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the literature) since for many of the larger groups in particular, comprehensive lists of valid species names do not currently exist. For fossil species, exact or even approximate numbers are harder to find; Raup, 1986 includes data based on a compilation of 250,000 fossil species so the true number is undoubtedly somewhat higher than this. The number of described species is increasing by around 18,000-19,000 extant, and approaching 2,000 fossil species each year, as of 2012. The number of published species names is higher than the number of

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