With Nikon about to announce the winners of the 2015 Small World Competition, we thought we'd round up some of our favourite entries! The competition includes some of the best microphotography images from around the world, giving us the opportunity to marvel at things too small for the naked eye to see.
While not restricted to wildlife, there are still plenty of shots of the teeny-tiny natural world. From the hairs on a beetle’s back to a baby starfish, these images are truly something spectacular.
Mouse embryo, 10.5 days old. Image: Jace Artichoker, Rochester Institute of Technology/Nikon Small Worlds
Leaf cross section of a water lily leaf bud (Nupha lutea). Image: Dr. David Maitland, Feltwell, United Kingdom/Nikon Small Worlds.
Juvenile starfish. Image: Evan Darling, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Nikon Small Worlds
Tentacles of a carnivorous plant (Drosera sp.) Image:
Water flea (Alona guttata) Image: Jacek Myslowski, Wloclawek, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland/Nikon Small Worlds
Ostrich fern cross section. Image: Anatoly Mikhaltsov, Omsk, Russia/Nikon Small Worlds
Sea urchin skin. Image: Skin of a sea urchin (Synapta) containing plates and anchors composed of calcareous (chalky) material.
Radula (rasping feeding structure) of an aquatic Limpet. Image:
Antenna of a male moth (Anisota sp.) Image: Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Janelia Farm Research Campus, Leonardo Lab/Nikon Small Worlds
Planktonic larva of a horseshoe worm (phoronid). Image: Dr. Richard R. Kirby, Marine Biological Association Plymouth, United Kingdom/Nikon Small Worlds
Vascular bundles of the papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) plant. Image:
Mites on insect pupa. Image:
The optic fiber layer of a mouse retina. Thomas Derrick, University of California, San Diego/Nikn Small Worlds
Eye of a honey bee (Apis mellifera) covered in dandelion pollen. Image:
Top header image: Dr. Joseph Parker/Nikon Small Worlds
Funny
Film and Photo
Natural World
