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| Water Reflection, Utah. Photograph by Frans Lanting. |
Reflecting off water, light paints peacock-feather patterns onto a rock wall in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah.
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| Giant Clam Mantle. Photograph by Tim Laman |
Iridescent spots surround the mantle of a giant clam in Palau, Micronesia. The mantle is a fleshy outer layer that secretes the clam's shell.
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| Cactus, Manzanillo, Mexico. Photograph by Raul Touzon |
Bursts of yellow punctuate a cactus in Manzanillo, Mexico.
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| Curled Millipede. Photograph by George Grall |
Exhibiting its main defense mechanism, a millipede curls into a tight spiral. In this fashion it protects its legs—on average between 100 and 300, not the thousand its name suggests—inside its body.
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| Salmon Scales. Photograph by Paul Nicklen |
The scales of an Atlantic salmon, such as these on a fish in Quebec, Canada, can help biologists determine the fish's age.
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| Diatoms. Photograph by Darlyne A. Murawski |
Seen here 400 times their true size, diatoms are a type of algae found in oceans, fresh water, and soil.
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| Basket Sea Star, Cuba. Photograph by Brian J. Skerry |
The complexly branched arms of the basket sea star, or starfish, catch plankton for the echinoderm.
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| Cenote, Mexico. Photograph by Stephen Alvarez |
Sunlight radiates through the Xpacay cenote in the Mexican Yucatán. Cenotes are freshwater sinkholes usually found on the Yucatán peninsula.
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| Snapping Turtle Shell. Photograph by Darlyne A. Murawski |
The bony plates of a snapping turtle's carapace protect it from predators. Snappers are freshwater turtles found in much of North America.
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| Mammatus Clouds. Photograph by Carsten Peter |
Mammatus clouds roil in the Nebraska sky, identifiable by their sagging, pouch-like shape. The name comes from the Latin word for "breast."
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| Salt Piles on Shoreline, Senegal. Photograph by Robert Haas |
Salt piles line the shoreline of Lake Retba, Senegal. The high salinity content of the lake provides a livelihood for salt collectors.
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| Biplane Over Monomoy Shoals, Massachusetts. Photograph by Michael Melford |
A biplane flies above Monomoy Island, Massachusetts.
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| Sand Dunes, Rub al Khali. Photograph by George Steinmetz |
The borders of four nations—Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—blur beneath the shifting sands of the Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter, desert.
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| Drying Fronds, Kenya. Photograph by Robert Haas |
Fronds dry in neat lines around a tree in Kenya.
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| Cave Dwellings, Turkey. Photograph by Klaus Nigge |
Cavelike dwellings built into soft rock dot the Cappadocia region of Turkey.
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| Fairy Circles, Namib Desert. Photograph by Michael Fay |
Fairy circles, or grassless patches, spot the Namib Desert in Namibia, seen here from an airplane.
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| Bacteria, New Zealand. Photograph by Peter Essick |
Photosynthesizing bacteria in a New Zealand thermal pool absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
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| Sunflower Florets. Photograph by Jozsef Szentpeteri |
Beads of dew cling to the florets that spiral inside a sunflower head.
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| Lichens. Photograph by Stephen Sharnoff |
Lichens grow on a granite gravestone in Lake Champlain, New York.
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| Banksia Flower. Photograph by Jonathan Blair |
The characteristic spikes of a banksia flower are common across Australia. This one was photographed on a farm in Mount Barker.
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