25 million species eliminated by man.

[BobK]

Andrew Hamilton is the heartless culprit. Article.

SYDNEY: How many species share our planet? According to a recalculation by an international research team, the number is significantly lower than we thought - only around 5.5 million.

While that may sound like a lot, this number pales in comparison to previous species estimates, which varied widely from 30 million to over 100 million species.

In fact, the new study, appearing in the journal The American Naturalist, shows that there is less than 0.001% chance that the frequently cited previous estimate of 30 million could be true.

I can't vouch for the validity of the study, as extrapolation from a small area involves numerous assumptions. But it seems to be a good effort to narrow the otherwise wide-ranging estimates.

My neighborhood feels less crowded already.

 

[Baylor]

Next up for extinction: H. Sapiens

 

[Beanbag]

Beware of conveniently round numbers that can be handily plucked from a person's sphincter.

Beanbag

 

[bobdroege7]

Well, pencil whipping is better than actually driving them to extinction.

How many giraffe species are there anyway?

One or as many as seven?

More evidence is needed, where are those grant proposal forms anyway.

 

[Harpyja]

Well, pencil whipping is better than actually driving them to extinction.

How many giraffe species are there anyway?

One or as many as seven?

More evidence is needed, where are those grant proposal forms anyway.

One. You're confusing species with subspecies. There's about eight recognized subspecies currently. However, you're not entirely wrong.

A number of subspecies classifications have been proposed for Giraffe (e.g., Ansell 1972, Dagg and Foster 1982, Kingdon 1997, East 1999, Grubb 2005). There is considerable uncertainty surrounding the geographic and taxonomic limits of all described subspecies. Furthermore, recent genetic work suggests that several subspecies may even represent distinct species (Brown et al. 2007). The recent review of Ciofolo and Pendu (in press) recognizes eight subspecies; of these, only the form peralta from West Africa, which recent genetic evidence has confirmed is indeed distinct (Hassanin et al. 2007), is here assessed at the subspecies level.

 

[Beerina]

Well, we just created a brand new one. So I guess we just have 24,999,999, to go. Or 5,499,999, depending on your outlook.


I say tag 'em and bag 'em, and let's get on with the Trantorization of Earth.

 

[bobdroege7]

One. You're confusing species with subspecies. There's about eight recognized subspecies currently. However, you're not entirely wrong.

Well, you are confused that there is an exactly definable demarcation point between subspecies and species, or that science has exactly defined either term.

But you are right, I am confused as to what contitutes a species and a subspecies, just like everyone else.

Try this article

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-a-species

 

[This is The End]

A newer Discover magazine (June 2010) has a great article about this very topic (giraffes included), coincidence?

The article is "Unclassified: The Enigma of Species" page 55.

It talks about how there is no agreed upon way to define a species, that there are in fact several methods used. Ranging from sexual activity to dna.

It also makes the case that there really are several species of giraffe, not sub-species.