by Elizabeth Palermo, Associate Editor
The winning photo in the first annual Royal Society Publishing
Photography competition features the same tiny critters you might find
in your own backyard. Entitled "Tadpoles Overhead," the winning image
encourages viewers to take a look at the world from a frog baby's point
of view. Other noteworthy images from the 350-year-old scientific
society's inaugural competition evoke similar sentiments. From a baby
gorilla's playful hug to a monkey's resourceful tactics, here are the
award-winning moments that this year's winners captured on film.
Tadpoles overhead
Overall winner
Category winner: Ecology and Environmental Science
Tadpoles of many anuran species come in high numbers, but not many make
it to adulthood. Here a group of common toad (Bufo bufo) tadpoles is
seen from below. (Credit: Bert Willaert, Belgium.)
Ancestry. Dominance. Endangered.
Runner up: Ecology and Environmental Science
This photo shows the strength and power of gorillas, one of our closest
living relatives, yet also shows their vulnerability due to the
pressures put on their world by humans. Taken in Rwanda, I observed the
gorillas walking to the eucalyptus trees outside of the Volcanoes
National Park and watched them strip the bark with their teeth. Within a
few minutes, the silverback of the group sat down to eat bark and faced
out towards the farmland — almost as if he was contemplating the human
society that lives next to the gorillas' habitat. (Credit: Martha M.
Robbins, Germany.)
Caribbean brain coral
Special commendation: Proceedings B Publisher’s choice
The deep and abundant mysteries of reef building corals — their
systematics, genetics, and phenotypic plasticity (variability in form
possible within a single genetic individual) are only just now yielding
their secrets to modern science. This image of what appears to be a
single colony of the giant Caribbean brain coral Colpophyllia natans hints
at the virtuoso abilities of corals to assume a wide range of different
forms and appearances. This photo raises many important questions
regarding this species of coral. Are the four distinct zones in this
photograph really genetically identical? What spurred the colony to grow
in this strange and beautiful manner? (Credit: Evan D'Alessandro,
USA.)
Going with the flow: schooling to avoid a predator
Category winner: Behaviour
A school of tropical clupeid fish exhibit synchronized behaviour to
keep a healthy distance from a teenage black-tip reef shark. Sharks
would cruise placidly for hours without so much as looking at the
smaller fish, until, all of a sudden, they would strike and gobble up a
mouthful of clupeids. The picture was taken on a shallow reef flat on
Kuramathi Island in the Rasdhoo Atoll, Republic of Maldives. (Credit:
Claudia Pogoreutz, Germany.)
Smashing
Runner up: Behaviour
An adult wild bearded capuchin monkey (Sapajus libidinosus)
uses a stone tool to crack a very resistant palm nut in Fazenda Boa
Vista (Piauì, Brazil). These monkeys habitually crack open very
resistant palm nuts on hard surfaces using stones as percussive tools.
This behaviour is considered one of the most complex forms of tool use
by nonhuman species seen in nature. The alpha male, weighing 4.2 kg,
picked up a big stone (3.5 kg) and lifted that above his head to crack a
piassava nut. Capuchins’ actions are very fast so it is hard to capture
the decisive moment. In a matter of milliseconds I shot and took the
photo that I wanted: the representation of capuchin monkeys' strength
and beauty. (Credit: Luca Antonio Marino, Italy.)
Sand has scales
Runner up: Evolutionary Biology
Bitis peringueyi is an endemic adder from the Nabib desert.
It's an ambush predator, highly equipped for the job. Many snakes are
disguise masters but few completely burrow their entire body beneath the
surface and fewer have their eyes located on the top of their head.
Actually, if I hadn't blown off the sand to better show its scaly
pattern, this adder would have been completely invisible. (Credit: Fabio
Pupin, Italy.)
Fish louse
Special commendation
Lice lineages began to split and diversify during the late Cretaceous
era, when dinosaurs, birds and early mammals probably were on the
resilient parasites' menus. Argulus is a species of fish lice that has
been shown to be a well-adapted parasite, exhibiting unique hunting and
breeding strategies that enable it to live in the harsh and variable
climates of Europe, East Asia and Siberia, wreaking havoc on the
profitability of any freshwater fishery it inhabits and infests.
(Credit: Steve Gschmeissner, UK.)
A baboon gets lost in his thoughts
Special commendation
This image was taken at Cape Point Reserve, South Africa. I was taking
photos of a group of baboons trying to capture some interesting action
shots. The baboons were not very active as the sun was up and most of
them were just resting. I noted this baboon sitting and facing the sun
with his eyes closed, once I got close enough, without distracting him,
he put one hand under his face, posing as though he was lost in his
thoughts. (Credit: Davide Gaglio, South Africa.)
Fern with a drysuit
Category winner: Evolutionary Biology
Plants have evolved elaborate surface structures to modify the wettability of their leaves. The leaves of the water fern Salvinia molesta
are covered with whisk-like hairs. The leaf surface and all but the
very tip of the whisks is extremely water-repellent, keeping the leaf
perfectly dry even when it is submerged for several weeks. The
hydrophilic tips of the whisks 'pin' droplets in place. This further
helps to prevent the water from entering the space in the between the
whisks. In recent years, plant surfaces have repeatedly inspired the
design of biomimetic ("nature-mimicking") applications for human use,
most famously the self-cleaning paints based on the Lotus leaf. The
photograph was taken in Bonn Botanic Garden (Germany). (Credit: Ulrike
Bauer, UK.)
Runs at Dawn
Special commendation: Biology Letters publisher’s choice
In the Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, after every winter rains Canarian Houbarabustard (Chlamydotis undulata)
males begin their impressive courtship displays. From dawn onwards
these males display at their favourite places and from there scamper
around showing their plumage in all its glory. (Credit: Jose Juan
Hernandez Martinez, Spain.)
