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1ST PLACE | Two Julia Butterflies drink the tears of turtles in Ecuador.  The turtles placidly permit the butterflies to sip from their eyes as they bask on a log. This "tear-feeding" is a phenomenon known as lachryphagy.  amalavida.tv (CC BY-SA 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:A_butterfly_feeding_on_the_tears_of_a_turtle_in_Ecuador.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

1ST PLACE | Two Julia Butterflies drink the tears of turtles in Ecuador. The turtles placidly permit the butterflies to sip from their eyes as they bask on a log. This "tear-feeding" is a phenomenon known as lachryphagy. amalavida.tv (CC BY-SA 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:A_butterfly_feeding_on_the_tears_of_a_turtle_in_Ecuador.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

1ST PLACE | Two Julia Butterflies drink the tears of turtles in Ecuador.  The turtles placidly permit the butterflies to sip from their eyes as they bask on a log. This "tear-feeding" is a phenomenon known as lachryphagy.  amalavida.tv (CC BY-SA 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:A_butterfly_feeding_on_the_tears_of_a_turtle_in_Ecuador.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

1ST PLACE | Two Julia Butterflies drink the tears of turtles in Ecuador. The turtles placidly permit the butterflies to sip from their eyes as they bask on a log. This "tear-feeding" is a phenomenon known as lachryphagy. amalavida.tv (CC BY-SA 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:A_butterfly_feeding_on_the_tears_of_a_turtle_in_Ecuador.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

7TH PLACE | Hills and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, at the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Carlos Perez Couto (CC BY-SA 3.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Amanhecer_no_Hercules_--.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

7TH PLACE | Hills and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, at the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Carlos Perez Couto (CC BY-SA 3.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Amanhecer_no_Hercules_--.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

6TH PLACE | Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 in emission nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The image is a frame mosaic taken with 5 different filters, standard Red – Green – Blue with details enhanced with narrowband data of Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) and O III. The Hα was color-mapped to red and the O III to teal. So it is a representative color image consisting of over 900 minutes of exposure time. Ken Crawford (CC BY-SA 3.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Barnard_33.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

6TH PLACE | Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 in emission nebula IC 434) is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The image is a frame mosaic taken with 5 different filters, standard Red – Green – Blue with details enhanced with narrowband data of Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) and O III. The Hα was color-mapped to red and the O III to teal. So it is a representative color image consisting of over 900 minutes of exposure time. Ken Crawford (CC BY-SA 3.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Barnard_33.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

8TH PLACE | Head of a Calliphora vicina, face view. The face of insect form, layout, and ratios. Have to download and print to really see the details on this bad boy. Found near the Mall in downtown D.C. Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200. USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab (CC BY 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Calliphora_vicina,_u,_Face,_DC_2014-04-24_-17.46.02_ZS_PMax_-_USGS_Bee_Inventory_and_Monitoring_Laboratory.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

8TH PLACE | Head of a Calliphora vicina, face view. The face of insect form, layout, and ratios. Have to download and print to really see the details on this bad boy. Found near the Mall in downtown D.C. Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200. USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab (CC BY 2.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Calliphora_vicina,_u,_Face,_DC_2014-04-24_-17.46.02_ZS_PMax_-_USGS_Bee_Inventory_and_Monitoring_Laboratory.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] ()

10TH PLACE | A Cheetah silhouetted against a fiery sunset, in the Oakavango Delta, in Botswana.  Arturo de Frias Marques (CC BY-SA 4.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Cheetah_at_Sunset.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

10TH PLACE | A Cheetah silhouetted against a fiery sunset, in the Oakavango Delta, in Botswana. Arturo de Frias Marques (CC BY-SA 4.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Cheetah_at_Sunset.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

11TH PLACE | Sunrise in morning mist near Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. © Dietmar Rabich, <a href="http://www.rabich.de/" target=_blank>rabich.de</a>, CC BY-SA 4.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:D%C3%BClmen,_Umland,_Sonnenaufgang_--_2012_--_9.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

11TH PLACE | Sunrise in morning mist near Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. © Dietmar Rabich, <a href="http://www.rabich.de/" target=_blank>rabich.de</a>, CC BY-SA 4.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:D%C3%BClmen,_Umland,_Sonnenaufgang_--_2012_--_9.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia Commons)

12TH PLACE | A U.S. Marine Corps C-130T Hercules aircraft with the Blue Angels, the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, flies over Marines with the Silent Drill Platoon at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., March 4, 2014.

12TH PLACE | A U.S. Marine Corps C-130T Hercules aircraft with the Blue Angels, the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, flies over Marines with the Silent Drill Platoon at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., March 4, 2014. (Oscar L. Olive IV/U.S. Marine Corps)

4TH PLACE | Nakhi people carrying the typical baskets of the region; scene from a public performance in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Open Air Theatre in Lijiang, Yunnan, China. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC-BY-SA-3.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lijiang_Yunnan_China-Naxi-people-carrying-baskets-01.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

4TH PLACE | Nakhi people carrying the typical baskets of the region; scene from a public performance in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Open Air Theatre in Lijiang, Yunnan, China. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC-BY-SA-3.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lijiang_Yunnan_China-Naxi-people-carrying-baskets-01.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

9TH PLACE | Pair of Mandarins, at Martin Mere, Lancashire, UK. © Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Mandarin_Pair.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

9TH PLACE | Pair of Mandarins, at Martin Mere, Lancashire, UK. © Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0 [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Mandarin_Pair.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

2ND PLACE | An Emperor Penguin in Antarctica jumping out of the water. [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Penguin_in_Antarctica_jumping_out_of_the_water.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

2ND PLACE | An Emperor Penguin in Antarctica jumping out of the water. [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Penguin_in_Antarctica_jumping_out_of_the_water.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Christopher Michel via Wikimedia commons)

5TH PLACE | A frame-filling portrait of a male polar bear jumping in the pack ice. The young male, probably due to a mix of curiosity and hunger, got really close to our ship - less than 20 meters - in Svalbard, Norway. [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Polar_Bear_AdF.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

5TH PLACE | A frame-filling portrait of a male polar bear jumping in the pack ice. The young male, probably due to a mix of curiosity and hunger, got really close to our ship - less than 20 meters - in Svalbard, Norway. [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:Polar_Bear_AdF.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Arturo de Frias Marques via Wikimedia commons)

3RD PLACE | High above Tocopilla, Chile, one of SQMs Boxcabs coasts downhill to the Reverso switchback. Kabelleger / David Gubler (CC BY-SA 4.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:SQM_GE_289A_Boxcab_Carmelita_-_Reverso.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>]

3RD PLACE | High above Tocopilla, Chile, one of SQMs Boxcabs coasts downhill to the Reverso switchback. Kabelleger / David Gubler (CC BY-SA 4.0) [<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2014/Results#/media/File:SQM_GE_289A_Boxcab_Carmelita_-_Reverso.jpg" target=_blank>Original image</a>] (Wikimedia commons)

The Wikimedia community gathered around once again to vote on the top images featured on the enormously popular Wikipedia.org over the last year.

More editors than ever – the competition is in its 9th year -- participated in the voting. The voting itself may have moved faster than the top subject: a pair of turtles with butterflies drinking their tears. Rounding out this year’s top dozen was U.S. Marine Corps photographer Oscar L. Olive IV. He captured a truly impressive scene: Marines with the Silent Drill Platoon lined up perfectly as a C-130 Hercules thunders overhead.

Check out all of the winners in this gallery, courtesy of the Creative Commons licenses granted by each photographer.

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