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animals

A fluffy longhorn beetle

Life

A festival of stunning animal pictures from 2024

The past 12 months have seen animals of all shapes, sizes and colours strut their stuff – here are just a few of the best pictures from the year

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The bizarre story of a rodent utopia that predicted doom for humanity

Environment

The bizarre story of a rodent utopia that predicted doom for humanity

Features

Evident Image of the Year global winner: Cross-section of a Cosmic Orange aster flower with pollen grains maturing inside anthers. Captured by Igor Siwanowicz of the United States. Igor Siwanowicz of the United States was selected as the global winner for his striking cross- section image of a Cosmic Orange Mexican aster flower that vividly depicts pollen grains maturing inside anthers. To create this image, Siwanowicz embedded isolated florets in agarose, sectioned on a vibratome and stained with Calcofluor White and Congo Red dyes. The sample was dehydrated, cleared and mounted in methyl salicylate. Siwanowicz chose to image this flower to observe how aster florets are organized before the flower opens. ?I was lucky to pick my flower buds at the right stage of development, with the pollen grains almost fully mature but still bound together in a mass,? Siwanowicz explained. ?I think this image shows the true beauty of a common flower that most of us take for granted by extending it well beyond what we can see with the naked eye. The beauty of natural form and design is present on very different scales, sometimes almost in a fractal manner?as we continue to zoom in, the form may lose familiarity but also become a new emotional experience.?

Life

See the world in close-up in these intricate images of nature

Regulars

A pigeon looks in the photographer's camera in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on November 17, 2016. / AFP / dpa / Frank Rumpenhorst / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read FRANK RUMPENHORST/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

Life

Pigeons are misunderstood: These little-known facts will prove why

Features

ITALY. Venice. A tourist takes a picture while pigeons surround her. 2005.

Life

The amazing talents of pigeons – and why we should learn to love them

Features

Life

Dogs pull harder on the leash when they wear a harness than a collar

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Life

Screwworm: Why is this flesh-eating parasite making a comeback?

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Life

Conservationists are collecting semen from endangered wild sharks

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Guy Bell/Shutterstock (14956387c) A Large Elephant Bird Egg, Madagascar, Pre-17th Century, Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 50,000 - part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy sale - Preview of highlights of Christie's Classic Week sales including items spanning antiquity to the 21st century. The auctions running until 12 December. Highlights of Christie's Classic Week sales., King Street, London, UK - 29 Nov 2024

Life

One of the largest eggs ever laid

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125 Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) (vol. 2, t. 25)

Life

Intricate 18th-century illustrations of stunning flora and fauna

Mark Catesby's work documents the plants and animals he saw while journeying in North America and the Caribbean

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Life

New forms of animals made by fusing several comb jellies together

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Life

Orcas have begun wearing salmon hats again – and we may soon know why

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Life

Chimpanzees seem to get more technologically advanced through culture

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Life

Nectar-loving Ethiopian wolves may be the first carnivore pollinators

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