Science Has Indentified Only Ten Percent of Species

Return to 1st Quarter 2025 articles.

The title of this article is GOD REVEALS HIMSELF IN TWO WAYS with a picture of a father and son studying the starry sky through a telescope.

Romans 1:20 tells us that we can know God exists by the evidence we see in the things he has made. That includes the universe and all it contains, most of which we will never see. The evidence most visible to us consists of the plants and animals we encounter daily. But even in that area, our experience is limited. Those who study living things say that science has identified only ten percent of species.

Evidence that science has much to learn is that researchers discovered hundreds of new species in 2024. Scientists connected to the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new species, including fish. Those working with the Natural History Museum of London cataloged 190 new species last year. Other scientists working with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, UK, described 149 new species of plants and 23 species of fungi, including a toadstool with teeth.

The creatures discovered and described in 2024 include a vegetarian piranha in Brazil and a moth species in Madagascar that gets nourished by drinking the tears of sleeping birds. Four new snake species and four previously unknown rat species became known last year. Botanists working in Indonesia identified five new species of orchids.

How many more animal, plant, and fungus species will scientists identify this year? We do not know, but since science has identified only ten percent of species, the job is far from complete. Knowing that we have seen only a tiny portion of God’s creation in space and even on Earth, the evidence for God in the things he has made is massive.

The title of this article is GOD REVEALS HIMSELF IN TWO WAYS with a picture of a father and son studying the starry sky through a telescope.

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.