How many species are there? How many species do we share…
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How many species are there?
How many species do we share our planet with?
It's such a basic, fundamental question to understanding the world around us. Some researchers have even mused that it would be among the first questions visitors from another planet would ask us.
It's almost unthinkable that we would not know this number, or at least have a good estimate. But the truth is, it's a question where the world’s taxonomists produce very different estimates.
An important distinction is how many species we have *identified and described* versus how many species there actually are.
As the chart explains, we've only identified a small fraction of the world's species, so these numbers are very different.
The honest answer to the question “How many species are there?” is that we don’t really know.
#education
source
How many species do we share our planet with?
It's such a basic, fundamental question to understanding the world around us. Some researchers have even mused that it would be among the first questions visitors from another planet would ask us.
It's almost unthinkable that we would not know this number, or at least have a good estimate. But the truth is, it's a question where the world’s taxonomists produce very different estimates.
An important distinction is how many species we have *identified and described* versus how many species there actually are.
As the chart explains, we've only identified a small fraction of the world's species, so these numbers are very different.
The honest answer to the question “How many species are there?” is that we don’t really know.
#education
source
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