Built to feed exclusively on corals like this spindly gorgonian, a translucent 1.7-inch-long (4.3-centimeter-long) Phyllodesmium iriomotense houses its branching digestive gland within tentacle-like cerata—outgrowths the animal can shed if under attack. This species is one of the few colorless nudibranchs.
Twelve-year-old male lion brothers Tonyi, left, and Tombo lie with each other at Werribee Open Range Zoo, 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Melbourne, Australia, in September 2008. Werribee Open Range Zoo occupies 225 hectares (556 acres) of land, which allows visitors in safari buses to get closer to animals. The photographs were taken by a camera in a hide and triggered remotely.
A Japanese macaque swims in a geothermal hot spring in the mountains of Japan. Throughout the day these monkeys can be seen playing, grooming, and relaxing in the steaming waters in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
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