The secretive indri (Indri indri) of Madagascar, the largest living lemur. It is also critically endangered and highly evolutionarily distinct with no close relatives, which makes its branch one of most precarious on the mammal evolutionary tree. In the likely event that the indri goes extinct, we will lose 19m years of unique evolutionary history from the mammal tree of life. (Photo by Pierre-Yves Babelon/Aarhus University)

This lemur looks like he is channelling the spirit of Buddha – as he sits meditating. Sitting with his legs crossed, the lemur clasps his thumb and fore finger together with outstretched arms – just like the spiritual teacher. And amateur snapper Sebastien Degardin, 32, was on hand to capture the bizarre moment the animal searched for enlightenment on film. Sebastien, who moved from his native Belgium to Finchley, North London, said: “I was gobsmacked when I saw this lemur meditating”. (Photo by Sebastien Degardin/Caters News)

Undated David Yarrow handout photo of a gorilla as the self-taught wildlife photographer promotes his book, Encounter. (Photo by David Yarrow/Clearview/PA Wire)

A brown bear cub by the Khailyulya River in north-east Kamchatka, Russia on July 24, 2021. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

A caiman in the Pantanal region of Brazil in 2021. They are used to seeing humans, allowing the photographer, Leighton Lum, a close-up shot. (Photo by Leighton Lum/Caters News Agency)

The photographer Yan Hidayat says his pet Pacman frog and Brazilian turtle are inseparable. He still had to wait four hours to get this photo in West Sumatra, Indonesia, in the first decade of March 2024. (Photo by Yan Hidayat/Media Drum Images)

A cygnet keeps snug under its mother’s wing at Heronry Pond in Wanstead Park in east London in the last decade of May 2024. (Photo by Jeff Moore/The Times)

A mountain hare shakes off rain from its fur, in Findhorn Valley, Moray, Scotland in the second decade of August 2024. In summer, the hare’s coat is a grey-brown colour with a tinge of blue, making them hard to spot against the heather moorland. In winter, it changes to almost completely white for camouflage in the snow. (Photo by Will Hall/Solent News)