A new scientific initiative aims to make a map of all the places on Earth where undiscovered species could live.
In the midst of the global biodiversity crisis, such a study may be a crucial opportunity to identify and save species that are permanently threatened with extinction.
“Estimates show that only 13 to 18 percent of the species that live on Earth could be as yet undiscovered, although the percentages may be much lower,” say Yale University scientists. “Without taking them into account and without international agreements targeting them, they could be completely lost.”
Thus, the researchers created a model, extrapolating the areas where they believe that there could be terrestrial vertebrates today, based on biological, environmental and sociological factors associated with over 32,000 specimens they already know. What they discovered, in short, was that large animals that live over a wide geographical area most likely do not have cousins or other “relatives” that we do not already know. By contrast, however, small animals found in less accessible areas could give clues about a multitude of invertebrates that have not yet been discovered and have not been included on the global “map” of life.
One of the assumptions is that among terrestrial vertebrates, amphibians and reptiles are among the most abundant species of animals that have remained unknown to date.
Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Colombia are the countries with the most undiscovered vertebrate animals.
The data is important because many scientists believe the sixth mass extinction is already underway, and mankind will be unable to save these living beings if it fails to research them.
The results were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, and you can see a version of the map of undiscovered organisms here.
