Wet weather has helped a new population of one of the UK's most ancient creatures to hatch in the south of Scotland.
The tadpole shrimp - a relative of one of the oldest known animal species in the world - has been returned to RSPB Scotland's Mersehead Reserve in Dumfries and Galloway after more than 75 years.
It is only the third population of the shrimp in the UK - the other two are at the nearby Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) site at Caerlaverock and the New Forest in Hampshire.
In the summers of 2024 and 2025, tadpole shrimp eggs were introduced at Mersehead and recent rains have helped to provide the necessary rehydration for them to hatch.
The last official record of the species at the site was in 1948.
