Null Island is home to a diverse wildlife population—from polar bears to mountain goats, and desert cacti to jungle orchids. According to global database records, it holds over 14,800 different animal species and over 1,400 distinct plant species. It is additionally home to over 1,000 holotypes.
What is a holotype?
A holotype is the single, definitive physical specimen—such as a preserved animal, insect, or pressed plant—used by scientists to formally describe and name a newly discovered species. It serves as the permanent “master copy” for that species and is kept locked away in museum archives for future study.
Many historic holotypes collected in the 18th and 19th centuries were labeled with vague handwritten locations, such as “Collected in the Brazilian rainforest, 1842.” Because these descriptions did not contain modern GPS coordinates, computerized museum registries could not map them. Instead of leaving the location blank, mapping software automatically defaulted the missing data to 0.0, 0.0.
This digital glitch instantly “teleported” these invaluable scientific discoveries—including the official master specimen of a rare Philippine millipede—straight into the Atlantic Ocean.
The “Most Biodiverse Place on Earth”
Because researchers, biologists, and citizens use global databases like the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) to log animal and plant sightings, “Null Island” points have created a hilarious ecological anomaly.
Whenever a researcher forgets to input the coordinates for a newly discovered species, the database automatically drops it at (0,0). Because of this, global databases technically show Null Island as a magical, hyper-diverse paradise containing over 15,000 species of land animals, desert plants, and deep-sea fish all occupying a single square meter of open ocean.
Brought to you by: Katherine and Alexander