There are currently between nine million and one billion species not identified by humans, 90% of which are insect and invertebrate species, reports Numerama.
A race against the 6th mass extinction is thus underway in order to allow researchers to identify as many of these new species as possible before their disappearance.
A new tool presented in May 2021 could thus accelerate the pace.
The DiversityScanner is a tool assisted by artificial intelligence allowing to sort the insects according to the novelty of the species.
Thanks to a system of machine learning and analysis of the different parts of the insects, the robot can determine whether the insect it is analyzing is already identified or not.
He then takes care of sequencing and labeling their DNA and associating it with a photo of the specimen.
A shortage of taxonomists
This tool, developed by the BioXRiv archives at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, therefore saves precious time for taxonomists, who will be able to "devote their time and energy to rare and unknown specimens" according to Tony Robillard of the National Museum of 'Natural History.
However, research in this area is also faced with a shortage of taxonomists, "rare and unattractive profiles", in particular because of the lack of funding in this area.
"To say that we are going to discover more than 20 years ago when there is nobody and especially no money invested in our research ... It is a waste of time," lamented Jérôme Constant de l'l ' Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
In Germany, positions for taxonomists have been opened to meet growing needs.
Research in this area allows in particular "to refine environmental protection policies".
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