Research Institute
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis is the Dutch national research institute for biodiversity. With one of the largest natural history collections in the world, the Naturalis serves as a veritable time machine that enables scientists to map the biological and geological diversity of the past, present and future. Scientific biodiversity research is fundamental to the protection of the natural riches of our Earth.
Species recognition
in acceleration.
Areas in which there is still much to discover include the nematodes (roundworms), humpback flies, lake miners and so on the different parasitic wasp families. Why do scientists not delve into these unknown areas? "It's a matter of tradition and laziness: if a lot of people have already worked on a particular group, it's easy to build on that. Certainly if they are large or colorful organisms," Schilthuizen explains. So scientists also have a weakness for beautiful appearances.

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