An Israeli tank moves into position in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights during fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in the Druze village of Khader in Syria, Tuesday, June 16, 2015. As many as 20 members of the Druze minority sect were killed last week, the deadliest violence against the Druze since Syria's conflict started in March 2011, sparking fears of a massacre against the sect. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Pilgrims rest on June 6, 2019 in Villamanrique, during a pilgrimage to the village of El Rocio. El Rocio pilgrimage, the largest in Spain, gathers hundreds of thousands of devotees in traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and on board decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

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)

Combat between two male stag beetles, Italy, 2022. During the mating season, male stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) go into a frenzy, with lively but harmless clashes, in which bigger males often have the advantage over smaller ones due to their impressive mandibles. Longer larval development and genetic traits can increase the size of some individuals, but all saproxylic beetles are threatened by poor forest management, logging and dead wood removal to “clean” the forest. (Photo by Iacopo Nerozzi)

A pair of red junglefowl fight over territory in Pasir Ris Park, Singapore in the second decade of February 2025. (Photo by Liew Tong Leng/Solent News)

A woman dressed in an alien space suit carries an American flag and a sign that reads “Women's Revolution 1971” as she marches in a Women's Liberation demonstration on Fifth Avenue in New York, August 26, 1971. (Photo by Marty Lederhandler/AP Photo)

A Bengal tigress who gave birth to four cubs at the Guadalajara Zoo, Jalisco state, Mexico runs at the zoo on October 5, 2021. (Photo by Ulises Ruiz/AFP Photo)

Irish television personality, presenter and model Maura Higgins early February 2023 looked sensational as she stripped to a black mesh bodysuit. (Photo by Iulia David)