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More Than Half of Earth's Species Live Underground (scientificamerican.com)
37 points by beardyw on Aug 8, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 11 comments



Here’s a fun fact I just learned: 25% of all known species of animals are beetles.


A biologist, asked "What does your study of nature reveal about God?" answered "He has an inordinate interest in beetles"


And there are over 50K species of beetles. It is amazing how Noah got a pair of each onto the ark in just one day.


Something something microevolution within kinds.


25% of mammals are bats, and 25% of trees are apple trees.


The headline and article are a little misleading. It's not that all these species "live underground", it's that they rely upon soil, like the vast majority of plant species.


And 94% of Earth's species live under water.


Underwater: the underground of the 21st century.



Oh great. Now we have to "Save the soil" which only means higher taxes.


Not necessarily higher taxes, but the price of of food could rise. Instead of waging chemical warfare on these soil dependent species by dumping ammonium nitrate and glyphosate all over the farms, regenerative soil practices that build living soils generally require more labor.




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