Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

Former UK' Love Island star Megan Barton Hanson stripped for OnlyFans in November 2020. The star has made a fortune stripping on her OnlyFans website, where it is estimated she earns up to £800k a month. (Photo by Ochiuk/Chilli Media)

A Rohingya refugee girl named Rufia Begum, aged 9, poses for a photograph as she wears thanaka paste at Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, March 31, 2018. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A photo from Madonna’s high school yearbook at her childhood home in Rochester, Michigan, circa 1973. (Photo by Rebel Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this file photo taken on Saturday May 1, 1993, an elderly communist woman clutches her head as police on horseback patrol the streets in Moscow. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, the Soviet Union was nearing its demise. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

“A Cornish pasty, sometimes known as a pastie or British pasty in the United States, is a filled pastry case, associated in particular with Cornwall in Great Britain. It is made by placing the uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge at the side or top to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Cornish students (R) Nina Brooke, 21 and (L) Bonnie Mably, 20, laugh as they pose for a photograph as they try a Cornish pasty that has been baked as part of the World Cornish Pasty Championships at The Eden Project on March 3, 2012 in St Austell, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A Chinese stripper dances during a funeral in Handan city, Hebei province, China on March 2015. The Chinese Ministry of Culture has announced plans to work closely with the police to eliminate risqué performances, including strippers, at funeral. The aim of such entertainment is to draw more mourners to the ceremony. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)