A team of Italian biologists has proposed expanding the emoji catalog to include more images of worms, spiders, fungi, and other living things. The study presenting this idea was published in the scientific journal iScience.
The researchers argue that emoji can play a meaningful role in public awareness and understanding of Earth’s biodiversity, even if the topic seems distant from online life. The team, led by Stefano Mammola and Mattia Falaschi, notes that emoji can function as a tool for communicating biodiversity concepts in digital communities. Francesco Fichetola is also mentioned in the discussion as part of the broader collaborative effort.
To support their case, the scientists examined the Emojipedia library to identify how nature and animal imagery is represented in current emoji sets. Their finding shows that about three-quarters of the nature and animal pictograms depict mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, while other groups receive far less visual real estate.
Arthropods, which include insects, spiders, and crustaceans, are underrepresented in emojis, yet vertebrate species account for a substantial portion of cataloged life. The article highlights that mammals and birds remain the most depicted groups, with far fewer images dedicated to invertebrates and microbial life forms. Current estimates place the total known vertebrate species in the tens of thousands, while the global catalog of described species exceeds a million and a half when all categories are counted.
The report also points out the absence of emojis for flatworms and nematodes, despite the fact that science has identified more than twenty thousand species of flatworms and a similar number of nematodes. This gap underscores a broader mismatch between emoji representation and real-world biodiversity.
Biologists emphasize that although the emoji variety for spiders and worms is limited, the overall emoji ecosystem is expanding. A notable example is the addition in 2020 of an ordinary annelid worm and, in 2021, the inclusion of a pictogram representing red coral, signaling ongoing growth in nature-themed emoji imagery.
Earlier studies have examined which emojis are most frequently shared in professional chats within Russia, illustrating the practical relevance of emoji choices in everyday digital communication. [Attribution: iScience]