Martians in Lowell will be non-hominid, but humanoid in general form.  They are of the same taxonomic order as the armadillos, Cingulata, and share many traits with these Earth species. They are native to Mars, but have spread elsewhere in the Solar system, particularly to Mercury, where the gravity and air thickness is much like Mars.

Martians are larger than the earth animals they resemble, and are bipedal. The most striking difference from armadillos is the length of their limbs, which are as long as human limbs, which with their long bodies make them taller than humans. Like armadillos, they have a jointed leathery armor shell. There is a  Cap on their heads, a Cape round their shoulders, four or five Bands across their backs, a Skirt around their hips, and a set of small bands down their tail. Only the back is armored, with the front being covered by fur.

As Martians dye their fur and armor, it seldom shows, but armor runs from bone white to chocolate brown, while the fur ranges from off white to sand color. The fur is thick and warm, and well insulates the Martians from cold, though they have great trouble in heat. The four banded Martians are a distinct sub-species encountered only on Mars. Most Martians are of the five-banded variety.

Martian hands have three fingers, the middle one formed by the fusion of the middle and ring finger bones, and correspondingly longer and much thicker. The thumb is opposable, and thicker than the two side fingers, though not as thick as the middle finger. The feet have four toes, with the fifth toe being vestigial. Both fingers and toes have long, extremely strong digging claws. Martians generally lacquer and sharpen these implements, with more complex and precise painting signifying consequent social rank.

Martians give typically birth to four genetically identical children. These are smaller and more immature at birth than Human babies, and require a warm and comfortable den to survive. Primitive Martians carved these dens from the soil, while civilized Martians build them, furnishing them with every affordable luxury. The Martian children take somewhat longer to develop outside the womb than humans, but by six months are equivalent to a newborn Human.

This four-fold birth is central to the development of Martian culture. Martians ideally marry an entire brood of four to another brood of four, forming a very tight and strong family unit. This family unit is the basis of the Martian Houses, clans of strongly interconnected families. As Houses rise or fall in wealth and status, the families of the House prosper or decline in step. Dens are generally built by the House, not the family, and are available to all families. Most marriages are made by mothers confined for giving birth at the same time. Families have standing within the House, just as Houses have standing with other Houses, but the status of a Family is dependent on performance within the House.

Where the four-fold symmetry is broken by disease or death before marriage, families tend to unravel. Threesomes seek threesomes and pairs seek pairs, but often singletons of various families end up cobbling something together with pairs or triplet survivors. These catch-as-catch-can marriages are held to be extremely unlucky, and are low in status. If death occurs after marriage, however, there is no loss in status, and the surviving triplets remain mated with the relict quad.

Like Humans and armadillos, Martians are subject to Hansen's Disease - leprosy - and lepers are subject to social sanctions.

So that's where the Holiday Armadillo comes from.



Seriously, though; interesting stuff. Looking forward to cultural details.

"DNA testing indicates House XX was definitely responsible for this atrocity...but which one?"
As mutant armadillo source material its great - I had no idea they had the four identical offspring thing going - though I normally prefer my aliens to be more alien.

Quote from: The Butcher;648209So that's where the Holiday Armadillo comes from.



Seriously, though; interesting stuff. Looking forward to cultural details.

Coming!

-clash

In ancient times, as Martian females have four teats, a Fifth child born would be unfed and waste away. Modern Martians may or may not decide to raise the Fifth, but they are considered odd, unfitting, and quirky. They are not considered part of their quad, and must form their own bonds. Many singletons are Fifths.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;648238"DNA testing indicates House XX was definitely responsible for this atrocity...but which one?"
As mutant armadillo source material its great - I had no idea they had the four identical offspring thing going - though I normally prefer my aliens to be more alien.

This is Lowell Was Right - where the core conceit is that the accepted science of about 1880 was correct in all essentials. Thus aliens were in orders like earth animals, and would not be all that different. The alien-ness comes from the culture, not the physical body.

