Is it true that most of the species on earth fly?

Question

I heard some where that most of the species on earth fly because flying is the better way of transportation.

Answer 1

Actually yes it is true. The majority of known species on earth are insects, of all the animals, beetles alone make up close to one third of all the known species on the planet. All beetles are equipped with wings (generally speaking) and the vast majority are fantastic fliers. Now that is just the beetles.... if you include all the other Pterygote or winged insects on the planet you are looking at more than three quarters of all the known species on the planet.....and all of these insect groups use their wings more than not.
The evolution of wings is definitely one of the major reasons for insect evolution and specieation on this planet. In the carboniferous era, way into the Triassic insects ruled the earth, actually they still do (except the oceans) and the vast majority are winged lineages. There are also more species of birds on earth than there are mammals, and as you probably well know, the vast majority of birds also fly.

So to answer your question.. YES the majority of species of animals on earth do fly, or at least have wings and probably did fly historically, and have adapted to a different lifestyle in which they don't have to. Of the approximately 1.5-2 million species on the planet, more than 3/4 have wings and can fly.

I hope this answers your question!

Answer 2

Think about it. Almost every insect has wings and can fly.

There are WAY more kinds of insects on earth than any other kind of living creature. 95% of all the animal species on the earth are insects! Millions of insects can exist in a single acre of land. Over one million species have been discovered by scientists, and there are 10 million to 30 million that havent even been discovered yet. Most people wouldnt consider insects being animals, but they are.

There are more than 400,000 species of beetles and pretty much all of them can fly. That means 1 out of every 4 animals is a beetle.

Answer 3

Of the 1.3 million species known on the earth, 1 million of them are insects, and about 75 % of those are beetles. Most beetles can fly, so I think the answer is yes. I'm not sure, though.

Answer 4

Most animal species on earth fly for one interesting reason ... most of the species present on earth are insects and most of them are capable of flight. Add to that list just about every bird species (except non-flight species including 17 types of penguins and the very large, flightless bird), chiroptera and microchiroptera mammals (all different species of bats) and you can see why most animals on the planet are flight-capable.

Answer 5

sure. One time I said an air coach at evening.Yhe crafts had red,white and blue lighting fixtures and flew in and out of one yet another coming up designs etc. It became impressive,ideas-blowing and bold (like daredevils). some human beings concept it became something from Cape Canaveral yet they denied it. oOf route i do no longer percentage this data too usually because the skeptics chortle you to scorn. besides the undeniable fact that, i understand what I said; and that i'm a teetotaler in case you doubt my sobriety.My body is the temple of the Lord.The extraterrestrial beings do no longer could be hunters like in technology fiction video clips.they could be curious observers or maybe help earthlings and disappear.Alien only ability stranger or foreigner-fantastically no longer from planet earth.

Answer 6

more species of animals are earthbound then the ones who can fly
but if it includes insects the flying ones would be more

Answer 7

I would have a hard time agreeing with this simply because flying is harder than not flying, therefore fewer animals should have evolved for flight.

[edit] regarding insect species counts: the idea that there are millions of species of insects comes from when the Amazon was first studied. they discovered insects there at a rate of hundreds per week or month, thus, extrapolated into hundreds of years, there are (possibly) millions of species of "undiscovered" insects.

this number is very creatively used when talking about "saving the rainforests," and is patently untrue.

Answer 8

The larger animals that have not yet learned to fly can be encouraged by using a trebuchet.

Answer 9

the largest taxa on this earth is "insecta" or insects.....and sincce most insects are winged and have the ability to fly----i believe the statement is true.....

Answer 10

Are you stupid? Most species are land based and are in the sea. Let me put it this way, what can you name more of, flying animals or non-flying animals?