Speak of Survival of the Fittest

The spider tree: Millions of arachnids escape rising floodwater in one of 12 stunning photographs for National Geographic competition

The bonobo chimpanzee stares blankly at the camera, the stingray swims beautifully under the waters surface and the baby kangaroo pokes its head out from mothers pouch. These astonishing pictures in a prestigious photography competition show the beauty of weird and wonderful nature on Earth.

A lynx can be seen flinching its ear at bothersome gnats in Alaska, a gecko appears startled at a photographers presence in Hawaii and Australian Sea lions play in the shallows of Hopkins Island. And in Pakistan millions of spiders were pictured having climbed up into trees to escape rising flood waters.

We want to challenge photographers to capture true moments enhanced by composition, lighting and mood - without enhancement through digital effects, photo stitches, HDR and fisheye lenses, National Geographic magazines executive editor for photography Kurt Mutchler said.

The National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 and is one of the worlds largest non-profit science and educational groups, reaching around 400 million people every month. The winner of National Geographics 2011 Photography Contest receives prize money of $10,000. Here are 12 entries...