re: 4 billion years of evolution to fit Earth. This IS Man's colony.
You forget, man has left, spread out, and adapted from the original environment he started in.
The cold, harsh, ice age climate of Europe was not suitable for man so he learned and adapted. In the process, it made him smarter and tougher.
That is what Mars will do to man. Man will adapt, become smarter and tougher.
It will probably be a Martian that designs the first FTL engine.
It won’t be this generation that settles Mars. It will be one with more knowledge, vision and courage than what we see now.