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Winner, behaviour: amphibians and reptiles. Where the giant newts breed, by João Rodrigues, Portugal. Rodrigues is surprised by a pair of courting sharp-ribbed salamanders. It was his first chance in five years to dive in this lake, as it emerges only in winters of exceptionally heavy rainfall. He had a split second to adjust his camera settings before they swam away. Found on the Iberian Peninsula and in northern Morocco, the salamanders use their pointed ribs as weapons, piercing through their own skin and picking up poisonous secretions, then jabbing them into an attacker. (Photo by João Rodrigues/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)
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