An Ocean Census
Most people will recognize the two-part naming system for animals, with a generic name and species name. Homo sapiens, or human beings, is the most parochial example. Fewer people will remember that this naming system was developed by Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist, in the 1700s, as a way to categorize all life. With a few modifications, Linnaeus’ system, and mission, are with us today.
Here’s a link to an interesting article from Yahoo News:
The article is concerned with two things, both of interest to animal lovers everywhere:
First, and important more as a piece of scientific history, is a tour of Linnaeus’ copy of his own Systema Naturae, and second, and more important for nature lovers, is a description of an ongoing, extrememly ambitious, project to finish Linnaeus’ catalog.
Biologists have been working on cataloging species since Linnaeus’ time, or even a little earlier. On one level, this deceptively simple task (find, name, and describe each animal) looks easy; after all, once an animal is known, you don’t have to record it again.
But, like life, the natural world just isn’t that easy. Many species live in hard to reach places; oceanographers estimate that less than 5% of the world’s ocean area has been thoroughly explored, and at best, about 10% of marine life is known to science. The estimates for the number of insect species (of which about 1 million are known) that exist on Earth range from 2 to 10 million; the majority live in the world’s tropical rainforests, which are almost as little known as the ocean depths. It’ll be a long time before we have a truly complete knowledge of our planet.
As Robert Browning say, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”
