There may currently be 3,782 emojis in the beloved Unicode library, but a team of biologists found that its performance on the Tree of Life was significantly substandard. Scientists from Italy's National Research Council mapped current animal and natural emojis - from snakes to sharks - onto the tree of life systems that connects all living things. They found that plants, fungi, invertebrates and microorganisms all had low coverage in cute digital forms.
While vertebrates, often the most recognized species in the animal kingdom, are over-represented, "underdog species" like arthropods get little screen time compared to their actual diversity.
As a result, they argue, the lack of emoji visibility makes it harder for conservation efforts to be recognized in the real world.
Stefano Mammola, Mattia Falaschi and Gentile Francesco Ficetola wrote: "While the biodiversity crisis may seem far away from the online world, in our increasingly digital society we should not underestimate the potential of emojis to increase awareness and appreciation of the diversity of life on Earth."
Vertebrates currently account for 76% of animal emojis, followed by arthropods (including lobsters, spiders, and crabs) (16%), molluscs (such as snails) (4%), arthropods (such as jellyfish) (2%), and annularids (1%). While arachnophobes might argue that there are certainly too many arthropods in the emoji library, their numerical diversity pales in comparison to the 1,302,809 described species currently found on Earth.
"Developing and maintaining a diverse and inclusive emoji set is critical to ensuring fair representation of the Tree of Life in digital communication tools and effectively communicating the importance of all living things to the functioning of the biosphere," the study reads.
The three have sent a request to the Unicode Consortium, the non-profit organization with the power to approve or veto proposed emojis, to increase and diversify the number of natural emojis - which, by the end of 2023, totals 92 species of animals, 16 species of plants, 1 fungus (most likely Amanitamuscaria) and 1 microorganism (said to be E. coli).
"Currently available emojis cover a broad range of animal species, while plants, fungi, and microorganisms are underrepresented," the researchers wrote. "This strong taxonomic bias is consistent with current society's understanding of biodiversity, which tends to prioritize animals over other taxa."
For worm enthusiasts, it's even worse. Invertebrates took the emoji stage in 2020 with worms (most likely earthworms), while their close cousins plateworms (flathelminths) and nematodes (roundworms) were ignored. There are more than 20,000 species of flatworms and nearly 20,000 species of nematodes on Earth.
While this may seem trivial, biologists make a good point: The preference for "poster" animals (i.e., vertebrate mammals) reflects the real world, with biodiversity assessments and conservation analyzes biased in favor of these better-known and better-loved species.
The good news, though, is that emoji biodiversity looks to be slowly increasing. In 2015, there were only 45 emojis representing different animal groups; this increased to 78 in 2019 and 92 in 2022.
"This increase in phylogenetic diversity driven by lesser-known taxa highlights a positive trend towards increased opportunities for emoticonization of biodiversity communications, allowing users of digital platforms to more effectively discuss a range of biodiversity-related topics and emotions beyond icons depicting iconic species," the researchers wrote.
The research was published in the journal iScience.