The Encyclopedia of Life will seek to serve as the authoritative database for all known and newly discovered species that inhabit our planet. So far the tally is estimated around 1.8 million critters, so the leaders of this project definitely have their work cut out for themselves. Think about that, though, we know only about 2 million of the world’s organisms. How much remains undiscovered, just waiting to be found and described? Therein appears the essence of this project: to more thoroughly educate ourselves about what we do know about life on Earth and then concentrate on what we haven’t found yet. The project will be up and running around the middle of 2008 with a full, working version ready in about ten years. So for all you taxonomists, catalogers, librarians, and those in-between who just love life in all its forms, set your bookmarks to the EOL.
No comments:
Post a Comment