New Studies Reveal Taxonomic 'Chauvinism' in Ecological Research

Two new studies published in Ecology and Evolution found that vertebrates dominate global research and conservation literature despite representing a tiny fraction of biodiversity.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales reviewed over 1.3 million research papers and noted that birds and mammals make up less than 1% of animal biodiversity.

The findings indicate that vertebrates appear in 53.9% of all ecological and evolutionary papers while accounting for only 4.7% of known animal species.