Four out of every five animals on the planet are nematodes
Nematodes are the most numerous animals on Earth, with an estimated four out of every five individual animals being these microscopic, resilient roundworms.
While only 25,000 species of nematodes have been formally described, researchers estimate their true diversity may reach 100 million species, with billions of individuals inhabiting every square meter of fertile soil. These roundworms are so ubiquitous that if all other matter on Earth disappeared, a ghostly outline of the planet's surface and its inhabitants would remain in the form of nematodes. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, consisting of exactly 959 cells and 300 neurons, has become a cornerstone of modern genetic research.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.