Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?
It is very difficult to imagine how many species of plants, animals and other creatures there are on the planet.
Consider the swallowtail butterfly. It is just one of many butterflies, and butterflies are only one type of insect...
In the world today...
There are about 600 species of swallowtail butterflyBut this is only one group of butterflies
There are about 16,000 species of butterfly
But we haven't included the moths!
But we haven't included the moths!
There are about 165,000 species of butterfly and moth
But this is only one group of insects
But this is only one group of insects
There are about 1,000,000 species of known insects
But insects are only one type of arthropod
But insects are only one type of arthropod
There are about 1,075,000 species of arthropod
But arthropods are only one type of animal
But arthropods are only one type of animal
There are about 1,500,000 species of animal
But animals are only one type of living thing
But animals are only one type of living thing
There are about 70,000 species of fungi
There are about 400,000 species of plant
And there are at least 140,000 species of 'protist'
There are about 400,000 species of plant
And there are at least 140,000 species of 'protist'
But there is one more type of living thing...
Scientists cannot begin to imagine how many bacteria there are!
Scientists cannot begin to imagine how many bacteria there are!
When you consider how many living things there on the planet, you can begin to understand the importance of classification. Classification helps scientists organise the diversity of life on Earth.
The rest of Animal I.D. explains more about the organisation and classification of the animal kingdom.
