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Estimated Number of Animal and Plant Species on Earth

Believe it or not, there are about 950,000 species of insects

No one knows for sure how many species of animals exist on Earth. In fact, some 10,000 species of animals are discovered each year, with over one and a half million species already described. Projections for the total number of species on Earth range from 2 million to 50 million.

Animal group Number of species
Vertebrates
Amphibians 6,199
Birds 9,956
Fish 30,000
Mammals 5,416
Reptiles 8,240
Subtotal 59,811
Invertebrates
Insects 950,000
Molluscs 81,000
Crustaceans 40,000
Corals 2,175
Others 130,200
Subtotal 1,203,375
Plants
Mosses 15,000
Ferns and allies 13,025
Gymnosperms 980
Dicotyledons 199,350
Monocotyledons 59,300
Green Algae 3,715
Red Algae 5,956
Subtotal 297,326
Others
Lichens 10,000
Mushrooms 16,000
Brown Algae 2,849
Subtotal 28,849
Total 1,589,361
Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) 2007 Red List.

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Animals on the Job Ways of Life

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