Mammals Quote by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
““In terms of size, mammals are an anomaly, as the vast majority of the world's existing species are snail-sized or smaller. It's almost as if, regardless of your kingdom, the smaller your size & the earlier your place on the tree of life, the more critical is your niche on Earth: snails & worms create soil, & blue-green algae create oxygen; mammals seem comparatively dispensable, the result of the random path of evolution over a luxurious amount of time.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Smallest Things” in The Nature Journal, 2019
Small organisms play essential ecological roles, highlighting that size does not equate to importance.
In simple terms: Small life is crucial.
Key Takeaway
Value all species.
Themes
ecology
humility
interdependence
Mood
reflective
curious
Type
educational
inspirational
When to use this quote
- gardening
- conservation work
- environmental education
- policy making
Key Concepts
niche theory
ecosystem services
Questions to Reflect On
- What small organisms impact your life?
- How can we protect microscopic ecosystems?
A Different Perspective
Human focus on large mammals can overlook vital small species.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
