Source: Science 20 April 2007: Vol. 316. no. 5823, pp. 382 - 383.Duarte, Marbá and Holmer in their paper, "Rapid Domestication of Marine Species", provide the figure above, pointing out how rapidly mankind has been domesticating marine species in the last century.
The article also points out that there are 250 domesticated land plants, 44 land animals, 180 freshwater animals, 250 marine species and 19 marine plants.
Comment: This is a very small number of species on which to base the future of our species. I think we need to do a lot more systematic biology to inventory the species of the world, and a lot more bio-prospecting to identify species that we can utilize, as well as a lot of work to domesticate additional useful species. I heard recently that there are 6,600 drugs in our pharmacopeia, which is a significant advance over the past, but not nearly enough. That number, however, puts into perspective the paltry numbers of species mankind has domesticated so far. JAD
The article also points out that there are 250 domesticated land plants, 44 land animals, 180 freshwater animals, 250 marine species and 19 marine plants.
Comment: This is a very small number of species on which to base the future of our species. I think we need to do a lot more systematic biology to inventory the species of the world, and a lot more bio-prospecting to identify species that we can utilize, as well as a lot of work to domesticate additional useful species. I heard recently that there are 6,600 drugs in our pharmacopeia, which is a significant advance over the past, but not nearly enough. That number, however, puts into perspective the paltry numbers of species mankind has domesticated so far. JAD
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