One giant leap for reptiles: Have alien-hunters found a lizard on Mars?

While studying pictures of Mars sent back to Earth by the Curiosity rover, a Japanese alien-enthusiast spotted something between the endless plain of rocks spread out on the screen in front of him. Could it really be? Is that a… lizard?

The answer is almost definitely no, the surface of Mars being on the toxic side to most fauna (decide for yourself – it’s the first image, above). But that undoubted fact hasn’t stopped there being a slew of other “sightings”. The gallery showcases some of our favourites.

Topping the list is the furry spiders from Mars (not David Bowie, ’fraid to say). Then “Martian face”, which looks like a chap buried up to his neck at the beach. The “finger” protruding from the ground is also another one that is either weird or, well, just a pebble. Then we come to the “footprint”, which looks so much like a rock with a light shone on it you wonder if all the enthusiasts need glasses. The final one on our list, and the one that sent a collective chill down the spine of The Independent, is the Martian yeti. Spooky.