This curiosity, currently making its way around the web, snapped by one of the cameras of the Curiosity rover on the surface of the planet Mars has been dubbed the Mars rodent. From this vantage point -- the only one we're offered by the rover -- it does resemble a guinea pig as you'd find in any Earthly pet store.
Or is it more likely that this is a remarkable optical illusion, a rock whose shape fools us into seeing a furry little critter with a nose, eye, and possibly a front foot? Go see it in the Mars Gallery.
What do you think?
Comments
Have another picture taken and see if the “rat” has moved. It will certianly not be in the same place . we will have the answer .
Anyone expecting to see evidence that this rodent on Mars has moved wil be disappointed. It’s obviously flattened – has already been stepped on by some larger denizen of Mars. LOL!
They should find the coordinates where that photo was shot and return there to take more photos.
From what I see, it does look quite a bit like a guinea pig. Any chance this was Photoshopped, or is directly from NASA?
Also, being that guinea pigs are vegetarians, I don’t think they’d be on Mars. I’ve never seen anything but rocks there.
It made me smile. Curiosity keep exploring!
Read Robert A. Heinlein’s science fiction novel The Rolling Stones. This is a Martian flat cat, as described in this book, written in 1952.
It looks like a wild Syrian hamster to me. Look down the wiki page for the ‘mother Syrian hamster’ to see the match. They live in the desert. Maybe Curiosity is trundling about closer to home! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamster
Looks like a rock to me.