Nick Upton / Garden chair well covered with extensive growths of lichen, including filamentous forms (Usnea sp.), (Evernia prunastri) and Foliose (Flavoparmelia caperata), Cornwall, UK, August.

Richard Du Toit / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) pair nuzzling, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) yawning, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) on Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii), Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) males fighting, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) pair, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) males fighting, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa

Piotr Naskrecki / Mantid (Taumantis sp) instar, Woburn, Massachusetts

Piotr Naskrecki / Turnip-tailed Gecko (Thecadactylus rapicauda), Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Scorpion (Brotheas sp) in defensive posture seen under ultraviolet light, Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Thick-tailed Scorpion (Tityus sp) under ultraviolet light, Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Thick-tailed Scorpion (Tityus sp), Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Three-striped Poison Dart Frog (Ameerega trivittata) male carrying tadpoles, Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Three-striped Poison Dart Frog (Ameerega trivittata) male carrying tadpoles, Suriname

Kim Taylor / Assassin Bug (Rhinocoris sp.) Endemic to Costa Rica.

Aflo / Composite image of tick showing how its body expands after feeding

Winfried Wisniewski / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii), Masai Mara, Kenya

Winfried Wisniewski / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii), Masai Mara, Kenya

Winfried Wisniewski / Masai Giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi) males fighting, Masai Mara, Kenya

Tim Fitzharris / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) cub in snow, Idaho

Tim Fitzharris / Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) flock flying, Lake Magadi, Kenya

Tim Fitzharris / Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) running, native to Russia

Tim Fitzharris / Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) flock taking flight, Lake Bogoria, Kenya

Tim Fitzharris / Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) flock flying, Lake Magadi, Kenya

Staffan Widstrand / Lichen (Xanthoria sp) growing on rocks by coastline, Svalbard, Norway

Chris Mattison / Green Flower Beetle (Thaumastopeus sp.). Endemic to Borneo.

Alex Mustard / A male Yellow-headed jawfish (Opistognathus aurifrons) blowing out a clutch of eggs he has been incubating in his mouth in order to oxygenate them, East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West...

Norbert Wu / Oceanic White-tip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) with Pilot Fish (Naucrates ductor), Bahamas, Caribbean

Suzi Eszterhas / Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) silverback feeding, Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda

Suzi Eszterhas / Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) mother holding five month old twin babies, Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda

Suzi Eszterhas / Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) mother holding five month old twin babies, Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda

Sumio Harada / Black Bear (Ursus americanus) mother and cub near tree den, Glacier National Park, Montana

Alex Hyde / Burnet Moth (Zygaena carniolica), photographed on a white background. Aosta Valley, Pennine Alps, Italy. July.

Alex Hyde / Velvet Worm (Peripatus novaezealandiae) silhouetted against a leaf, known as 'living fossils', having remained the same for approximately 570 million years, New Zealand, Captive

Alex Hyde / Velvet Worm (Peripatus novaezealandiae) known as 'living fossils', having remained the same for approximately 570 million years, New Zealand, Captive

SINCLAIR STAMMERS / Preserved Coelocanth (Latimeria chalumnae) on public display at the Natural History Museum in London, found originally off the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. In life they are a dark blue colour w...

Kevin Schafer / Galapagos Sea Lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) pups playing, Espanola Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Kevin Schafer / Larch (Larix sp) trees in autumn below Mount Assiniboine with Sunburst Lake, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Hiroya Minakuchi / Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) mother grazing with joey in pouch, Australia

Ingo Arndt / Cup Moth (Acharia nesea) caterpillar, Costa Rica

Ingo Arndt / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) front and rear tracks in mud, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Ingo Arndt / Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum) emitting spores, Germany

Ingo Arndt / Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum) emitting spores, Germany

Ingo Arndt / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying section of leaf to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Costa Rica

Ingo Arndt / Timber Wolf (Canis lupus) running in snow, Minnesota

Ingo Arndt / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) chasing salmon, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Ingo Arndt / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) cub running through shallow water, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Ingo Arndt / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) mother with cub, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Ingo Arndt / Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), Uganda

Ingo Arndt / Timber Wolf (Canis lupus) crossing river, Minnesota

Jabruson / Ba'Aka Pygmies forest fire sends smoke into the canopy of Gilbertiodendron / Bemba (Gilbertiodendron deweurei) forest, Central African Republic.

Floris van Breugel / Sub-alpine larches (Latrix sp.) in late autumn in North Cascades National Park, Washington, USA. October.

Suzi Eszterhas / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) six week old cub on sleeping mother at den, Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Suzi Eszterhas / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) six week old cub on mother paw at den, Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Suzi Eszterhas / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) five week old cub resting on sleeping mother at den, Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Suzi Eszterhas / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) mother and four week old cubs at den, Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Suzi Eszterhas / Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) mother and four week old cubs at den, Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Rolf Nussbaumer / Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) workers carrying leaves during rain, New Braunfels, Central Texas, USA. Highly honoured, Small world Spectacular Category, Natures Best competition 2012.

