Linné on line 
Plants and Animals To discover new species
To discover new species
 Rainforest in the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. Photo: Svein T. Båtvik. |
In the 18th century
the pupils
of Linnaeus travelled
to discover the world. They collected plants and animals
from the far corners of the world. This was a time
when many new species were described, not least by
Linnaeus. In total 20 000 species were known to science
at that time, today we know about 1 413 000 species
of all kinds of organisms. Is there anything left to discover? The fact is that the scientists of today describe new species all the time. Most new species are found in the tropics. Many are already known to the local people but not to science and they lack scientific names. In other areas it is also possible to find new species, but then in less investigated groups of organisms, for instance fungi.
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If you want to know more about a country with 400 species new to science click here.