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

Roy Mangersnes / Female Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and cub on coastal rocks near Whale skeleton, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway, August

Steve Nicholls / Skeleton of a Python (Python sp)

Anup Shah / White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) and Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) feeding from the carcass of a Cape buffalo (Cyncerus caffer) covered with flies - wide angle perspective. Masai Mara...

Anup Shah / White-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) feeding from the carcass of a Cape buffalo (Cyncerus caffer) - wide angle perspective. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. February

Anup Shah / Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) male defending a kill from vultures after lions have finished - wide angle perspective, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. February

Anup Shah / White-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and Black-back jackal (Canis mesomelas) feeding from the carcass of a Cape buffalo (Cyncerus caffer) - wide angle perspective. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya...

Anup Shah / African lion (Panthera leo) feeding on recent kill with vultures gathering in the background - wide angle perspective. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. October 2009.

Anup Shah / African lion (Panthera leo) male feeding on recent kill with vultures gathering in the background - wide angle perspective, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. October 2009.

Anup Shah / Flock of White-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) feeding on a carcass, wide angle perspective. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. September

Pete Oxford / Finch specimens (Emberizidae) at the Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands

Eric Baccega / Portrait of Yali hunter in traditional dress, with nose adornment made of wild pig's bones, and rooster feather head-dress. West Papua, former Irian-Jaya, Indonesia, August 2002

Eric Baccega / Head portrait of Dani man with head-dress and nose adornment made of bone, Baliem valley, West Papua, former Irian-Jaya, Indonesia, August 2002

Wild Wonders of Europe / Hamblin / Konik horse skull, Oostvaardersplassen, Netherlands, June 2009

Mark Bowler / Isula / Bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) close-up showing mandibles, Peru

Anup Shah / Marabou storks (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) and White backed vultures (Gyps africanus) scavenging on a Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) carcass, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, March

Wild Wonders of Europe / Elander / Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) carrying hoof in its beak, Serra de Beumort, Gerri de la Sal, Catalonia, Spain, November 2008

Christian Ziegler / Plantation Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachiumácolymbiphyllum) is nearly transparent including the bones, only digestive tract is visible, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Pete Oxford / Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) female brings large twig to line nest,probably to bury old bones and carcasses. Aguarico river drainage system. Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador. Critically endangered

Pete Oxford / Skull of Orca / Killer whale {Orcinus orca}. Falkland Islands.

Staffan Widstrand / Walrus cemetery with discarded bones, Mys Geka, Siberia, Russia

Richard Du Toit / Spotted hyaena {Crocuta crocuta} with Buffalo bone. Moremi WR Botswana

Jabruson / African elephant bones, from ivory poaching. Kenya, Tsavo National Park

John Cancalosi / Fossil of Snapping turtle juvenile {Chelydridae} Eocene period, Wyoming, USA

Neil Lucas / Sir David Attenborough next to Blue whale skeleton during filming for 'Life of Mammals', 2002. Santa Barbara, USA

SIMON KING / Young Indian Elephant inspecting bones of dead elephant. Sri Lanka.

Staffan Widstrand / Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) shaking water off fur after coming out of sea, near whale carcass, Svalbard, Norway

Anup Shah / Spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) stealing a piece of a lion kill, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. March

Anup Shah / Spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) running with a piece of carcass in its mouth, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. March

Anup Shah / Tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) scavenging after a kill, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. March

Mark Carwardine / Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) - skull and lower jaw bone of animal killed by poachers Way Kambas National Park, Lampung Province, southern Sumatra, Indonesia Critically endangered - fewe...

