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Now in its second year, the competition again received over 1000 entries, and winning photographer Imre Potyó faced tough competition from images showcasing a wide range of the Earth’s complex ecosystems and environments

All of the winners, runners up and specially commended photographs are included below, and can also be viewed here at the Royal Society in a special free exhibition on 17th and 18th September and on our online gallery.

Imre Potyó: Dancing with stars – Overall winner and Winner: Behaviour

Imre Potyó: Dancing with stars – Overall winner and Winner: Behaviour

Tane Sinclair-Taylor: In a world without colour – Winner: Ecology and Environmental Biology

Tane Sinclair-Taylor: In a world without colour – Winner: Ecology and Environmental Biology

María Carbajo Sánchez: In balance – Winner: Micro imaging

María Carbajo Sánchez: In balance – Winner: Micro imaging

 Nick Robertson-Brown Departing eagle ray – Winner Evolutionary Biology

Nick Robertson-Brown Departing eagle ray – Winner Evolutionary Biology

Jonathan Diaz-Marba: In search of food – Runner up: Behaviour

Jonathan Diaz-Marba: In search of food – Runner up: Behaviour

Tyler Square: The spiralled snake axis – Runner up: Micro imaging

Tyler Square: The spiralled snake axis – Runner up: Micro imaging

Tegwen Gadais: Les artistes – Runner up: Ecology and Environmental Biology

Tegwen Gadais: Les artistes – Runner up: Ecology and Environmental Biology

Fredrik Pleijel: Polychaetous worm with engine and wagons – Runner up: Evolutionary Biology

Fredrik Pleijel: Polychaetous worm with engine and wagons – Runner up: Evolutionary Biology

Alexandre Bonnefoy: Fubuki (snow storm) – Special commendation

Alexandre Bonnefoy: Fubuki (snow storm) – Special commendation

Mark Cowan: Butterflies and caiman – Special commendation

Mark Cowan: Butterflies and caiman – Special commendation

Claire Collins: Carbon nanotube jellyfish – Special commendation

Claire Collins: Carbon nanotube jellyfish – Special commendation

Prasenjeet Yadav: Speeding divergence – Special commendation (Publisher’s choice)

Prasenjeet Yadav: Speeding divergence – Special commendation (Publisher’s choice)

The competition is a collaborative project run by all of the Royal Society’s biological science journals: Biology Letters, Interface, Open Biology, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Royal Society Open Science. The competition was judged on a dual criteria of aesthetic beauty and scientific interest by a panel of judges: Alex Badyaev, David Maitland, Ulrike Muller and Claire Spottiswoode. For more information about the Royal Society Publishing photography competition, and to view all of the shortlisted photographs please visit https://royalsociety.org/journals/publishing-activities/photo-competition/.

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