More nature emojis could be better for biodiversity

A team of conservation biologists from Italy recently found that current emoji options are sorely lacking when it comes to life outside of vertebrates in the animal kingdom. Sure, there are multiple dog and cat options to choose from. But when it comes to fungi, for example, the choices are limited ... to one.

The study was published this week in the journal iScience. The researchers sorted through Emojipedia, an emoji reference site, and classified all of the available emoji that depict nature or animals. They found 92 animals, 16 plants and just one fungus. Now, they're arguing that our emoji lexicon is in dire need of some biodiversity – which could have a real impact on the way people communicate about conservation.

Which animal, plant or nature emoji do you want to see? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might feature your answer on a future episode!

This episode was produced by Vincent Acovino and Chloee Weiner. It was edited by Kathryn Fox and Rebecca Ramirez. Brit Hanson checked the facts. The audio engineers were Josh Newell and Maggie Luthar.