Mark Carwardine / Skull of Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) Way Kambas National Park, Lampung Province, southern Sumatra, Indonesia. Critically endangered / threatened species - fewer than 200 left

Mark Carwardine / Straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) hanging from branch with one flying showing veins in wing membrane and the finger bones well, Kasanka National Park, Zambia, Africa

Mark Carwardine / Skull of Lesser / Peruvian beaked whale, Peru {Mesoplodon peruvianus}

Mark Carwardine / Whale vertebra from whaling, Port Lockroy, Antarctic

Mark Carwardine / Jaws and teeth of Great white shark {Carcharodon carcharias} Malta hunted

Mark Carwardine / Whaling - Bowhead whale rib bone {Balaena mysticetus} Norway

Mark Carwardine / Whaling - humpback whale bone from native hunt, St Vincent & the Grenadines,

Mark Carwardine / Sperm whale skeleton in museum {Physeter macrocephalus} Maui, Hawaii

Mark Carwardine / Whale skeleton from whaling, Port Lockroy, Antarctic

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) scavenging on baleen whale bones at night in the 1002 coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA

Ann & Steve Toon / Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) chewing bone to extract nutrients (osteophagy), Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Ann & Steve Toon / Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), chewing bone to extract nutrients (osteophagy), Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Paul Williams / Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) skull on river bank, Pantanal, Pocone, Brazil

Steven Kazlowski / Male Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) walking on shore along Bernard Spit, 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, North Slope of the Brooks Range, Alaska, September 2011

Juan Carlos Munoz / Fossil of prehistoric marine reptile Plesiosaur (Plesiosauria) showing skull, jaws, eyes and teeth, Spain

Juan Carlos Munoz / Fossil of the Pterosaur Pterodactyl (Pterodactylus) from the Jurassic period, Germany

Erlend Haarberg / Arctic fox (Vulpes / Alopex lagopus) chewing on bone, blue morph, Iceland, April

Orsolya Haarberg / Whale bone with the Traenstaven on Sanna behind, Traena, Helgeland, Nordland, Norway, July 2009

Nick Garbutt / Skull of giant extinct sloth lemur (Palaeopropithecus kelyus). Recovered from underground coastal cave systems near Anjajavy. Photographed on leaf-litter in dry deciduous forest near Anjavavy, north w...

Nick Upton / Skull of Brown bear (Usrus arctos) next to huge extinct Cave bear (Ursus ingressus) skull on display in Krizna cave where remains of over 100 Cave bears have been found, Slovenia

Nick Upton / Skull of huge extinct Cave bear (Ursus ingressus) dwarfing skull of Brown bear (Usrus arctos) on display in Krizna cave where remaians of over 100 Cave bears have been found, near Cerknica, Slovenia

Laurie Campbell / Tawny owl (Strix aluco) regurgitated pellet, Berwickshire, Scotland, October

Laurie Campbell / Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) vertabrae of stranded animal washed ashore on the Moray Firth, Scotland, June 1993

Pedro Narra / Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) skeleton from 1890, Zoological Museum of Coimbra University, Portugal

Loic Poidevin / Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in flight carrying bone. Spanish Pyrenees, Europe, February.

Andy Rouse / Skull of Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) in rugged polar landscape. Karl XII Island, Svalbard, Norway, June 2010.

Richard Du Toit / Very old male Lion (Panthera leo) very thin showing ribs, Kalahari, Northern Cape, South Africa, January

Mark Hamblin / 2020VISION / RSPB officer examining prey remains at nest of White-tailed sea eagle chick (Haliaeetus albicilla) in pine tree, Beinn Eighe NNR, Wester Ross, Scotland, UK, June 2011

Mark Hamblin / 2020VISION / RSPB officer examining prey remains at nest of White-tailed sea eagle chick (Haliaeetus albicilla) in pine tree, Beinn Eighe NNR, Wester Ross, Scotland, UK, June 2011

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) adult feeds on the carcass of a bearded seal pup (Erignathus barbatus) Spitsbergen and the northwest coast of the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Greenland Sea, July

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) adult feeds on the carcass of a Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), pup catch, Spitsbergen and the northwest coast of the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Greenland Sea, July

Steven Kazlowski / Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) sits upon and feeds on a Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) jawbone, Barter Island, Alaska, USA, November

Kathryn Jeffs / Skull of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) scavenged after Southern Type B Killer whale kill (Orcinus orca) Antarctica. Taken on location for BBC Frozen Planet series, January

Jeff Wilson / Skeleton of dessicated Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) alongside Lake Hoare, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, December 2009, Taken on location for the BBC series, Frozen Planet.

