It’s easy to assume, as many people do, that our planet is well explored. In the last few centuries, humans have summited Earth’s highest peaks, dived its deepest ocean trenches, and trekked to the North and South poles, documenting the diversity of life along the way — the many birds, butterflies, fish, and other creatures with which we share our big planet.

Life on Earth is now largely known.

Except it isn’t.

The more that scientists study the planet’s biodiversity, the more they realize how little of it we know. They estimate that for every species we’ve discovered, there are likely at least another nine or so that remain undiscovered or unidentified, meaning around 90 percent of life on Earth is unknown.

This doesn’t include the big stuff — the black bears and belugas and bald eagl

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