McDougal Littell - Biology

Discovering Diversity

Harvard entomologist Edward Wilson has said “Almost all the species that ever lived are extinct, and yet more are alive today than at any time in the past." How can this be? New physical frontiers, notably the oceans, but also areas such as rainforest canopies, are now being explored in great detail, revealing unsuspected numbers of previously undescribed organisms. Genomic analysis of soil cores provide a modern method for describing diversity of the smallest living things. As we rapidly develop a more complete picture of biological diversity, we gain both a greater appreciation of our planet’s biological history including our own origins and a better understanding of how living systems work on all levels of organization, from ecosystems to the fundamental biochemistry of cells.