ABSTRACT
Biodiversity Loss Like Shakespeare, we have some windows into nature’s infinite secrecy. Fossil remains provide information about the number of plant and animal species that existed at approximate points in time going back hundreds of millions of years. Estimates of the numbers of living species in various locations and classifications come from biological inventories. For example, in remote Ecuadorian rainforests, Terry Irwin of the Smithsonian Institution sprays a fog of biodegradable insecticide into the jungle, sending insects onto collection sheets below for cataloging and enumeration.2 Most estimates place the total number of living species at between 7 million and 100 million. About 1.75 million species have been classified with Latin names.
