Ingo Arndt / Buttressed root on rainforest tree, Gombe Stream National Park, Kakombe Valley, Tanzania

Ingo Arndt / Fig (Ficus sp) showing aerial tree roots in the rainforest, Costa Rica

Patricio Robles Gil / Fig (Ficus sp) tree with giant roots and local guides at Espiritu Santo Island, protected area, Vanuatu Archipelago, New Hebrides

Patricio Robles Gil / Buttressed roots in forest, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu Archipelago, New Hebrides

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Tree with buttress roots in tropical rainforest, Peru

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Rainforest tree showing buttress roots, Ecuador

Piotr Naskrecki / Goliath Beetle (Goliathus regius) next to the buttressed roots of a Fig tree, Guinea, West Africa

Pete Oxford / Canyon des Makis or Ring-tailed Lemur Canyon, forest showing tree roots cutting into the sandstone rocks, Isalo National Park, Madagascar

Elio Della Ferrera / Root and bark detail of tree in tropical forest, Assam, India

Michael Hutchinson / Coast Giant redwood trees {Sequoia sempervirens} and ferns in Redwood NP, California, USA. Log and root ball of one fallen tree.

Andy Sands / Field Vole (Microtus agrestis) on tree root with chewed bark, Captive

Pete Oxford / Tarantula on buttress root of Ficus species tree. Yasuni NP, Ecuador

Martin Dohrn / African driver / Siafu / Safari ant nest under root system of banana tree {Dorylus / Anomma sp} Tanzania, East Africa

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Mangrove (Avicennia sp) forest Noah Creek, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Heliconia (Heliconia irrasa) and buttress roots in rainforest, Costa Rica

Gerry Ellis / Fig (Ficus sp) buttress root in lowland tropical rainforest, Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Buttress roots, rainforest, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Buttress roots, rainforest, Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Gerry Ellis / Tropical rainforest interior with Ficus tree and buttressed roots, Malaysia

Pete Oxford / Kapok (Ceiba trichistandra) tree detail of bark and buttressed roots, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Kapok (Ceiba trichistandra) tree showing extensive buttressed roots, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Stilt roots on the rainforest, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Buttress roots and a variety of plant life in the rainforest, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Buttress roots and a variety of plant life in the rainforest, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

Mark Moffett / Buttressed tree roots supporting the tropical rainforest canopy, Talamanca Range, Costa Rica

Tui De Roy / False Banyon (Ficus altissima) surrounded by fruit after simultaneous ripening of heavy nutritious crop, Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Tui De Roy / True Fig Shell (Ficus variegata) with fruits growing on buttressed roots, Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Tui De Roy / False Banyon (Ficus altissima) surrounded by fallen fruit, Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Norbert Wu / Underwater view of mangrove roots and trees, nursery grounds for many fish, Magdalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico

Tui De Roy / True Fig Shell (Ficus variegata) tree, with fruits growing on buttress roots, Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Tui De Roy / Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) view up dead host tree inside strangling air roots, Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Tui De Roy / Hala (Pandanus tectorius), native trees on Palmyra Atoll, US National Wildlife Refuge, US Line Islands

Doug Perrine / Florida manatee scratches itself on tree root {Trichchus manatus latirostris} Blue Springs SP, Florida, USA (Non-ex).

David Noton / Tree root detail in rainforest, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia

Pete Oxford / Buttress root (Ficus sp.) in rainforest. Yasuni NP, Ecuador, South America

Nick Garbutt / Root system of tropical rainforest tree. Nosy Mangabe Reserve, northeast Madagascar.

Jabruson / Aerial root system of tree in rainforest, Odzala National Park, NW Republic of Congo

GEORGETTE DOUWMA / English oak seedling showing roots and leaves {Quercus robur} UK

Pete Oxford / Kapok (Ceiba sp) buttress roots, Yasuni National Park, Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Kapok (Ceiba sp) buttress roots, Yasuni National Park, Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador

Hiroya Minakuchi / Mangroves, Kinabatangan River, Malaysia

Pete Oxford / Fig (Ficus sp) tree in rainforest, Yasuni National Park, Amazon, Ecuador

Martin Willis / Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla) perched on the root of mangrove tree, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Christian Ziegler / Suicide Tree (Tachigali versicolor) buttress roots, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Walking Palm (Socratea exorrhiza) stilt roots, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Fig (Ficus insipida) tree with large roots in old growth rainforest, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Rainforest trees with massive buttress roots, Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

Suzi Eszterhas / African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) six week old pup chewing on tree root, northern Botswana

Ingo Arndt / Buttress roots of chestnut tree, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Territory of Australia

Chien Lee / Rainforest interior showing tree with butress roots, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Borneo, Malaysia

Cyril Ruoso / Fig (Ficus sp) tree with roots spanning over rock, Yakushima Island, Japan

Piotr Naskrecki / Rainforest interior with buttress roots and a variety of plants, Mamang River Forest Reserve, Ghana

Albert Lleal / Buttress roots, which stabilize the tree and pick up nutrients in shallow soils, Papua New Guinea

Patricio Robles Gil / Young boys of the village of Yakel, Tanna Island, Vanuatu Archipelago, New Hebrides

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Tree trunk and buttress roots covered with moss and other epiphytic plants, rainforest, Costa Rica

Gerry Ellis / Buttress roots of tree in lowland dipterocarp tropical rainforest interior, Malaysia

Pete Oxford / Buttress roots and a variety of plant life in the rainforest, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Amethythine Scrub Python (Morelia amethistina) slithering down tree trunk, Australia

Jim Brandenburg / Tree on beach showing buttressed roots, Saint John Island, Virgin Islands National Park, Caribbean

Norbert Wu / Underwater view of mangrove roots and trees, nursery grounds for many fish, Magdalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico