Question

How many species are believed to exist on Earth at present time?
(a) 5,000 to 10,000
(b) Approximately 100,000
(c) Approximately 500,000
(d) Between 5 million and 30 million

Answer 1

Hint: With time, species are reducing because of natural calamities. Other factors responsible for species extinction is depletion of food and black marketing of some species variety. It is hard to calculate how many species still exist, the number we get is only the rough estimate.

Complete answer:
As per scientist prediction still, some species are unknown. In May 2016 scientists reported that there are more than 1 trillion species on earth but only a few are described in the report. Only less than 15 percent of species are cataloged, out of 1 trillion, only 8.7 million species are known. The extinction rate is increasing over time but the discovery of new species is lagging. The current report shows that there are 5 million and 30 million species that exist.

Additional Information: In 2019, the Amazon rainforest was slashed due to a forest fire. Amazon rainforest is a house for many plant and animal species. After deforestation, many animals get saved but the maximum is dead. The report of the remaining plant species is still not known.
Deforestation, the use of pesticides on plants, depletion of food, increased chemical use, etc are responsible for species extinction. All species have their own importance, every species depends on other species this is called interdependence. If one species gets extinct then the species which depend on that species will also get extinct, that’s why a stable community is important to stop the species extinction.
So, the correct answer is ‘between 5 million and 30 million’.

Note: Some newly discovered species are Vangunu giant rat- Found in Solomon island, this species is endangered species, Dwarf lemur- Only known primate that hibernates for a long time, Phuket horned tree agamid- lives in Phuket, Thailand, and people keep it as a pet, Fire tailed titi monkey- found in the Amazon rainforest, it has honeycomb stingray pattern. Still, the search for new species is going on.