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Socotran house. Native men sitting inside a traditional building on Socotra Island. Socotra is located in the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, 340 kilometres (km) from mainland Yemen and 250km from the coast of Somalia. This isolation has led to the evolution of a unique flora and fauna. Strict rules govern the use of endemic plants in the construction of houses on the island, in an effort to safeguard their survival. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/DICCON ALEXANDER)