It's often said that pets and their owners can start to look alike, but these adorable photographs take the old mantra to a new extreme. They are the work of Svetlana Valyiskaya (27), from St Petersburg, who snaps pets in everyday poses in her spare time from her job as a commercial photographer. The vibrant costumes and scenes, which Svetlana designs herself, have made the photos a hit in her native Russia – and it's not hard to see why. She said: “I really love animals, they are loyal, faithful and true and always interesting to work with – plus they never criticise the photographs afterwards”. (Photo by Svetlana Valyiskaya/Mercury)

My name is Jakub and I’m a painter, illustrator & concept artist who lives and work in Poland. My speciality is dark fantasy, character design, concept art and portrait. Since several years I work and paint digitally, but I never gave up traditional drawing and painting. For me the most important in my work, is create unique atmosphere and tell some kind of story through my creations.

The beautiful shots were taken by photographer Amos Chapple using a camera mounted to a quadcopter drone. This enabled him to capture these unusual aerials showing some of Europe’s sights like they’ve never been seen before. Travelling across the continent he took photos everywhere from France and Germany to Spain and Russia. Photo: Clouds swirl through the pillars of Sagrat Cor Church, high on a hill above Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Isabella Santiago of Venezuela (C) is kissed by runner-ups after she was crowned Miss International Queen 2014 at the transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya November 7, 2014. Some 22 contestants from 18 countries, all born male, competed in the week-long event for the crown of Miss International Queen. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Do you like jabots? Personally, they are not my cup of tea. If your outlook on jabots is similar to mine, then you would consider the idea of Sasha Goldberger rather strange. Just think about it. Who could have thought that putting a ruffled collar on Marvel and DC characters would completely transform their well-recognized appearance? And only a genius would think that taking photos of such an obscenity is a good idea. If some unfortunate child would look at those superheroes, he might think that calling them ‘super’ is an exaggeration. Let’s just hope that he won’t have nightmares after having such a horrific experience. (Photo by Sacha Goldberger)

A man dressed in a traditional Perchten costume and mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Huben November 22, 2014. Each year in November and January people in the western Austria regions dress up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500 year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. (Photo by Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters)

When you look at the picture of a furry pig that resembles a sheep from a distance, you may think that this may be the result of the work of some crazy scientist that tinkered with the pig’s genome. However, in this case, this is not true. Mangalica is a natural breed of pigs, which were bred in Europe for their lard. This breed of pigs is very unique, since the only other breed of pigs which had a long coat was Loncolnshire Curly Coat, which is now extinct. In the past, these pigs were quite popular, since they were able to produce a lot of lard. However, when the demand for pig lard dwindled, the population of these pigs rapidly decreased, making it a “rare breed”.