What do pigs 🐖, owls 🦉, and pandas 🐼 have that sea stars and centipedes don’t? Emojis that represent them. A study published last December highlighted the fact that emojis don’t accurately represent Earth’s biodiversity.
The study found that animals are far better represented than plants. Emojipedia, the emoji dictionary, includes nearly 3,800 symbols. Of those, 92 are animal species, 16 are plants, and one is a fungus (a mushroom 🍄).
Plus, some types of animals are over represented, while others have no emojis (see “Real Life vs. Emojis”). Stefano Mammola is a scientist at the Italian National Research Council and one of the authors of the study. Mammola says lesser-known organisms deserve representation too.
“Biodiversity is much more than just cats, dogs, lions, and pandas,” he told reporters.
Researchers say adding more emojis could increase awareness about species. And that might inspire people to care more about conservation efforts. So when it comes to protecting the planet 🌎, emojis could be key.