[Leps-l] new biodiversity paper in Science Advances

[Mike Quinn]

briefly (3min) discussed on NPR today

The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections
of new species over time
XIN LI <https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#con1>
HTTPS://ORCID.ORG/0000-0003-0773-6232
<https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0773-6232>, DING YANG
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#con2>
HTTPS://ORCID.ORG/0000-0002-7685-3478
<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7685-3478>, LIANG WANG
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#con3>, AND JOHN J. WIENS
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#con4>
SCIENCE ADVANCES
5 Dec 2025
Vol 11, Issue 49
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#

<snips>


Among macroscopic organisms, many projections suggest that there are ~6
million insect species [review in (*43*
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#core-collateral-R43>)],
whereas our projections imply that there are only ~1.4 million (Table 1
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#>). Our interpretation
of this discrepancy is not that previous projections of high insect
diversity are wrong. Instead, we suggest that it will take >400 years to
describe a small fraction of these many millions of insect species at the
current rate of species description.

Current documented extinctions are low [i.e., only ~912 documented species
extinctions over the past ~500 years; (*70*
<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071#core-collateral-R70>)]

===================

Mike Quinn
San Marcos, Texas
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