This photograph represents a part of a group of common dolphins in the oceanic waters of Madeira. Diogo Sayanda, who took the photo, said: ‘It is difficult to describe the experience of being among these animals in their natural environment, everything is chaotic they swim around you, jump, the females approach you with their calves, it’s an overwhelming amazing experience’

Pictured is a micro-habitat on the north-facing caldera slopes at 2,100m altitude in ‘Las Cañadas del Teide’ on Tenerife island, Spain. Shown here is a rare mixture of the Canary pine and the flowering endemic Teide bugloss amongst other plants

Pictured are epiphytic plants at flowering. An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and yến sào hải phòng nutrients from the air, rain, water or from debris accumulating around it

Michael Nicolai, who took this image, said: ‘In addition to monitoring reptile and amphibian biodiversity we also investigate homing behavior in Atelopus hoogmoedi. While most individuals were just sitting on their same perch site night after night, this individual took guarding his spot more seriously and looked like an actual sentinel. Either that or a lazy worker resting on its shovel’

Of the Editor’s Pick, an image by Michelle Achlatis from the University of Queensland, section editor Dominique Mazzi said: ‘The image seems to present a coral reef surprisingly lacking in animal life. That is until you notice the large octopus hidden in plain sight. If you are having trouble finding it, look for the eye exactly in the middle of the picture’

This is an aerial photograph of Sado River Estuary. It shows the intricate patterns shaped by the water flow and salt marshes in a constant and dynamic conflict

Multitasking by two dance flies. The male uses only two of its six legs to hold his body and that of the female and her prey. With the other four legs he holds the female which he fertilizes. The female, while being hold, sucks blood out of a fly which she caught just before, to supply her eggs with nutrients

Pictured are early morning oyster catchers as they assemble on the roof of a disused boat shed on the Otago Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand

The Swallow Tailed Gull is an endemic and common resident of the Galapagos Islands. The picture was taken in a field trip to Galapagos. A Lava Gull is about to land on the black lava rocks in the shore

This hilarious image shows a sea lion resting in the coast of San Cristobal Island in Galapagos. It was taken by Pablo Juarbe Martinez from the Florida Institute of Technology

This photograph was taken in the forest in French Guiana. The contrasted shape and size between a female and male spiders can be seen on her web

Every year from May to July, it is the mating season for Common Wall lizardz. When a male, after an intense competition against rival males, can finally mate with a female, he bites her on the abdomen to prevent her escape and starts copulating. Females are often left with scars from this powerful bite

Stingless bees have become a new industry in Malaysia. Because of that, people had over collected the bees from the wild to domesticate it. This has become a major problem as stingless bees are an important pollinator, especially in the forest. To reduce the problem, conservation of the wild stingless bees is being carried out by educating people that only a few species can be domesticated

This photograph was taken in the forest in French Guiana. A butterfly can be seen parasitized by a Cordyceps fungus in the tropical primary forest

On January 12, 2016, at the foot of white snow covered Kekexili Mountain, a male Tibetan antelope could be seen vigorously guiding a herd of female which would come to estrus soon

The Malaysian orchid mantis is a predatory insect that mimics a flower blossom. They need not ambush their prey by hiding amongst flowers, instead they stand out conspicuously against vegetation and lure in their unsuspecting prey

This image shows a shoal of Talassoma parvo predating the eggs of Abudefduf luridus. Although the male desperately tries to protect its prole he can’t repel a shoal of more than 20 individuals

Several frog species carry their tadpoles to safe places. This is not easy when the wild is a huge world for you. This picture shows an Oophaga pumilio carrying its tadpole and looking for a safe orchid where it can put its new offspring

Pictured is a larva eating mealybug runner or juvenile. Mealybug is a serious pest of papaya, which can become stunted if infected

This photo taken in Svalbard shows that vocal communication between mates is very important to coordinate parental efforts in order to achieve a successful reproduction. But this is not all. Finding a good place where to breed may be hard in human-modified landscapes. This couple of Arctic terns found a clever solution to solve this difficult problem: they made their own house on an abandoned shovel

This incredible photograph was taken in a forest in French Guiana. An ant can be seen standing up on alert defending its territory on a leaf

These striped periwinkles share their habitat with people on this beach on the island of Praslin, Seychelles. This stretch of coastline is one of the busiest on this island

Dewald Kleynhans, who took this photo, said: ‘I assisted with research on the behaviour of elephant shrews trying to determine how personalities might affect their ecology. These animals have vastly different personalities, ranging from extremely aggressive to timid and some individuals are quite bold, as is the case for this individual, who is curiously exploring the research station, making sure its body measurements have been correctly recorded’

In southern Spain, lost in the middle of the arid interior region of Málaga, lies an area of fertile fruit plantations named the Axarquía. Here, the last Andalusian dragons thrive amongst the branches of both exotic avocado and historical Mediterranean olive trees

Sjoerd Duijns, who took this picture, said: ‘This image highlights the unpredictable nature of our work and sometimes you encounter a face to face with a giant male polar bear scavenging for eider eggs’

Roberto Garcia-Roa, who took this photo, said: ‘Conservation cannot be understood without taking into account the interaction among species. The disappearance of one species might provoke that other connected species (prey, predators,etc.) can suffer direct consequences. This pictures represents the predation of a crab spider on a bee and this was used by a parasitic fly’

This picture of a Koala sitting on a branch was taken around Canberra in Australia. Koalas are considered as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of species and are subject to conservation programs in Australia

The Leptodactylidae frog is just one of several families of frogs found in the Cerrado region where this picture was taken

The overall winning image by Ana Carolina Lima from the University of Aveiro is a photo of giant South American turtles. Guest judge Chris Darimont, from the University of Victoria, said: ‘This image provides a rare, multi-layered perspective from above. The photo is well composed, technically sound, and rich with wonderful geometry’

The tranquil and frozen East Antarctic sea ice landscape in the winter months shows off its amazing pink skies and fantastic icebergs

Miguel Gomez, who took this image, said: ‘Poaching to feed the elephant ivory trade is one of the most important threats to the conservation of this species. Elephants are one of the most charismatic animals of Africa and have been used as a flagship species for conservation efforts; conservation of elephants could mean conservation of African wild areas’