JungleDragon now has 15,000 species!

Dear friends of nature,


Last week, we passed the stunning milestone of 15,000 species on the platform. Due to Moth Week 2018 getting full attention, we delayed the celebration a bit. It is telling that we're currently at 200 species above the milestone :)

In the grand scheme of things, 15,000 species can be seen as only a beginning. Especially if you consider the endless supply of insects, fungi and plants. We still have every reason to be proud though. If we'd see our species "catalog" as a book, with each page showing 24 entries, it would be a book of 625 pages. Even if you'd skim through this book with zero regard for details, it would take several hours.

Indeed, our catalog of species and photos is an asset of beauty and diversity that increasingly is able to stand on its own as a resource. Our treasure chest of timeless value that is getting more valuable with every new observation added. The current rate of species intros is at about 40-70 per week. A relatively stable number of growth that adds up over time into what we have today.

I regularly explore the species tree just for the sake of joy, and invite you to do the same:
https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse

It reveals many surprises. There's expected popular categories like birds and mammals, but also surprisingly deep niche categories. Who could possible expect 156 stick insects documented?
https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/phasmatodea

Or 165 sea slugs:
https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/mollusca/gastropoda/nudibranchia

Or 239 leaf beetles:
https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/coleoptera/chrysomelidae

The opposite is also true: some categories are shallow. For example, during Moth Week 2018, we discovered that we barely have any leafroller moths, whilst they are some of the most numerous species in several countries:

https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/lepidoptera/tortricidae

Needless to say, there's an almost endless opportunity for growth. Where most large and common species (mammals, birds) may often already be on the platform, there's several other categories barely documented. Furthermore, I'd like to emphasize that whilst species intros is the main "sport" on our platform (who doesn't love that feeling when seeing that blue icon), they are not the only goal. You are very much encouraged to keep adding observations of species already on the platform, to supply multiple photos, different angles, sexes, life stages, and behavior. Enriching a species record is just as valuable as adding a new one!

It is clear that JungleDragon is a big contributor platform where over 80% of new species are added by a small group each having added hundreds, and sometimes over a whopping thousand species. Still, love, respect and credit goes out to all of the community. The size of the set, the quality of identifications, the discussion and encouragement altogether have led to this accomplishment.

Thank you all for your contribution to this platform!