Planet Earth is home to millions of species, scientists estimate

[sianrose]

Species count put at 8.7 million The natural world in numbers Animals: 7.77 million (12% described) Fungi: 0.61 million (7% described) Plants: 0.30 million (70% described) Protozoa: 0.04 million (22% described) Chromists: 0.03 million (50% described) The natural world contains about 8.7 million species, according to a new estimate described by scientists as the most accurate ever. But the vast majority have not been identified - and cataloguing them all could take more than 1,000 years. The number comes from studying relationships between the branches and leaves of the "family tree of life". The team warns in the journal PLoS Biology that many species will become extinct before they can be studied. Although the number of species on the planet might seem an obvious figure to know, a way to calculate it with confidence has been elusive. In a commentary also carried in PLoS Biology, former Royal Society president Lord (Robert) May observes: "It is a remarkable testament to humanity's narcissism that we know the number of books in the US Library of Congress on 1 February 2011 was 22,194,656, but cannot tell you - to within an order of magnitude - how many distinct species of plants and animals we share our world with."

full article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14616161

Edited Thursday at 04:21 PM by trottigy

[Dages]

This makes me think of Noah's Ark...

[sianrose]

I liked the part ...

But the vast majority have not been identified - and cataloguing them all could take more than 1,000 years.

and some people say living forever would be boring...we haven't even started to live yet...

[Dages]

YES !

And, I have read an article about Radioactivity... a few years ago... that claimed that i will take 1000 years for Earth to clean itself of all our garbage, radioactive waste.

[trottigy]

Here is an updated article on the number of species:

 

https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/how-many-animals-are-in-the-world/

 

Quote

Top 10 Most Startling Stats

• Of the Total of 8.7 Million Species, 2.16 Million Are Animal
• 68.7% of All Animals Are Invertebrates
• More Than 75,923 Vertebrate Species Have Been Identified
• The Estimated Species of Insects Is 1.053 million
• The Described Species of Birds and Reptiles are 11,195 and 12,263, Respectively
• About 6,736 Described Species of Mammals Exist in the World
• Approximately 300 Species of Amphibians Are Found in the US
• The Estimated Number of Fish in the World Is 3.5 Trillion
• 86% and 91% of All the Land and Sea Species Respectively Have Not Been Discovered

 

And my most interesting stat:

 

• There Is a Greater No. of Chickens on the Earth Than Humans