Is it a leaf? Is it tree bark? No, it’s the Satanic leaf-tailed gecko. Cleverly disguised as a rotting leaf, Madagascar’s camouflage king has red eyes, pointy horns and a taste for night hunting: it’s nature’s most devilish deceiver. The twisted body and veiny skin echo the detail of a dry leaf, which ensures the gecko blends in with its forest home. The mottled tail appears to have sections missing, as though it has withered over time. This mini-monster epitomises survival of the fittest, having adapted gradually to become today’s extraordinary leaf impersonator. (Photo by Thomas Marent/ARDEA)

Reverend Simon Davis prays with the dancers before the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in Abbots Bromley, Britain, September 12, 2016. The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is an English folk dance dating back to the Middle Ages. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

Passengers hold 500 (bottom) rupee banknotes to buy train tickets at a railway booking counter in Allahabad, India, November 9, 2016. People are queuing up outside banks across India to exchange 500 and 1,000 rupee notes after they were withdrawn as part of anti-corruption measures. Indians will be able to exchange their old notes, which stopped being legal tender at midnight on Tuesday, for new ones at banks until 30 December. The surprise move is part of a government crackdown on corruption and illegal cash holdings. Banks were shut on Wednesday to allow them enough time to stock new notes. There are also limits on cash withdrawals from ATMs. The BBC's Yogita Limaye in Mumbai says there have been chaotic scenes outside many banks. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

When Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen moved to Hong Kong, the territory’s shop cats instantly caught his eye. While the “feline emperors” are the stars, his shots also offer insights into Hong Kong’s wares, from dried fish to paper. Here: Hong Kong Shop Cats #17. (Photo by Marcel Heijnen/Blue Lotus)

A Palestinian beekeeper uses smoke to calm bees in the process of collecting honey at a farm in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip April 11, 2016. Rateb Samour sees 250 patients a day, whose complaints range from hair loss to cerebral palsy and cancer. He is not a doctor and has never worked in a hospital. Samour inherited the skill of bee-sting therapy from his father. From 2003 the agricultural engineer dedicated all his time to study and develop the alternative-medicine treatment of apitherapy, which uses bee-related products from honey, propolis – or bee glue used to build hives – to venom. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

A competitor laughs while taking part in the office chair race ISU-1 Grand Prix in Tainan, southern Taiwan April 24, 2016. It was the first time such a race was held in Tainan, as part of the “ISU-1 GP” (Grand Prix) that began in Japan in 2010, according to businesses on Jhengsing Street and Haian Road in the city's West Central District and the city's Tourism Bureau, which organized the event. The fastest rider only took six seconds to complete the 30-meter race. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A girl salutes to visitors before a show at the Mangyongdae Children's Palace in central Pyongyang, North Korea May 5, 2016. Pyongyang held a gala of song and dance performances by local school children on May 5 for visiting delegations of foreign journalists and tourists at the Mangyongdae Children's Palace. The event included orchestral, choir, and acrobatic performances, many of them with political undertones. The Seventh Worker's Party Congress commences on May 6, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A spoonbill appears to creep across the sky as it comes in to land on a nearby branch in the Orlando Wetlands, Florida in the second decade of June 2024. (Photo by Deborah Sandidge/Solent News)