5 ms·

mushrooms feed on organic matter so plants would have to be there first. And even with lots of food and water they dont grow several meters a day.

• ultraklempo 5y ago
  Not quite true, there are some rock-eating fungi. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/iron-eating-fungus-disintegrates-rocks-acid-and-cellular-knives https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/iron-eating-fungus-d...
  • jtms 5y ago
    interesting - didn't know this! Well I think we can confirm there are plenty of rocks on Mars.
  • sampo 5y ago
    Also fungi that "feed" on ionizing radiation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus
• jtms 5y ago
  These are all statements that are true of earth fungi, but we have no idea what is possible with a hypothetical martian "fungi".
• freshair 5y ago
  When we're talking about potential alien lifeforms, assumptions like "fungus eat plants" need to be loosely held. This may not be fungi as we know it at all, but rather an alien analogue that fills a similar role despite having completely different origins. On earth, we know that evolutionary forces can "recreate" similar organisms independently. The same could be true between earth and alien worlds. Ichthyosaurs and Dolphins have a lot in common but aren't related [by earth standards]. Maybe there are comparable similarities between life on different worlds.
  • rasputnik6502 5y ago
    Ok, makes sense - if there really is some life form on Mars then it's rather a humble mushroom than a xenomorph.