Check it out for yourself clash - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/22/mars-one-project-astronauts?INTCMP=SRCH

Quote from: jibbajibba;648284Check it out for yourself clash - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/22/mars-one-project-astronauts?INTCMP=SRCH

Yeah, I  wish! I'm 56, and even I wouldn't select me for a space trip. :C

Martians, because of their bipedal stance, expose their vulnerable bellies to attack. One of the first inventions their ancestors made were artificial plates for the belly and sometimes chest. Baring one's belly is only done to show trust and intimacy, or to show submission, or to show bravery and contempt for the enemy in combat, depending on circumstances.

-clash

Martians have good vision, unlike armadillos, but their eyes are adapted to dim Martian sunlight, and bright lights can  temporarily blind them. Many wear protective lenses for this reason on other worlds. Martians have an excellent sense of smell and hearing as well.

Lowell Was Right - The Humans of Mars

Starting long before civilizations developed on Earth, and continuing into the early historical period, Martians raided the planet for human slaves. Humans were desired for their great strength and mobility, but the strength was soon lost as the Human children adapted to Martian or Mercurian gravity. Exercising maximized the potential, as Human musculature, skeletal structure, and ligament strength peaked much higher than Martian strength, even in those born on Mars, but the fast evolution always dissipated the potential after a few generations, so that the potential for greater strength was gone.

The raids continued long after a sufficient breeding stock was acquired on Mars and Mercury, in an effort to breed strength back into the species, but the resulting humans always eventually bred back to the same type, and the great strength was lost. After the Martian ecological crisis, when Mars withdrew her ships from spacefaring in order to conserve resources, the raids stopped, and evolution molded the Humans to a new form.

Mars Humans are very tall and slender. Their chests and lungs are larger for efficiency in the thin air, and their eyes are larger and better adapted to dimmer light. Their hands are long, with thin, spidery fingers. Their noses are longer and arched, and their ears are larger and more mobile, able to turn and cup to catch sounds in the thin air of their new homes.

Humans have long ago won their freedom from the Martians, and now live side by side with them. Their societies mirror their Martian models - Human Houses with Human Families, Martian Houses with Human Families, and Human Houses with Martian Families all occur on both Mars and Mercury. Since Humans are not usually born in Quads, their group marriages are artificial - consisting of singletons and the occasional twins. Multiple births are held to be lucky, and are greatly desired. They occur more frequently than on Earth in certain families, as the genetic predisposition to multis is concentrated in a few "lucky" families.

Mars Humans cannot move unaided on Earth or Venus. The marvelous powered exoskeletons that allow Martians and Mars Humans to visit heavy planets are uncomfortable for long periods, and so  they avoid the "Bonecrushers", as they term Earth and Venus.

-clash

I was going to ask about Leprosy. Also do they have a strong tendency to get run over by passing spacecraft? Them and opossums.

Quote from: Silverlion;648574I was going to ask about Leprosy. Also do they have a strong tendency to get run over by passing spacecraft? Them and opossums.

One would think!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;648290Yeah, I  wish! I'm 56, and even I wouldn't select me for a space trip. :C

Actually since it's a one way trip they are actually inviting older folks (like yourself )

From what I can see the whole thing is a PR exercise to launch another Big Brother on us but the blurb basically says the first people will build the infrastructure.

Courser the whole idea is hokem.

They should build a habitat in the south china sea first, then on the dark side of the moon and the whole process is better off being done by more advanced robots using quantum communication, if they can develop it, but where would we be without the dreamers of dreams.

Clash, this is FANTASTIC stuff!! It's far more detailed than a lot of setting writers would bother with, well-thought through and definitely makes me want to play any game set in the universe.

Quote from: jibbajibba;648284Check it out for yourself clash - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/22/mars-one-project-astronauts?INTCMP=SRCH

Interesting article. One thing puzzles me though: towards the end, mention is made of the fact that it would be difficult to impossible for any colonists or voyagers to return to Earth after a while. First I saw the bit about the effects of 38% gravity, which made sense, but then I read this:

"To return, they would need a fully assembled and fuelled rocket capable of escaping the gravitational field of Mars, on-board life support systems capable of up to a seven-month voyage and the capacity either to dock with a space station orbiting Earth or perform a safe re-entry and landing."

Ok, but then how did they get there in the first place?!!