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Mars is a weird and wonderful world of odd rocks that formed long ago in the planet's history.

And this latest image is no exception, as the Curiosity rover has spotted what looks like a bizarre set of 'traffic lights' on the surface.

Of course, the discovery is nothing more than a chance alignment of rocks and shapes - but it highlights just how interesting the Martian surface is.

The Curiosity rover has spotted a rock that looks like traffic lights on Mars (shown in the red ring in this image). Washington-based Nasa is yet to comment on the latest discovery. The finding highlights just how weird and wonderful some of the rock formations on Mars can be

In the image, a set of three large rocks - admittedly with a larger fourth one as well - are stacked on top of each other.

They bear a striking resemblance to traffic lights on Earth.

But it's highly unlikely this same feature was built by a martian civilisation. 

The image was shot from the six-foot (1.8 metre) high, left-hand side mast cam on the Curiosity Rover.

It was the 753rd day the rover has been exploring the red planet.

The rock was spotted in the image by space video journalist Joe Smith from Bristol who runs a YouTube channel called ArtAlienTV.

'I saw this one and I thought "hang on, that looks a bit strange". I think it looks like a traffic light.

'It is hard to tell how big it would be without any point of reference, but I would estimate it was about 12 inches [30.5cm].

'I posted it on the internet and people said they thought it looked like a set of traffic lights too - although some people did say it looked like a totem pole.'

The 'traffic lights' (left) were spotted by Curiosity (right) on its way to the base of Mount Sharp, a geologically fascinating region that could explain how Mars lost its wet and habitable environment. Other people have said the strange looking rock resembles a totem pole

The rock was spotted space video journalist Joe Smith. Mr Smith said: 'I saw this one and I thought "hang on, that looks a bit strange". I think it looks like a traffic light' (stock image). The latest image from Curiosity is just one of many fascinating rocks on the red planet that resembles something we are familiar with on Earth

Just days earlier, Curiosity had spotted a ball-shaped rock on the surface of Mars.

Nasa said it was likely an example of Martian concretion, the process of compacting and hardening a mass of matter, according to Discovery News.

Curiosity is currently at the base of Mount Sharp, which has been the target for the mission since it landed just over two years ago.

The area is geologically fascinating as it contains layers that may provide an insight into the history of Mars.

And, scientists hope the region might reveal how and why Mars lost what was once thought to be a habitable environment, with water flowing on its surface.

This, in turn, may provide answers on the future of Earth.

The discovery follows another intriguing image that showed an almost perfectly round rock on the Martian surface (shown). Nasa said it was likely an example of Martian concretion, the process of compacting and hardening a mass of matter