The circular image below is from my handmade book One Earth. The current array of organisms on the planet, numbering about 2 million described species, is the product of more than 3 billion years of evolution. Scientists estimate there may be 5 million to 20 million total. Most of the undiscovered species are small organisms such as insects and microbes. Quantitatively speaking, most of life on Earth is undiscovered. We've found the easy, big beings. Unfortunately, many of those easy, big beings are declining in numbers as one particular species' population growth and resource demands continually increase and intensify.
Illustration from the artist book One Earth. © Fred Montague
