London, Dec 2 : A meteorite from Mars, with a sample of Martian colony, has been put on display at Natural History Museum.

According to the Nasa scientists, snaps from a scanning electron microscope (SEM), shows a bumpy surface, which resembles a fossilised colony of microbacteria - a simple form of life.

The fossilised remains have been found in the rock, which was blasted out of Mars 16 million years ago as the solar system was forming, reports The Telegraph.

The meteorite, called Allen Hills 84001, made headlines in 1996 after fossils were found in it.

Scientists believed they were bacteria from Earth that contaminated the rock while it lay in the frozen wastes.

However, a Nasa report says there is strong evidence they originated on Mars.

Lead researcher Kathie Thomas-Keprta found carbonate discs and tiny magnetite crystals inside the space rock.

The researchers said 'unusual chemical and physical properties' in the meteorite were 'intimately associated within and throughout these carbonate disks', which provides evidence of interaction with water on Mars more than 3.5 billion years ago.