Biodiversity hotspots host their diverse ecosystems on just 2.4% of the planet's surface,[8] however, the area defined as hotspots covers a much larger proportion of the land. The original 25 hotspots covered 11.8% of the land surface area of the Earth.[9] Overall, the current hotspots cover more than 15.7% of the land surface area, but have lost around 85% of their habitat.[10] This loss of habitat explains why approximately 60% of the world's terrestrial life lives on only 2.4% of the land surface area.