How many living things are there on the planet?
How many living things are there on the planet?
It is very difficult to imagine how many species of plants, animals and other creatures there are on Earth.
Consider the swallowtail butterfly. It is just one of many species of butterfly, and butterflies are only one type of insects.
In the world today, scientists know of:
About 600 species of swallowtail butterfly
... but this is only one group of butterflies
About 16,000 species of butterfllies
... but we haven't included the moths!
About 165,000 species of butterflies and moths
... but this is only one group of insects
About 1,000,000 species of known insects
... but insects are only one type of arthropod
About 1,075,000 species of arthropods
... but arthropods are only one type of animal
About 1,500,000 species of animals
... but animals are only one type of living thing
About 70,000 species of fungi
About 400,000 species of plants
And at least 140,000 species of protists
... but there is one more type of living thing:
Scientists cannot begin to imagine how many bacteria there are!
When you consider how many living things there are 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 ID explains more about the organisation and classification of the animal kingdom.
