Nobody knows exactly how many kinds of animals live on Earth. This page shows the best live numbers we have — counted from curated scientific checklists and from millions of wildlife photos shared by naturalists — and lets you look up any animal.
Why the numbers are so different
There are three kinds of count. Estimated species include the ones science has not found yet: a widely cited 2011 study in PLOS Biology put the total at about 7.8 million animal species. Described species are the ones scientists have formally named — fewer than a million at the time of that study. Checklist counts, like the group numbers above, list the living species experts accept today for well-studied groups such as mammals and birds.
For insects, spiders, snails and crabs there is no complete checklist, so we show how many species people have actually photographed and recorded on iNaturalist. That number grows every day.
Animals people keep at home
Most of our guides are about the animals that share our homes. Start with dogs, cats or our free pet calculators.
Frequently asked questions
How many animal species are there in the world?
About 7.8 million animal species are estimated to exist, according to a 2011 study in PLOS Biology. Fewer than a million had been formally described at the time, so most animals have not been named yet.
How many mammal species are there?
About 6,700 living mammal species are recognised today. The live count at the top of this page is updated daily from a curated checklist.
How many bird species are there?
About 11,000 living bird species are recognised. Birds are the best-counted group of animals because so many people watch and record them.
Which group of animals has the most species?
Insects, by a long way. Hundreds of thousands of insect species have been described — beetles alone make up a large share — and many more are still unnamed.
Where do these numbers and photos come from?
From iNaturalist, a joint project of the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic. We show a photo only when its owner chose a licence that allows reuse on sites like ours (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA), and every photo carries its own credit.