Most of Earth’s 8.7m species remain unknown

PLANET EARTH is home to 8.7 million species of animals and plants, only a tiny proportion of which are known to science.

Scientists adopted a way of estimating species numbers more accurately. Previous estimates have put it at anything from three to 100 million.

The research indicates there are 6.5 million species living on land and 2.2 million, about a quarter of the total, in the oceans.