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Ever wonder why lions star in ancient stories and myths from all over the world, yet are only found in scattered pockets of sub-Saharan Africa? It's because these proud predators once had a much wider swath to stalk. Long ago, lions were found not only throughout Africa, but across South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe—possibly as far north as France. Though the passing of millennia has seen lions' numbers dwindle, their regal image still captivates people everywhere—even though these powerful cats are only active four hours a day, spending the rest of it resting like this king.

The loamy soil in this part of Wyoming is an excellent place for American badgers to make their homes. And judging by the sandy snout on this badger, it appears that burrowing is just what this critter has been up to. Badgers live in underground dens called setts, which they sometimes inherit from their parents. Some setts can be extensive, with several entrances leading to a network of long tunnels. Badgers are ideally adapted for tunneling into soft terrain, whether they're home-building or foraging for prey. Conical heads, strong forelimbs, and large front claws aid in the scratch-digging process. (And from the look of our friend here, it appears they'd rather not have anyone inspecting their handiwork.)

Arches National Park is best known for its sandstone geological formations, which have been changing slowly since the time of the dinosaurs and are still changing today.

Found north of Copenhagen on Denmark’s Øresund strait, Bellevue Beach is the result of a 1930’s government directive guaranteeing vacations. Where to spend this mandated time off? The shore is always a good idea, and the young Danish architect Arne Jacobsen won a competition to design pretty much everything for the new resort at Bellevue Beach. From ticket stubs to the performing arts center, the young Jacobsen had a hand in it all, and much of his work is still intact and enjoyed at this beach today, including this long-legged and whimsical lifeguard tower.

The mighty Brooks Range marks a 700-mile-long continental drainage divide in North America's far northern reaches. Here, rivers running north empty into the Arctic Ocean, while those running south flow into the Yukon River. This remote massif is estimated to be 126 million years old and contains a rich fossil record of the ancient seabed it once was. Found among the tundra and stands of spruce trees are fossilized corals from the Cambrian period. The mountains also teem with living wildlife, with a portion of the range lying within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Abuja is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory, it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Planning Associates, a consortium of three American planning and architecture firms made up of Wallace, Roberts, McHarg & Todd as the lead, Archisystems International, and Planning Research Corporation. The Central Business District of Abuja was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. It replaced Lagos, the country's most populous city, as the capital on 12 December 1991.