The outcomes of extraterrestrial exploration, mostly on Mars, have revealed a series of dune features that challenge traditional interpretations. A comprehensive examination of the morphological characteristics and types of Martian dunes has revealed what originally appeared to be unique Martian aeolian bedforms (Dong et al. in Adv Earth Sci 35(9):902–911, 2020a; Adv Earth Sci 36(2):125–138, 2021). However, close examination of these aeolian landforms has revealed that most of these so-called unique Martian aeolian bedforms also exist on Earth, but that they have been long neglected by researchers. A growing number of studies have shown that these neglected landforms have vital research value because of the insights they provide on the formation mechanisms of aeolian landforms.