New Species Discoveries Refine Global Biodiversity Patterns

Global biodiversity patterns underpin ecological theory and conservation planning, yet the extent to which these inferences are shaped by the ongoing accumulation of taxonomic knowledge remains poorly understood. Here we quantified how terrestrial vertebrate discoveries from 1920 to 2020 reshaped estimated global diversity patterns and their inferred environmental drivers. Estimated diversity patterns remained largely stable for birds, whereas reptiles and amphibians showed notable reconfiguration, with 20.3% and 31.7% of their diversity centers (top 5% of total range-weighted rarity) shifting to new regions, including Australia and Southeast Asia. These shifts were accompanied by changes in inferred environmental drivers, with the apparent influence of temperature declining and precipitation gaining importance for ectothermic groups. Our findings suggest that estimated global diversity patterns and driver relationships for less well-known taxa may be less reliable than often assumed. Continued field exploration and taxonomic work are therefore essential to close critical biodiversity knowledge gaps.