What would the latin translation be for "So many species, so little time"?

I would like to get this tattoo and want it to be accurate and meaningful. If you know the authentic translation for "So many species, so little time" please help me out :)



All the best!



R~What would the latin translation be for "So many species, so little time"?
The "species" part is what makes it difficult to translate. "Species" is a relatively modern term in the scientific world, and the fifth-declension word "species, speciei" in Latin translates into "sight, view, shape, look." I'm going to give you two different translation for "species": one using "figura, -ae" (which can denote shape, form, kind, or nature) and another using "species, -ei" (more literal and anachronistic, but anyone who doesn't know Latin will recognize it). Also, notice I'm assuming you're talking about animal species here. Let me know if you meant "species" as a synonym for some other word.



"Quantum speciei, paulum temporis."

"Quantum figurae, paulum temporis."



The translation format comes from a sentence I read once that said "Paulum lucri, quantum damni" ("So little profit, so much loss") and I switched them to fit your saying stylistically after substituting the nouns with "species" and "tempus" in the genitive case. Also, notice how there should be no agreement in gender with the "quantum" and "paulum," since it's an idiomatic expression that requires the following noun to be in the genitive case of possession (so literally it translates to "How much of..., how little of...").



Hope this helped.