Lisa Hoffner / Collection of elephant (Loxodonta africana) jaw bones from the massive die off, from drought and poaching, since the 70's in Tsavo National Park. Nairobi, Kenya, April 2007.

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) skull in the valley at Eleonora Bay, North-East Greenland National Park, September 2005.

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) skull in the valley at Eleonora Bay, North-East Greenland National Park, September 2005.

Juergen Freund / A massive workforce of more than 300 women debone Milkfish (Chanos chanos) in this plant. 60% for export market, mainly the Filipino communities living in North America and 40% consumed locally. Also...

Kim Taylor / Chalkhill Blue Butterflies (Polyommatus coridon) males feeding on a rabbit skeleton. Surrey, UK, August.

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) sitting in a pile of feathers while moulting, surrounded by whale bones. Mikkelsen Harbour, Trinity Island, Antarctica.

Anup Shah / Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) and White-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) feeding from the carcass of a Cape buffalo (Cyncerus caffer) covered with flies - wide angle perspective. Masai Mara...

Anup Shah / Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) carcass covered in flies, with vultures in the background - wide angle perspective, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. February

Petra Wegner / Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Blenheim, chewing bone in garden, barf

Petra Wegner / Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Blenheim, chewing bone in garden, barf

Kevin Schafer / Skull of an adult Collared peccary / Javelina (Tayassu tajacu) Belize.

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) cub scratching itself on jawbone of Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Steven Kazlowski / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) large boar scavenging a Bowhead Whale carcass left by Inupiaq subsistence hunters along the Arctic coast of Alaska

Mark Carwardine / Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) skulls retrieved from animals killed by poachers, Endangered species, Mkhaya Game Reserve, Swaziland

Mark Carwardine / Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) skulls retrieved from animals killed by poachers, Endangered species, Mkhaya Game Reserve, Swaziland

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Ajagak, a game made from two pieces of seal bone and skin thong. Qaanaaq, Greenland.

Tim Laman / Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) skeleton on shore, Antarctica, February 2009

Tim Laman / Mixed species whale bones on coast, Antarctica, January 2009

Tim Laman / Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) skeleton on coast, Antarctica, January 2009

Tim Laman / Orangutan researcher, Cheryl Knott, cleans the skeleton of a male Orangutan who died a natural death in the forest, and was hung on a platform off the ground until insects cleaned off the flesh. The s...

Pete Oxford / Sheep skull with flower. Evidence that Keppel Island was once a farm but the livestock was removed in the 1980's. Keppel Island. Off north coast of West Falkland. Falkland Islands

Steven Kazlowski / Beluga / White whale (Delphinapterus leucas) bones piled up and left on a beach by Norwegian whalers in the early 1900s, off Ahlstrandodden, Van Keulenfjord, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. July 2009

Dave Watts / Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) perched on ground in snow, feeding on bone, Pyrenees, France

Dave Watts / Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) perched on ground in snow, feeding on bone, Pyrenees, France

Dave Watts / Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) perched on ground in snow, feeding on bone, with Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) in the background, Pyrenees, France Photographed in French Pyrenees

David Woodfall / Cattle skull propped up on agricultural land affected by drought, Madyha Pradesh, India, Asia, November 2008

Barrie Britton / Adult Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) picks up bone prior to take-off. Bearded vultures drop bones onto rocks so that they can eat the bone marrow. Simien Mountains, Ethiopia, November

Patricio Robles Gil / Coyote (Canis latrans) feeding on carcass, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, February

Adrian Davies / Regurgitated pellet of Tawny owl (Strix aluco) showing remains of prey, Sussex, England, UK

Doug Allan / Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) scavenging on whale carcass, Kaktovik, Alaska, USA

Doug Allan / Inuit hunters and others draging Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) onto ice during native hunt, Barrow, Alaska, Alaska, May 1991