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Correspondence

Nature 421, 889 (27 February 2003) | doi:10.1038/421889a

Switzerland's role as a hotspot of type specimens

Donat Agosti1, Peter Linder2, Daniel Burckhardt3, Sylvia Martinez4, Ivan Löbl5 & Pierre André Loizeau6

  1. American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA
  2. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland
  3. Naturhistorisches Museum, 4001 Basel, Switzerland
  4. Swiss Biodiversity Forum, Swiss Academy of Sciences, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
  5. Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
  6. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques, 1292 Chambésy/Geneva, Switzerland
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Up to a quarter of all the world's species can be found in one small, landlocked country.

Switzerland covers 0.03% of the world's land surface, and lacks marine or tropical ecosystems.