Gerry Ellis / Bean (Phaseolus hybrid) seedling emerging

Gerry Ellis / Ama'u Fern (Sadleria sp) in lava field, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

Sergey Gorshkov / Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) alevins and egg, Kamchatka, Russia

Vincent Grafhorst / Dirt track through the grassy plains, Makgadikgadi, Botswana

Vincent Grafhorst / Dirt track through the grassy plains, Makgadikgadi, Botswana

Tui De Roy / Saddleback Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra hoodensis) captive-bred hatchling emerging from egg, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Tui De Roy / Saddleback Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra hoodensis) captive-bred hatchlings emerging from eggs, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Colin Monteath / Hiker at campsite in front of Mount Sefton, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

Colin Monteath / Hiker at campsite in front of Mount Sefton, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

Colin Monteath / Hiker at campsite in front of Mount Sefton and Mount Cook, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand

Murray Cooper / Seed sprouting in the Amazon

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Pine (Pinus sp) spring growth, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, California

Sebastian Kennerknecht / Pine (Pinus sp) spring growth, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, California

Suzi Eszterhas / Two week orphaned Serval kitten (Leptailurus / Felis serval) with ears beginning to open. Tanzania, Africa.

Suzi Eszterhas / Two week orphaned Serval kitten (Leptailurus / Felis serval) with ears beginning to open. Tanzania, Africa.

Pete Oxford / Footpath through dunes of Erg Chebbi near the village of Merzouga, Morocco

Pete Oxford / Spanish Moss (Tillandsia complanata) growing on Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) with dirt road and cyclist, Little St. Simon's Island, Georgia

Pete Oxford / Spanish Moss (Tillandsia complanata) growing on Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) with dirt road, Little St. Simon's Island, Georgia

Richard Du Toit / Road through savanna grass, Marievale Bird Sanctuary, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Road through savanna grass, Marievale Bird Sanctuary, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Tracks in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

Ingo Arndt / Carpet Python (Morelia spilota) hatching from egg, Australia

Colin Monteath / Tourist in kayak exploring Harrison Cove with Mount Pembroke above, Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Wild Wonders of Europe / Radisics / Shepherd summer huts (Katuns) Saddle valley, beginning of the Komarnica canyon, Durmitor NP, Montenegro, October 2008

Scott Leslie / Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) forest and trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Richard Herrmann / Laurel Sumac (Rhus laurina) in 2004, recovering after 2003 fire, Poway, California

Richard Du Toit / Acacia (Acacia sp) trees near dirt road, Chobe National Park, Botswana

Ross Hoddinott / Large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) nymph, adult just beginning to emerge. Broxwater, Cornwall, UK.

Eric Baccega / Woman standing beside little chapel in Guernsey, Channel Islands, May 2009. A French priest built it at the beginning of the 20th century with seashells, pebbles and colourful pieces of broken ceramic...

Eric Baccega / Woman standing beside little chapel in Guernsey, Channel Islands, May 2009. A French priest built it at the beginning of the 20th century with seashells, pebbles and colourful pieces of broken ceramic...

Eric Baccega / Little chapel in Guernsey, Channel Islands, May 2009. A French priest built it at the beginning of the 20th century with seashells, pebbles and colourful pieces of broken ceramics which he received fr...

Chris O'Reilly / Female European lynx (Lynx lynx) beginning to climb a tree in snow, Boreal birch forest, captive, Nord-Trondelag, Norway, winter

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Sapling amid coniferous trees burned by forest fire, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Michael Durham / Autumn leaf over a pool of water, western Oregon

Michael Durham / Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) leaf in autumn with water droplet, Oregon

Michael Durham / Green leaf with water droplet, North America

Thomas Marent / Sprout growing from seed, Masoala National Park, Madagascar

Thomas Marent / Suspension bridge in lowland rainforest, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Borneo, Malaysia

Heike Odermatt / Ray of sunlight coming through frost-covered trees, Leende, Netherlands

Kevin Schafer / Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchling going out to sea, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Kevin Schafer / Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchling going out to sea, Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Kevin Schafer / Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) pair tobogganing, Antarctica

Kevin Schafer / Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia echinata) tree sapling held by human, Brazil

Scott Leslie / Road in deciduous forest, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Roy Mangersnes / Ice cracks and grass appears at the beginning of spring, Norway.

