This strange coral-looking specimen is actually a mushroom. The photo, “Beautiful Destroyer”, was taken in the Panamanian tropical rainforest where the mushroom produces nitrogen, an element vital to soil health. (Photo by Sarah A. Batterman)

A selection of work by four photojournalists who have won grants of $10,000 and editorial support from the agency. Here: “Chasing Winter” by Katie Orlinksy. In late summer and early autumn polar bears flock to the native village of Kaktovik in the Alaskan Arctic to eat at “the boneyard” – the remains of whales annually hunted by the community. (Photo by Katie Orlinsky/Getty Images)

Three one-month-old lioness cubs are held by a keeper as they take their first outing on February 21, 2010 at the Ramat Gan Safari Park near Tel Aviv, Israel. The still unnamed cubs are the first triplet females to be born at the safari park and officials say their birth will ensure the continuity of the park's pride of lions. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

Italian actress Sophia Loren attends the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 1954. (Photo by AGIP/RDA/Getty Images)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

Performers wearing traditional outfits demonstrate the Coopers' Dance on Marienplatz square on January 7, 2012 in Munich, Germany. The Coopers' Dance, known in German as the Schaefflertanz, is performed only every seven years and dates back to 1702. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

An Israeli policeman prevents a Palestinian man from entering the compound which houses al-Aqsa mosque, known by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City September 28, 2015. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)