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)

In this Thursday, May 31, 2018 photo, a temporary worker using a lantern collects white asparagus from a field in Caparroso, around 85 km (52 miles) from Pamplona, northern Spain. Dubbed the “white gold” of these northern Spanish farms because of their color and the high price they fetch in markets and restaurants around the world, the stringy delicacy is planted every fall and picked each year between April and June, at the height of the spring. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

People and Nature category winner: Why did the sloth cross the road? by Andrew Whitworth (Osa Conservation and University of Glasgow), taken in Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. “I was driving out from the Osa Peninsula, located on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica on a dark, stormy day. This female three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) had luckily just about made it across the road, and the drivers of the Toyota on this occasion had spotted her in good time”. (Photo by Andrew Whitworth/2019 British Ecological Society Photography Competition)

The Wildscreen festival is the world’s biggest celebration of screen-based natural history storytelling which takes place every two years in Bristol. Here: “Walrus in Midnight Sun”. Walrus feed mostly on bivalves in productive, shallow and often sandy habitats in the Arctic. This individual, though, arrived on a beach outside Tromsø, northern Norway, and found comfort on a stranded dead sperm whale. After two weeks he approached Audun, and only half a metre away he stretched his tusk forward and touched his hand gently. “This was one of the most memorable moments of my life”, Rikardsen says. He named the 500kg male Buddy. After two months, the dead whale was decomposed and Buddy suddenly disappeared. (Photo by Audun Rikardsen/Wildscreen 2016)

Two Red-eyed Tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) mate at “Exotic Fauna” breeding zoo, where exotic animals are reproduced to be marketed as pets in U.S., Canada and Asia, in Ticuantepe, on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua on July 17, 2022. (Photo by Maynor Valenzuela/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) looks through a window of a research bathyscaphe while submerging into the waters of the Black Sea as he takes part in an expedition near Sevastopol, Crimea, August 18, 2015. (Photo by Alexei Nikolsky/Reuters/RIA Novosti/Kremlin)

Marchers kiss as they walk down 5th Avenue as they part in the 2019 World Pride NYC and Stonewall 50th LGBTQ Pride Parade in New York, U.S., June 30, 2019. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Grand title winner: Environmental photographer of the year. The Bitter Death Of Birds by Mehdi Mohebi Pour. This photo shows the efforts of the environmental forces to collect the bodies and prevent the spread of this disease. The Miankaleh wetland is being destroyed by changes in the climate and it is my duty as a photographer to highlight these problems and create a record for history. I want to prevent the complete destruction of the wetland and the potential environmental disaster by showing the issues and threats to these beautiful natural places. (Photo by Mehdi Mohebi Pour/Environmental Photographer of the Year)