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The
endemic insect-fauna is rather sparse compared with more southerly lying
countries.
About 1300 species have been spotted, thereof about 1100 endemic.
Elsewhere in Europe it is common to find 18-25 thousand species
in one country.
Most of the endemic species originate from Europe, only a few
from North America.
The endemic species mostly belong to 22 families and only the
most common are mentioned here.
When oxygen was first produced as a waste
product by certain plant cells some three billion years ago,
it created a crisis for all other life on earth. Those
plants were polluting the environment, exhaling a lethal
gas. Earth eventually had an atmosphere incompatible with
life. Nevertheless, life on earth took care of itself. In
the thinking of the human being a hundred years is a long
time. Hundred years ago we didn't have cars, airplanes,
computers or vaccines. It was a whole different world, but
to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A million years is
nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much vaster
scale. We can't imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and
we haven't got the humility to try. We've been residents
here for the blink of an eye. If we're gone tomorrow, the
earth will not miss us.
Michael Crichton, "Jurassic Park" |