Taxonomy

Analysis and Comment (9)

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The lack of biological information about some species may be keeping them off the IUCN critically endangered list. Mariana Campbell

Protecting endangered species we don’t know much about

By Hamish Campbell

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) uses set criteria to define species extinction risk. At the pointy end of the wedge, species are classed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Overall…
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There are roughly 5 million species on earth. Most are insects. Roger Smith

We can name all of Earth’s species, but we may have to hurry

By Nigel Stork, Griffith University

There has been enormous uncertainty amongst the scientific community on just how many species there are on Earth and how rapidly we are losing them through extinction. Given that taxonomists have described…
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Taxonomists are in the business of classifying the life we see around us – plant, animal and otherwise. Gnilenkov Aleksey

Explainer: what is biological classification?

By Gerry Cassis

For taxonomists, days often start – and sometimes end – with the question: what’s that? Whether you’re an entomologist, staring at a new species of riffle bug from a rainforest stream, or a paleontologist…
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It’s time for a change in the way we categorise life on Earth. ஆ ன ந் த ம் / a n a n d h a m

DNA barcoding: a better way to discover species

By Stefan Caddy-Retalic and Andrew Lowe

It might surprise you to learn that the idea of a “species” is one of the more ambiguous concepts in science. Originally, “species” (meaning “kind” or “sort” in Latin) was used to refer to organisms that…
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What’s in a name? A whole lot of booty, and some Latin, as it happens. asterix611

Beyoncé is a fly … but why?

By Beth Mantle, CSIRO

Late last week CSIRO announced that a new species of horse fly had been named after pop diva Beyoncé’s bottom. The story generated a real buzz across traditional and social media both in Australia and…
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Estimates on the possible number of species vary wildly. Holger Hollerman/AFP

8.7 million species now estimated on Earth (and then some)

By Gerry Cassis

An estimated 8.7 million species exist on Earth, according to a paper published today in PLoS Biology. The figure is based on a new validated analytical technique that, it’s said, significantly narrows…

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