Numerical Tricks

1. Identify patterns:

• Arthropoda has the maximum number of known species, followed by Mollusca and Chordata.
• Among classes, Actinopterygii has the maximum number of known species.

2. Round off numbers:

• Consider the following approximations:
  • Phylum:
    • Porifera ~ 8,500
    • Cnidaria ~ 10,000
    • Platyhelminthes ~ 20,000
    • Annelida ~ 15,000
    • Mollusca ~ 100,000
    • Arthropoda ~ 1,100,000
    • Echinoderm ~ 7,500
    • Chordata ~ 55,000
• Class:
  • Mammalia ~ 5,500
  • Aves ~ 9,500
  • Reptilia ~ 8,700
  • Amphibia ~ 6,500
  • Actinopterygii ~ 30,000
  • Sarcopterygii ~ 100

3. Visualize the data:

• Bar Chart:

  • Create a bar chart to visualize the number of known species in different phyla.
  • This will help you compare the species richness of different phyla.

• Pie Chart:

  • Create a pie chart to visualize the proportion of known species in different classes within the Chordata phylum.
  • This will help you understand the relative abundance of different classes within the Chordata phylum.

4. Use ratios and percentages:

• Calculate the percentage of known species in each phylum and class.
• Calculate the ratio of species in different classes within a phylum.
• Calculate the ratio of species in different phyla to the total number of known animal species.

5. Estimation and Approximation:

• The total number of known animal species is approximately 1.5 million, but this is an ongoing process and the number might be higher.
• Use estimation and approximation where more precision is not readily possible, like estimating the total number of insect species or the number of species yet to be discovered.