l types are logged per year。
鈥渋t鈥檚 not a biodiversity crisis； it鈥檚 a taxonomist crisis！鈥潯arks koen maes； belgian…bornhead of invertebrates at the kenyan national museum in nairobi； whom i met briefly on avisit to the country in the autumn of 2002。 there were no specialized taxonomists in thewhole of africa； he told me。 鈥渢here was one in the ivory coast； but i think he has retired；鈥潯esaid。 it takes eight to ten years to train a taxonomist； but none are ing along in africa。
鈥渢hey are the real fossils；鈥潯aes added。 he himself was to be let go at the end of the year； hesaid。 after seven years in kenya； his contract was not being renewed。 鈥渘o funds；鈥潯aesexplained。
writing in the journal nature last year； the british biologist g。 h。 godfray noted that thereis a chronic 鈥渓ack of prestige and resources鈥潯or taxonomists everywhere。 in consequence；鈥渕any species are being described poorly in isolated publications； with no attempt to relate anew taxon2to existing species and classifications。鈥潯oreover； much of taxonomists鈥櫋ime istaken up not with describing new species but simply with sorting out old ones。 many；according to godfray； 鈥渟pend most of their career trying to interpret the work of nineteenth…century systematicists： deconstructing their often inadequate published descriptions orscouring the world鈥檚 museums for type material that is often in very poor condition。鈥潯odfrayparticularly stresses the absence of attention being paid to the systematizing possibilities ofthe internet。 the fact is that taxonomy by and large is still quaintly wedded to paper。
2the formal word for a zoological category； such as phylum or genus。 the plural is taxa。
in an attempt to haul things into the modern age； in 2001 kevin kelly； cofounder of wiredmagazine； launched an enterprise called the all species foundation with the aim of findingevery living organism and recording it on a database。 the cost of such an exercise has beenestimated at anywhere from 2 billion to as much as 50 billion。 as of the spring of 2002； thefoundation had just 1。2 million in funds and four full…time employees。 if； as the numberssuggest； we have perhaps 100 million species of insects yet to find； and if our rates ofdiscovery continue at the present pace； we should have a definitive total for insects in a littleover fifteen thousand years。 the rest of the animal kingdom may take a little longer。
so why do we know as little as we do？ there are nearly as many reasons as there areanimals left to count； but here are a few of the principal causes：
most living things are small and easily overlooked。in practical terms； this is not always abad thing。 you might not slumber quite so contentedly if you were aware that your mattress ishome to perhaps two million microscopic mites； which e out in the wee hours to sup onyour sebaceous oils and feast on all those lovely； crunchy flakes of skin that you shed as youdoze and toss。 your pillow alone may be home to forty thousand of them。 （to them your headis just one large oily bon…bon。） and don鈥檛 think a clean pillowcase will make a difference。 tosomething on the scale of bed mites； the weave of the tightest human fabric looks like ship鈥檚rigging。 indeed； if your pillow is six years old鈥攚hich is apparently about the average age fora pillow鈥攊t has been estimated that one…tenth of its weight will be made up of 鈥渟loughedskin； living mites； dead mites and mite dung；鈥潯o quote the man who did the measuring； dr。
john maunder of the british medical entomology center。 （but at least they areyour mites。
think of what you snuggle up with each time you climb into a motel bed。）3these mites havebeen with us since time immemorial； but they weren鈥檛 discovered until 1965。
if creatures as intimately associated with us as bed mites escaped our notice until the age ofcolor television； it鈥檚 hardly surprising that most of the rest of the small…scale world is barelyknown to us。 go out into a woods鈥攁ny woods at all鈥攂end down and scoop up a handful ofsoil； and you will be holding up to 10 billion bacteria； most of them unknown to science。 yoursample will also contain perhaps a million plump yeasts； some 200；000 hairy little fungiknown as molds； perhaps 10；000 protozoans （of which the most familiar is the amoeba）； andassorted rotifers； flatworms； roundworms； and other microscopic creatures known collectivelyas cryptozoa。 a large portion of these will also be unknown。
the most prehensive handbook of microorganisms； bergey鈥檚 manual of systematicbacteriology； lists about 4；000 types of bacteria。 in the 1980s； a pair of norwegian scientists；jostein goks？yr and vigdis torsvik； collected a gram of random soil from a beech forest neartheir lab in bergen and carefully analyzed its bacterial content。 they found that this singlesmall sample contained between 4；000 and 5；000 separate bacterial species； more than in thewhole of bergey鈥檚 manual。 they then traveled to a coastal location a few miles away；scooped up another gram of earth； and found that it contained 4；000 to 5；000 other species。 asedward o。 wilson observes： 鈥渋f over 9；000 microbial types exist in two pinches of substratefrom two localities in norway； how many more await discovery in other； radically differenthabitats？鈥潯ell； according to one estimate； it could be as high as 400 million。
3we are actually getting worse at some matters of hygiene。 dr。 maunder believes that the move toward low…temperature washing machine detergents has encouraged bugs to proliferate。 as he puts it： 〃if you wash lousyclothing at low temperatures； all you get is cleaner lice。〃 we don鈥檛 look in the right places。 in the diversity of life； wilson describes how onebotanist spent a few days tramping around ten hectares of jungle in borneo and discovered athousand new species of flowering plant鈥攎ore than are found in the whole of northamerica。 the plants weren鈥檛 hard to find。 it鈥檚 just that no one had looked there before。 koenmaes of the kenyan national museum told me that he went to one cloud forest； asmountaintop forests are known in kenya； and in a half hour 鈥渙f not particularly dedicatedlooking鈥潯ound four new species of millipedes； three representing new genera； and one newspecies of tree。 鈥渂ig tree；鈥潯e added； and shaped his arms as if about to dance with a verylarge partner。 cloud forests are found on the tops of plateaus and have sometimes beenisolated for millions of years。 鈥渢hey provide the ideal climate for biology and they havehardly been studied；鈥潯e said。
overall； tropical rain forests cover only about 6 percent of earth鈥檚 surface； but harbor morethan half of its animal life and about two…thirds of its flowering plants； and most of this liferemains unknown to us because too few researchers spend time in them。 not incidentally；much of this could be quite valuable。 at least 99 percent of flowering plants have never beentested for their medicinal properties。 because they can鈥檛 flee from predators； plants have hadto contrive chemical defenses； and so are particularly enriched in intriguing pounds。 evennow nearly a quarter of all prescribed medicines are derived from just forty plants； withanother 16 percent ing from animals or microbes； so there is a serious risk with everyhectare of forest felled of losing medically vital possibilities。 using a method calledbinatorial chemistry； chemists can generate forty thousand pounds at a time in labs；but these products are random and not unmonly useless； whereas any natural moleculewill have already passed what the economist calls 鈥渢he ultimate screening programme： overthree and a half billion years of evolution。鈥�
looking for the unknown isn鈥檛 simply a matter of traveling to remote or distant places；however。 in his book life： an unauthorised biography； richard fortey notes how oneancient bacterium was found on the wall of a country pub 鈥渨here men had urinated forgenerations鈥濃�攁 discovery that would seem to involve rare amounts of luckand devotion andpossibly some other quality not specified。
there aren鈥檛 enough specialists。the stock of things to be found； examined； and recordedvery much outruns the supply of scientists available to do it。 take the hardy and li