Paul D Stewart / Copperplate engraving of rays with contemporary hand colouring from 'Bilderbuch fur Kinder' by F.J. Bertuch, Weimar, 1795. This book set out to explain and illustrate a range of topics for children.

John Waters / Swans (Cygnus sp) on a large water channel at sunrise with mist on the low lying pastures of Tadham Moor, Somerset Levels, Somerset, UK, March 2012

Tui De Roy / Wolf-Volcano giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra becki) portrait with ground finch (Geospiza sp. ) sitting on foot, Isabela Island, Galapagos. Did you know? Galapagos tortoises have a mutualistic relati...

Martin Dohrn / African driver / Siafu / Safari ant biting {Dorylus/ Anomma speciess). Species is non-stinging, but jaws can tear human flesh. East Africa

Martin Dohrn / Driver ant / Siafu (Dorylus sp.) in nomadic stage carrying pupae

Cheryl-Samantha Owen / Looking down on sea grass, Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles, Indian Ocean

Sandra Bartocha / Grass (Poaceae / Gramineae sp) with seeds, June.

Sandra Bartocha / Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla pratensis) silhouetted Landkreis Demmin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, April

Sandra Bartocha / Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla pratensis) in Landkreis Demmin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, April

Sandra Bartocha / Dead Grass (Poaceae sp) stems arched over in winter snow, Neuendorf, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, December

Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Stout bobtail squid (Rossia macrosoma) on the seabed, Loch Creran, Scotland, UK, June.

MYN / Joris van Alphen / Tractor millipede (Barydesmus sp.) male, Crocker Range, Borneo, Malaysia. meetyourneighbours.net project

Ross Hoddinott / Fungus (Mycena sp.) gills backlit, seen from low angle. Dartmoor, Devon, UK. 'Wild Woods' category, British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) competition 2012.

Solvin Zankl / Fairy Shrimp (Eubranchipus grubii) eggs Digital focus stacking image

Solvin Zankl / Army ant (Dorylus sp.) close-up of male. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Trap jaw ant (Odontomachus sp.) close-up showing powerful mandibles with sensory hairs. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Close up of ant (Cephalotes clypeatus) Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Fire Ant (Solenopsis geminata) head of a major worker with mandibles used for opening seeds. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Eric Medard / Kuhl's Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrelle kuhlii) in flight low over water, with splash from drinking in flight. France, Europe, May.

Michael D. Kern / Maroon eye / Moon frog (Leptopelis uluguruensis) captive, from East Africa

Roy Mangersnes / African blood lily (Scadoxus katharinae) flowering the the mist forest around Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, November

Hiroya Minakuchi / Stag Beetle (Odontolabis cypri), Malaysia

Juan Carlos Munoz / Fossil of extinct perch fish (Priscacara sp) from the Eocene period, Wyoming, USA

David Shale / Solenosmilia sp and eunicid polychaete and bamboo coral. Collected from coral sea mount near Dragon vent field on SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean.

Kim Taylor / Click beetle (Pyrophorus sp) showing orange bioluminescence, Costa Rica

Paul Harris / 2020VISION / Apples floating in water prior to being juiced, Old Sleningford Community Farm, North Yorkshire, England, UK, September 2011.

Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / River Itchen, with aquatic plants reflected in the surface. Blunt-fruited Water-starwort (Callitriche obtusangula). Ovington, Hampshire, England, May.

Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Split level view of the River Itchen, with aquatic plants: Blunt-fruited Water-starwort (Callitriche obtusangula). Itchen Stoke Mill is visible on the left. Ovington, Hampshire, England, May.

Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Aquatic plants in River Itchen: Blunt-fruited Water-starwort (Callitriche obtusangula), and Stream Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus penicillatus subsp. pseudofluitans). Ovington, Hampshire, England, May.

Martin Dohrn / Cardinal fish (Apogon sp) moments after it has mistakenly tried to eat an ostracod. The ostracod then releases glowing mucus that is so bright that it can be seen through the body of the fish. This gi...

Konrad Wothe / Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) grooming young in snow, Japanese Alps, Japan

Alex Mustard / Ornate ghost pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus) young hides amongst the branches of a black coral bush (Antipathes sp) Sangeang Island, Sumbawa, Indonesia, Flores Sea.

Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Kelp forest (Laminaria sp) growing beneath the cliffs of Lundy Island, Devon, UK, Bristol Channel, July

Shibai Xiao / Mangrove forest (Sonneratia hainanensis) respiratory roots with man standing up in small boat, Guangxi Province, China. No releases available.

Roland Seitre / Silver Jewel Scarab Beetle (Chrysina optima) on red petals. Poas Volcano National Park, Caribbean Coast, Vara Branca, Costa Rica.

David Shale / Close up of deepsea Basket star (Gorgonocephalus sp) from coral seamount, SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean, December 2011

Erlend Haarberg / Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) with food in beak on flowering garden Lupin (Lupinus sp) Telemark, Norway, June

Erlend Haarberg / Midges (Chironomus islandicus) swarming, Myvatn, Iceland, June