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Tim Laman

| Wildlife Photojournalist

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Fig Trees: Borneo’s Strangler Fig Trees

  • A young rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) tosses up a fig from a strangler fig tree (Ficus dubia) before swallowing it. Lowland rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo.
  • A strangler fig tree with roots wrapped around its host tree in a canopy level view in the rain forest of Borneo.
  • Cross section of a fig from the Strangler Fig (Ficus stupenda1) Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia.
  • A red-crowned barbet (Megalaima rafflesii) eats a strangler fig
  • Researcher Cheryl Knott climbs a rope into a giant canopy tree with stranger fig tree roots growing down its side. Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia.
  • Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) in flight. Gunung Palung N.P., Borneo, Indonesia.
  • Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fasicularis) in a Strangler fig tree (Ficus sp.) ladened with ripe figs on which macaques feed.
  • Moss-covered roots of the Strangler fig tree (Ficus caulocarpa), which surround its host in what appears to be scaffolding.
  • A Bornean White-bearded Gibbon (Hylobates albibarbis) with young clinging to her as she swings through the rai n forest canopy in search of strangler figs to eat. Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, Indonesia.
  • Lowland rain forest with morning mist in Gunung Palung National Park, Borneo, taken from high in the canopy.
  • A Polyrhachis ant discards a morsel of strangler fig pulp from its nest after extracting the seeds to eat later.
  • A Polyrhacis ant on a strangler fig leaf.
  • A butterfly sips juice from a fig.
  • Seed of the Bornean ironwood tree shown dwarfing the size of the barely visible seed of a strangler fig tree.
  • Root tips of a Giant strangler fig tree (Ficus stupenda) creep down and traverse the trunk of a host tree. Though never sapping it of nutrients, it will stifle the host’s growth as the roots meet and fuse together.
  • Seedling of the Giant strangler fig tree (Ficus stupenda) sprouts on the moss and mulch covered floor of the rain forest.
  • A male fighting wasp, also an opportunist, emerges from a fig. His enlarged mandibles may have served him inside in a battle over mates, but-winner or los er-he will take only a step or two before he dies.
  • A young female gravid wasp covered with pollen, wriggles through a tunnel opened by a male that has hatched before her in a strangler fig
  • A female gravid wasp after having mated in a strangler fig and emerged, flies off to another fig guided by chemical attractions to begin the life cycle anew.
  • This female gravid wasp will use her long ovipositor to lay her eggs without ever entering or pollinating the fig.

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Latest from Instagram:

Chasing rainbows and diving the word’s richest c Chasing rainbows and diving the word’s richest coral reefs…. Since today is World Biodiversity Day, I wanted to share some video from one of my favorite places - the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia.  I’ve always been drawn to the planet’s most diverse habitats - rain forests and coral reefs.  I’m fascinated by the diversity of life forms that they can support, and the wonders of evolution that created all that diversity, and the mystery of how it all coexists.  It’s fascinating and wonderful to spend time in these places.  I’ve devoted my career to telling the stories of wild places like this and the creatures that inhabit them, and spreading the word on the importance of protecting nature.  Raja Ampat has been documented to have the highest diversity of corals and fish of any place in the world. 

Thanks for your interest and support, and I hope that together we can make a difference for the wild places and biodiversity of our planet that is worth saving in its own right, but also critical for a healthy planet!

And take note fellow underwater photographers.  There is still space on our photo workshop this August in Raja Ampat if you want to experience this amazing place and work on your photography.  Follow the link in my bio for details.  Responsible eco-tourism helps to protect these reefs.

Video by @TimLaman and @RussLaman.  #WorldBiodiversityDay, #CoralReefs, #RajaAmpatIslands, #ProtectOurPlanet, #MarineConservation, #OceanBiodiversity, #IndonesiaNature, #UnderwaterParadise, #ConservingCoralReefs, #SustainableTourism, #BiodiversityHotspot, #ExploreIndonesia @papua_explorers

Welcome

Welcome to TimLaman.com. I’m a photographer, filmmaker, and field biologist with a passion for exploring our natural world. I hope you enjoy this website, and you can also sign up for my newsletter “Wildlife Diaries” at right to get updates on my latest adventures, photo tips, and news from the field.

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