Question: How many different types of species are there?

Claire Bryer answered on 21 Jun 2015:

Apparently there are around 8,700,000 different species on the planet. This is just a best guess that many scientists have decided upon, by studying the relationships between the branches and leaves of the tree of life. This includes plants, animals, fungi and single-celled protozoa.
However out of these 8.7 million species, we have only described 1.2 million of them (14%). Many species remain undiscovered, particularly those that live in the depths of the ocean.
Wouldn’t it be exciting to discover a new species and then get to name it?!
🙂