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) walking on steep and snowy alpine slope, Antarctic Bay, South Georgia Island

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) trio on beach, St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia Island

Ingo Arndt / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) tracks on tidal flats, Alaska

Thomas Marent / Young rolled-up fern fiddlehead, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica

Thomas Marent / Fern tip curled up, Yanachaga-Chemellin National Park, Peru

Jane Burton / Young fawn rabbit beginning to lose its baby coat, note moult pattern between eyes

Jane Burton / Young fawn rabbit beginning to lose its baby coat, note moult pattern between eyes

Jane Burton / Chestnut colt foal (11-weeks) with white blaze, beginning to lose its baby coat, nuzzling mare, UK

Silvia Reiche / Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterfly metamorphosis, male, Hoogeloon, Netherlands. Sequence 13 of 14

Silvia Reiche / Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterfly metamorphosis, male, Hoogeloon, Netherlands. Sequence 11 of 14

Silvia Reiche / Hyacinth (Hyacinthus sp) bulb blooming, Hoogeloon, Netherlands

Silvia Reiche / Hyacinth (Hyacinthus sp) bulb blooming, Hoogeloon, Netherlands

Silvia Reiche / Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) chrysalis with metamorphized butterfly emerging, Netherlands, Sequence 13 of 17

Silvia Reiche / Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) chrysalis with metamorphized butterfly emerging, Netherlands, Sequence 12 of 17

Silvia Reiche / Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) chrysalis with metamorphized butterfly emerging, Netherlands, Sequence 10 of 17

Theo Allofs / Autumn colors along the North Canol Road, Yukon Territory, Canada

Ingo Arndt / Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) growing along road in spring forest, Germany

Colin Monteath / Person skiing across snow from Ny Alesund to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway

Colin Monteath / Person skiing across snow from Ny Alesund to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway

Scott Leslie / Unfurling springtime ferns, Nova Scotia, Canada

Pat Barrett / Hiker crossing wire bridge, Tuke River, New Zealand

Scott Leslie / Maple (Acer sp) seeds emerging, Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Andy Reisinger / Wood dock reaching out into Lake Mapourika, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Andy Reisinger / Wood dock reaching out into Lake Mapourika, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Ingrid Visser / Tree Fern fiddlehead unfurling, New Zealand

Harley Betts / Tree Fern (Dicksonia sp) unfurling fiddlehead frond, Punakaiki, New Zealand

Michael Durham / Domestic Chicken (Gallus domesticus), banty morph, hatchling with egg shell

Michael Durham / Domestic Chicken (Gallus domesticus) hatchling in egg shell

Michael Durham / Domestic Chicken (Gallus domesticus) hatchling with egg shell

Ingo Arndt / Monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterfly adult beginning to show through the chysalis, North America (Sequence 1 of 8)

Ingo Arndt / Glasswing (Greta oto) butterfly, newly emerged from chrysalis, native to South and Central America

Ingo Arndt / Owl Butterfly (Caligo memnon) larva eating egg shell after hatching, Costa Rica

Ingo Arndt / Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) caterpillar hatching out of egg, Costa Rica

Mike Parry / Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) hatchling entering ocean, Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Mike Parry / Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) hatchling on sand, Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Mike Parry / Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) hatching from egg, Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Nick Garbutt / Beginning of total solar eclipse. 21st June 2001 Morombe, Madagascar

Flip Nicklin / Swell Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) egg case with embryo, sometimes called mermaid's purses, the pups will hatch in 7-10 months, native to the Pacific Ocean

Christian Ziegler / Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callydrias) eggs with developing embryos beginning to drop into pond below for hatching, Soberania Natioanl Park, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callydrias) eggs with developing embryos beginning to drop into pond below for hatching, Soberania Natioanl Park, Panama

ZSSD / Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle (Chelodina mccordi) hatching from egg in captive breeding program, critically endangered, native to Rote Island

ZSSD / Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle (Chelodina mccordi) hatching from egg in captive breeding program, critically endangered, native to Rote Island

ZSSD / Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle (Ocadia sinensis) hatching from egg in captive breeding program, endangered, native to China

Ingo Arndt / Assassin Bug (Heza sp) emerging from molted carapace, a true bug of the Heteroptera suborder, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Richard Du Toit / Ferns growing from two year old lava flow, Reunion Island, Indian Ocean

Piotr Naskrecki / Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) embryos in egg sacs, a few days old, Costa Rica

Niall Benvie / Faroese sheep (Ovis aries) beginning to moult, June, Faroe Islands, Denmark. June 2006

Niall Benvie / Faroese sheep (Ovis aries) beginning to moult, Faroe Islands, Denmark. June 2006

Ingo Arndt / Young fern rolled up, highlands, Malaysian Peninsula

Ingo Arndt / Fern fiddleheads rolled up, highlands, Malaysian Peninsula

Ingo Arndt / Rafflesia (Rafflesia sp) flower, buds about to open, largest flower in the world, highlands, Malaysian Peninsula