Beetles Comprise 25% of All Animal Species

The Beatles may comprise fewer than 1% of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, but beetles comprise a staggering 25% of all animal species. Researchers have discovered 350,000 to 400,000 beetle species so far, about a quarter of the roughly 1.5 million animal species known to exist.

But “known” is the keyword here, as estimates put the total number of beetle species (and animal species in general) far higher. Research posits there are as many as 7.8 million animal species on Earth, most of which have yet to be discovered. Of that 7.8 million, there are approximately 900,000 to 2.1 million beetle species and 5.5 million insect species overall. Not quite as high as the hundreds of millions of albums the Beatles sold, but an impressive number nonetheless.