Caimans at Night, Brazil

After the caimans emerged at dusk, the photographer was reminded of an earlier encounter. At 15 he went with his dad to look for the crocs by flashlight: “The image of their eyes glowing like stars in a dark sky is something I will never forget.”

Bonobo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The bonobo, once called the pygmy chimpanzee, is a unique species of ape, native only to forests on the left bank of the Congo River. Recent research casts new light on their sexual and other behavior.

Manatees, Florida

Manatees swim close to the water's surface because they are air-breathing mammals. They use their stiff facial bristles to guide food into their mouths.

Muskoxen, Wrangel Island

Two bull muskoxen size each other up. In September, with mating season under way, bulls engage in frequent head-butting confrontations to establish dominance.

Japanese White-Eye, Taiwan

A Japanese white-eye clings to a branch in Taiwan. This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Giraffe, Tanzania

I was sitting on the grass photographing a powerful sunset when I looked back to see this curious giraffe slowly approaching. The distant storm was glowing with the last light of the day, and as I lifted my camera, the giraffe froze for one photo before turning toward the hills of Mikumi, Tanzania. This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Reef Manta Ray, Bali

A reef manta ray dwarfs a researcher in the waters off of Nusa Penida, near Bali. "On one special day we encountered dozens of reef manta rays feeding at the surface in Nusa Penida," Marine Megafauna Foundation cofounder and National Geographic explorer Andrea Marshall says. "When these giant animals feed they are distracted, and snorkelers can approach them quite closely without disturbing them. It is almost like they go into a trance. "This individual spent about a half an hour with us, in quite shallow water, weaving in and out between us while feeding on densely concentrated plankton in the surface waters," she says. "As it approached me it reared up a bit and flashed its ventral surface (belly) at me, giving me a glimpse of its natural spot patterning on its underside, which we use to identify between different rays." Marshall and her team recently created Manta Matcher, an automated online manta ray database. It "stores the patterning of each manta ray sighted across the world and automatically checks for a match every time a new entry is uploaded," Marshall says. "This system will allow researchers to follow the lives of these elusive animals and learn more about their movements and behavior over time."