This animation depicts water disappearing over time in the Martian river valley Neretva Vallis, where NASA’s Perseverance Mars takes the rock sample named “Sapphire Canyon” from a rock called “Cheyava Falls,” which was found in the “Bright Angel” formation. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Perseverance rover has photographed a peculiar rock formation that looks eerily like a turtle poking its head out from its protective shell.

In July 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover extracted a rock core from the edge of Neretva Vallis, a river valley cut into the Martian surface by water rushing into the Jezero Crater billions of years ago. This mysterious rock caught the attention of scientists on Earth, as its features may reveal clues about possible ancient life on the Red Planet.

NASA’s Perseverance rover continues to reveal the Red Planet’s secrets—this time, in the form of a curious turtle-shaped rock captured on August 31, 2025. As reported by Space.com, the formation was photographed using the rover’s SHERLOC-WATSON camera system,