David Polly, vertebrate paleontologist extraordinaire, keeps an eye out for living organisms as well, but turns out his specialty really is the dead ones. Here’s the story: “Ironically I was trying to photograph a live anole on the University of Florida campus [in Gainesville] who was annoyingly reclusive while trying to avoid a swarm of ants. The Anolis escaped so I turned attention to the ants, who turned out to be engaged in Anolis reanimation.”

Jonathan Losos