I would never have guessed that “The research estimates that animals rule with 7.8 million species, followed by fungi with 611,000 and plants with just shy of 300,000 species.” Animals are SO much more successful in speciation than plants and fungi. Why?
Originally shared by Alan Simon
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=139891231
madame scientist's not-so-mad musings 
My guess is that it’s because animals can travel larger distances than fungi or plats.
Hmm..I would have thought the opposite since fungal spores and plant seeds can travel widely on wind and water. I googled this question (of course!) and came upon this site where they postulate that reproductive isolation is key to forming a new species. In other words, perhaps animals were MORE isolated, rather than less. http://www.geneticarchaeology.com/research/Genome_duplication_responsible_for_more_plant_species_than_previously_thought.asp
I also recall that insects make up more than half of all animal species..so perhaps there was something spectacularly successful about insects in particular.
Reproductive isolation might indeed be key to forming new species, but that would also apply to fungi and plats. My second guess is that animals are more adaptive to changing environment. Some restrictions apply.
Yes, very cool!
Nice discussion. Thank you!