Before I begin, a disclaimer: I am not qualified to make any decisions or statements regarding the topic of any genetic disparities between Petravian humans and Terran humans. This is merely the result of myself applying information I have come to possess to the topics to be discussed.

That being said, please enjoy my educated yet harebrained conjecture. Oh and if any qualified individuals happen to read this, please correct me if you find any issues.

To start, let's lay down some foundational ideas. Much of the conjecture in this post will be based on the development of modern humans from the events that took place between Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthalensis. I will be using this information to draw hypotheses about whether or not Petravians could be considered Homo Sapiens. Of course, this isn't canon, unless our gracious author wants it to be :).

Alright, let's actually start, shall we?

For simplicity's sake, I'll be referring to Earth-born humans as Terrans, and Petravian humans as, well, Petravians. I will occasionally use other terms, but they'll be rather obvious.

It's been implied that Terrans and Petravians look, on the surface level, quite similar, if not identical. This is not true when we go deeper, as is stated by the large difference between native levels of things like oxygen, and the shape of their blood cells.

Now let's take a look at Neanderthalensis and see if we can draw any hypotheses. Both Sapiens and Neanderthals are quite similar, but they have several differences that assign them to different species.

First and foremost, their physiology. They were larger than Sapiens. Their bodies were much more adapted to cold environments, and were also physically stronger. If a Sapien and Neanderthal were to fight hand-to-hand, the Neaderthal would win. This allowed them to hunt up close, which is evidenced by damage to skeletons. Sapiens, on the other hand, either hunted smaller prey, or used ranged weapons such as the atlatl.

These differences are seemingly not present in Terrans and Petravians. It's been stated that the reason Petravians are physically stronger is due to magical saturation.

Second and less foremost, are the behavioral differences between Sapiens and Neanderthals. Evidence states that Neanderthals had less developed frontal and parietal lobes, while having much more developed occipital lobes. This is allegedly what led them to have smaller groups, and by extension, a smaller spread of ideas. This is supported by tools made by both groups. While Sapien communities advanced, Neanderthal family units stagnated.

These differences are also not present in Terrans and Petravians, though we don't know what Petravian brains look like. So while they could have dissimilar brains, their social behavior does not indicate it from that angle.

Finally, there is one thing that would be the nail in the coffin for whether or not Terrans and Petravians are the same species.

Are Petravians from Earth?

That question might be strange, but it would be the nail in the coffin, without a doubt. Did a group of ancient hominids somehow make the journey to the other world? If they did, then Petravians are at the very least related, at which point interbreeding could be considered; it happened with Sapiens and Neanderthals.

However, if Petravians had their start in the other world, then they are without a doubt, not only a different species, but also of a different genus and potentially a different family or even order. Convergent evolution does not usually indicate relatedness.

In conclusion... uhh... idk this is a late night rant what do you want from me? Some kind of hypothesis? Alright fine, I won't just give you a hypothesis, I'll give you a thesis statement!

Petravians are not related to Homo Sapiens; they are an example of convergent evolution.

We don't know how their world came to be, and while their history has been mentioned, their prehistory has not been mentioned. It is due to that, that we do not know for sure how any life in that world came to be.

Call this a fan theory or something. I'm tired; I don't even know if this is coherent. But hey, it's out of my system now.

(PS: Either I'm a forgetful idiot, or there hasn't been a name for the world itself mentioned. I'm pretty sure Petravus is just a country. If I am an idiot, someone please correct me so I can edit the post with a proper name instead of "Petravians". I suppose I could also call them "other-worlders" but that's too long imo.)

TLDR: Poorly written fan theory. Also a good counter to this is "because magic", though I'm not sure what that means for this.