Space & Astronomy

Unusual 'leopard-spot' rocks on Mars hint at ancient life

By T.K. Randall
September 10, 2025

Image: Rock With 'Leopard Spots'
Credit: (PD) NASA/JPL-Caltech Somewhere in a dusty river bed on the surface of Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover recently discovered a series of strange rocks that could hold the key to the planet's past.

Nicknamed 'leopard spots' and 'poppy seeds', these intriguing rocks are peppered with minerals that scientists now believe could be associated with microbes that lived on Mars millions of years ago.

Although there is still a chance that these features could be geological, rather than biological in origin, they remain significant enough to warrant further investigation."We've not had something like this before, so I think that's the big deal," said Prof Sanjeev Gupta of Imperial College London.

"We have found features in the rocks that if you saw them on Earth could be explained by biology - by microbial process. So we're not saying that we found life, but we're saying that it really gives us something to chase."

If these rocks do contain evidence of ancient life on Mars, it would be one of the most important discoveries in human history.

Actually confirming that this is the case, however, is likely to represent quite the challenge.

Source: BBC News

Tags: Mars