Do you ever wonder WHY there is such a DIVERSITY of ANIMALS?

[AviatorTom]

Our planet has such a wide diversity of animals, from the tiny one-cell amoeba to the giant blue whale. Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores, Animals that live in the Water, on Land or in the Air. Animals of different colors, shapes and sizes. And don't forget that we humans are animals too.

Do you ever wonder why that is? how it came to be?

[EricSummer]

Well, that's the power of evolution. In the struggle for existence different adaptations give an advantage.

However, there is a lot of repetition, too. For example, among fish you have the same shape over and over again in lots of species.

Even a sea squirt from 500 million years ago had 80% of the same DNA as a human today. So the basic template was not changed that much. It is not so obvious when looking at an adult sea squirt, but when looking at the larvae we can basically see a tadpole and we are halfway there to humans.

[EricSummer]

By the way, did you notice that the illustration does not actually capture the diversity of animals? I can find only vertebrates, except 4 insects that are all lepidoptera (why are there no beetles or wasps?)

I think as we are all vertebrates on this site it can be ok, but if I were a mollusc or belonged to the coleoptera I would be mildly upset. There are more species of coleoptera than of all vertebrates combined in this world.

Thanks for including the Eurasian Red Squirrel though.

[Paul09]

Well it makes sense that they are all similarly shaped. Hydrodynamics ! Just like aerodynamics, that's why most planes will have the same shape.

[Dargil]

Because there is a CREATOR. And The Creator never stops creating. Why have only one kind of fish when YOU can create every kind imaginable? Because that is what The Creator does. Sometimes Science abruptly identifies new species in the same places it looked before. It wasn't there. That's why. The evidence that The Creator exists is everywhere you look. I'm not talking about a book. I am talking about reality.

[chrissykerdock]

if you notice there's a lot that are similar but not quite... there's selective evolution... and just evolution... humans at times appear to be a cross from the apes of course but not quite because apes exist which means it's selective evolution... which could've happened several ways including the aliens crossing themselves with apes

[YesterdaysChild]

I guess God created animals for every occasion, and that would provide man what he needed to survive. Without animal furs he would not have survived in some locations on Earth. They also provided sustenance, and food for man, because he does not live by bread alone.

[OlderAndWiser]

This human certainly is an animal!

Having a great variation between species is, I assume, all part of the master plan.

[NamerOfStars]

Not really. The only check on expansion is the amount of harvestable calories in the environment, and Earth isn't lacking for those. If you're the first to expand into a new niche, there's no competition. No help, either, and no food if you eat other living things, but still. If you're a plant, and there's plenty of CO2 around, you're GOLDEN.

[TonyMetal___86]

We are the creation of god, humans are different from animals, since the dawn of time, species appears and others goes extinct, earth is roaming with different life forms, that's just the way it is, it's like a tree that comes out one but it starts growing branches and these branches creates other branches and so on!
Even us humans had many different ancestors but the homosapiens were the only ones to remain, now why god made us special, that's a question that only god knows it's answer...

[TheSpaceGnome]

There is no god, we aren't special, just different, and evolution is the result of random mutations and environments conflicting.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Also there was no dawn of time, time is infinite.

[TonyMetal___86]

@TheSpaceGnome that's your conception, it is different from mine and i respect it...
By the way if you speak science, time ain't infinite, it started with the big bang cause time is considered the 4th dimension and before the big bag there was no dimensions, it was only a very dense singularity that popped and started everything... etc

[TheSpaceGnome]

1. Thats not how to use the word conception.
2. Time is infinite, the universe had no begining, it always existed.
3. There aren't more than 3 dimensions.
4. Nothingness is impossible.
5. The singularity expansion hypothesis is incorrect, there was never a point in time where everything was located at a singular point.

[jennifer_bloom]

I think it's because God loves to build living organisms to diversify the world.

[AviatorTom]

@jennifer_bloom Do you think God just sits back and watches the show?

[jennifer_bloom]

I think there are different degrees of participation in and through God - Sometimes God watches from a distance and sometimes God does not watch from a distance. But I believe in heaven, all victims on earth will receive due compensation and reward beyond any injustice they went through on earth.

[TonyMetal___86]

@jennifer_bloom but always remember that there is a judgement day because not everyone are good, there are bad and good people, the results will be different in the end, you will harvest what you have planted here during your lifetime...

[jennifer_bloom]

@TonyMetal___86 yes not everyone gets a happy harvest

[TonyMetal___86]

That's true, since god gave us the freedom of choice than we are responsible for the things that we do and choose in our lives...

[jennifer_bloom]

@TonyMetal___86 Yes, that is true

[Kaamraj]

Yes i am astounded by the abundant variety of organisms on this planet. Energy comes from the sun and is trapped by plants into biomass. This and habitat creates niches where shelter and food is avaliable so animals constantly seek to expalnd and evolve into the nieces to reduce compititon.

[DarkLegacy]

All the time, i spend a lot of time watching and learning about science and creation, evolution has played its part, but everything is so finesse and just right and any slight alteration would mean it couldn't be. It makes you wonder if it was created. The changing Earth has helped shape the life forms we have on the planet today.

[OfMiceandMen]

Splitting of Pangea and those continents near the equator have the most diversity where it is warm.

[TheSpaceGnome]

No because I already know the answer.

Chemistry and adaption (evolution).

I would like to know how to cause any particular direction of that though.

[strateguy632]

like no bird chose to adapt to change its beak, we can't adapt to make our fingers wings

[TheSpaceGnome]

@strateguy632 Adaption is the result of random mutations, not choice. At least not in the context of evolution anyway.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Genetic engineering would however, allow choosing.

[katiesmuff]

Yes I do wonder how this has all happened and believe it will continue to evolve.

[juliammm]

one day I should read Darwin's theory. It says it all

[chrissykerdock]

darwin's theory is rubbish... he says we evolved from pond scum

[purplepoppy]

In nature destruction brings diversity, stability brings numbers.

[Paul09]

Because science! I always do wonder about the animal world. If is so fascinating! It's all about the weather in the area, the resources, the conditions , évolutions, that as molded everything. Just wish we respected nature way more, coexisted with these marvelous creatures. If it wasn't for all these animals and bugs, we would not have this beautiful planet that most people take for granted.

[Huntingnfishin]

Ugh why can't there just be one type of animal on the planet? We'll name him Bob and he'll go great with cooked carrots

[Cubus]

Animals adjust to the environment. And Earth is a diverse place.

[DWornock]

No! To survive animals will fill every nick and cranny.

[Grovermint]

Nature finds a way. Need to get rid of a body? We got an animal for you.

[exitseven]

animals have evolved to become more successful in their environment. The ones that did not evolve have become extinct.

[Meropatrick]

There is also everyday cases of extincion. New appears old disappear

[andreasderjuengere]

No, I don't wonder 😁

I just admire it as a fact.

[AngryCarl2]

It's funny but I've never thought about it. For that matter, why do we have animals at all? Maybe they just exist as a source of fertilizer?

[AnusNdaPainus]

They can’t cook and nobody wants to eat grass all their life

[Sparkie460]

I never even thought about it

[Cherkez]

Different geography and environment

[Jmmmfi4]

Evolution is great