat that a cockroach could survive in on Mars, even in caves.
Might there be Microbes on the Surface of Mars?
How Life May Exist On Mars With Atmosphere Close To Equilibrium
And the sorts of places we might look for life there:
Where To Search On Mars For Droplets, & Shallow Flows Of Liquid Water - Where Microbial Life May Flourish
Will We Meet ET Microbes On Mars? Why We Should Care Deeply About Them - Like Tigers
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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