Amongst all the heartbreaking news stories from this year, 2015 has also featured some extremely weird and wonderful headlines.

And to celebrate the diverse news stories from around the world, Barcroft Media have compiled a collection of the most jaw-dropping and eye-popping photographs snapped this year. Some are incredible feats of nature, others are spectacular displays of stupidity, but if one thing is for sure, we live in a remarkable world;

1. An elephant at the Sabi Sands Game Reserve tries to fight off a crocodile after the reptile clamped down on his trunk:

2. A man and his pet dog put on a hilarious synchronised dive in Malta:

3. This is Thalia Almodavar from Queens, New York. No prizes for guessing who she makes a living impersonating;

3. World-record breaking Shemika Charles becomes the first person to shimmy under a car:

4. I lion scrambled up a tree after being confronted by a herd of buffalo. Taken in Maasai Mara, Kenya:

5. 4ft 5in dwarf basketball, Jahmani Swanson, is known as the “Michael Jordan of dwarves”:

6. Joelison Fernandes, 29, suffers fro gigantism. Here he is with his girlfriend:

7. This image is made of from dozens of photographs, and creates a Biblical scene over Johannesburg, South Africa:

8. Miraj, 11, works away at a tannery in Dhaka, Bangladesh:

9. Volcanic eruption at Mt. Etna’s Vorgaine crater in Sicily:

10. A supercell cloud mushroom forming with a blood orange sunset in the background is captured in Bledsoe, Texas:

11. A very flexible green tree from is captured doing a pull-up in Indonesia:

12. A surfer wipes out on a 12 metre-high wave in Maul, Hawaii:

13. Bhupen Chandra Das, from Assam, India, attempts to break the world record for the most number of needles inserted in a human face:

14. Zuly Sanguine applying her make-up in Bogota, Columbia. The 25-year-old suffers from a rare genetic condition which means she has no arms or legs:

15. Meet Hulk, the 175lb from New Hampshire:

16. Jaspreet Singh Kalra, from India, shows off his impressive – and creepy – flexibility:

17. Adventurer, Sam Cossman, dons a custom proximity heat suit as he abseils down a huge lava lake in Vanuatu:

18. Romario dos Santos Alves is a Brazilian bodybuilding enthusiast, and injected oil into his arms in order to look like the Incredible Hulk:

19. 18-year-old, Adrianne Lewis from Michigan believes she has the world’s longest tongue at a whopping 4 inches:

20. Pixee Fox, 25, had six ribs removed in order to look like Jessica Rabbit:

21. Ashley Kuriel, 32, suffers from Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, a genetic condition which is causing her muscles to turn into bone. It has already claimed her right arm, and will soon paralyse her:

22. Bunny’s Gym in Winchester, Tennessee has some incredible young cage fighters:

23. Eda Maybury, 25, weighs 260lb, but is still able to move gracefully for her pole-dancing:

24. “The Butterfly Boy”, 14-year-old Jonathan Pitre, suffers from Epidermolysis Bullosa, a condition which makes his skin fall away at the slightest knock:

25.

26. A tiny multicoloured frog hitches a ride on a bright yellow snail in Indonesia:

27. Despite being born with no legs, Kaya Sesser form California was determined to become a successful model and sports personality:

28. A turbocharged off-road vehicle performs a spectacular jump through the second storey of a derelict building:

29. At the Kruger National Park, South Africa, a lion makes a kill amongst a host of cars:

30. Model, Melanie Gaydos, has been incredibly successful, despite suffering from a condition which leaves her hair, teeth and skin undeveloped:

31. In Sudan, two armed guards defend the world’s last remaining male white rhino:

And I think to myself, “what a wonderful world”…