People look at a skeleton couple kissing installation dubbed “Till Death Do Us Part” during a Valentine's Day event in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, February 13, 2024. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

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)

Icelandic stallions eat hay from a box at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

The pedestrian zone on the banks of the “Parco della Pace” at Lake Maggiore is flooded due to flooding, on Thursday, October 24, 2019 in Locarno, Switzerland. (Photo by Samuel Golay/Ti-Press/Keystoen)

Carnival revelers perform during the Academicos do Baixo Augustaa carnival “bloco” parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, February 24, 2019. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

Guests have breakfast as another guest climbs to gather at the Skylodge Adventure Suites in the Sacred Valley in Cuzco, Peru, August 14, 2015. Tourists taking on an arduous climb up the steep cliff face of Peru's Sacred Valley are being rewarded for their efforts by being able to spend the night in transparent mountaintop sleeping pods at the “Skylodge Adventure Suites”. To reach the pods, visitors need to climb 400 metres of via ferrata (a steel cable and rungs) up the valley side or hike an intrepid trail through zip lines. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

An aerial view shows local residents visiting a river side park in Taipei during the Lunar Mew Year on February 19, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

Elena Chernyshova's vision of Norilsk, Russia, the northernmost city in the world, is a series of surprises by which she extracts otherworldly beauty from ugly realities. Here: 2013. A woman is visible through a narrow passageway between two buildings. Norilsk's urban spaces were designed to shorten distances around large developments and give residents maximum protection from arctic winds. (Photo by Elena Chernyshova)