Juan Carlos Munoz / Quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma) Kokerboom Forest, Nieuwoudtville, Namaqualand, Northern Cape province, South Africa, September 2012.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Spiny tree trunk (Pachypodium sp) Berenty Reserve, Madagascar.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Close up of Sisal (Agave sisalana) Berenty, south Madagascar.

Olga Kamenskaya / Ice stalagmites / ice spikes formation, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, March.

Franco Banfi,Franco Banfi / Ornate ghostpipefish, (Solenostomus paradoxus) Raja Ampat, Irian Jaya, West Papua, Indonesia, Pacific Ocean

Edwin Giesbers,Edwin Giesbers / Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) one week old orphan at rescue centre, captive

Rod Williams / North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). Captive. Endemic to North America. Captive. UK, May.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Oryx (Oryx gazella) in motion. Kalahari, Botswana, November.

David Maitland / Close-up view of the upward-looking giant dorsal compound eyes of the St Marks fly (Bibio marci) used to detect female flies flying above. Like many insects the eyes are "hairy". Feltwell, Norfolk, UK...

Sue Daly / John Dory (Zeus Faber) with Pipefish spawn. Channel Islands, UK, August.

Juergen Freund / Carrier / Sea urchin crab (Dorippe frascone) carrying a fire urchin as a deterrent to predators. Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Edwin Giesbers / Sea holly (Eryngium maritimum) growing in sand dune, Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, Europe