Commons:Potd/2011-12 (de)

English : Map of Scandinavia, the Baltic states, northernmost part of current Germany, and parts of Poland and Russia, by Johann Baptist Homann, about 1730.

English : Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca sexta), found in Urbana, Illinois, USA

English : The Spinning Dancer is a kinetic, bistable optical illusion resembling a pirouetting female dancer. Some observers initially see the figure as spinning clockwise and some counterclockwise. Additionally, some may see the figure suddenly spin in the opposite direction. The illusion derives from an inherent ambiguity from the lack of visual cues for depth.

English : American crocodile in La Manzanilla swamp, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

English : Notre-Dame de Senlis cathedral (Oise, France). Detail of the stained glass in the chapel of Saint-Louis, made in 1863 by Claude Lavergne.

English : Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)

English : Flora fountain at the Park of Versailles (France), with the goddess sitting on a bed of flowers (anemones, roses, cornflowers and heliotropes), and four erotes crowned with wild roses and linked by garlands of flowers. Sculptures in gilded lead by Jean-Baptiste Tuby (1672–1679), part of the basin series after the Four Seasons. Seen from the alley of Flora and Ceres.

English : Oberaargletscher as seen from Oberaar, Bern, Switzerland

English : Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)

English : The Poeke Castle (Aalter, East Flanders, Belgium)

English : A model of a typical paint valve system with a "female" valve, the stem being part of the top actuator. This type has no valve cup. The left part shows the spray in closed state, while the right side shows the pressed/open state, to illustrate the functionality.

1. Orifice insert
2. Actuator
3. Gasket
4. Stem
5. Valve
6. Spring cup
7. Spring
8. Valve Housing
9. Dip tube

English : Tiger beetle (Lophyra sp.) pictured in Kibaha, Tanzania.

English : Petit Piton, iconic mountain on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

English : Asperitas inquinata penidae, Dyakiidae; Diameter 3,3 cm; Originating from Nusa Lembogan Island near Bali, Indonesia; Shell of own collection, therefore not geocoded.

English : Robin Hunicke, producer at videogame developer thatgamecompany.

English : The metrostation of Hakaniemi, Helsinki, Finland.

English : Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha).

English : White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, Quebec, Canada.

English : Plioplatecarpus sp. (most probably Plioplatecarpus ictericus), Mosasauridae; Length ca. 5,5 m; Niobrara formation, Upper Cretaceous, Kansas, USA; Composite of at least two skeletons; Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany.

English : Römer (city hall) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

English : Therevidae are a family of Diptera Asiloidea commonly known as stiletto flies. The family contains about 1,600 described species worldwide, most diverse in arid and semi-arid regions with sandy soils.

English : MS Maersk Elba container ship (at Gdańsk Deepwater Container Terminal). At the time this picture was taken, Maersk Elba was the biggest vessel ever to have entered the Baltic Sea. It has since been superseded by MS Eleonora Maersk.