It might seem that, as the pool of undescribed species diminishes, the rate at which taxonomists describe new species should decline. But the opposite has happened, with rates often increasing nearly exponentially from year to year – a phenomenon that can be explained largely by the growing number of taxonomists.
看似随着未分类物种的减少，分类学家发现新物种的速度也应该相应变慢。但实际情况却恰恰相反，发现新物种的速度往往按指数方式逐年递增——对于这种现象的解释恐怕是分类学家越来越多。其实是新物种与分类学家的比例是在逐年降低的。