Norman Ira Platnick (December 30, 1951 – April 8, 2020) was an American biological systematist and

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of ...

. At the time of his death, he was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the

Richard Gilder Graduate School The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

and Peter J. Solomon Family Curator Emeritus of the invertebrate zoology department of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 int ...

. A 1973 Ph.D. recipient at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, Platnick described over 1,800 species of

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s from around the world, making him the second most prolific spider taxonomist in history, behind only

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4 ...

. Until 2014 he was also the maintainer of the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

, a website formerly hosted by the AMNH which tracks the arachnology literature, and attempts to maintain a comprehensive list, sorted taxonomically, of every species of spider which has been formally described. In 2007 he received the International Society of Arachnology's Bonnet award, named for Pierre Bonnet, in recognition of his work on the catalog. Platnick was recognized as a world leader in spider taxonomy. Dr. Quentin D. Wheeler stated "He is the best arachnologist of his generation, has published more monographs and nomenclatural contributions than anyone, period." Platnick was one of the founding members of the Willi Hennig Society and its fourth President (1991–1992). His contributions to theoretical cladistics, such as his 1981 book, Systematics and Biogeography: Cladistics and Vicariance (coauthored with

Gareth Nelson Sir Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'') is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother t ...

), are also highly regarded. Platnick's later undertaking involved the goblin spiders of

Oonopidae Oonopidae, also known as goblin spiders, is a family of spiders consisting of over 1,600 described species in about 113 genera worldwide, with total species diversity estimated at 2000 to 2500 species. The type genus of the family is ''Oonops'' Ke ...

as a part of the

Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Planetary means relating to a planet or planets. It can also refer to: ;Science * Planetary habitability, the measure of an astronomical body's potential to develop and sustain life * Planetary nebula, an astronomical object ;People * Planetary ...

, a project which includes scientific institutions from across the world. There are currently about 1,600 recorded species in 114 genera, but estimates have been placed as high as 2,500; the project aims to flesh out the recorded species list and gain a more exact picture of the family's

Phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological s ...

through DNA analysis. Platnick died April 8, 2020 of complications following a fall. He is commemorated in the names of 8 genera and over 50 species of invertebrates.

Notable publications

* (1973): A Revision of the North American Spiders of the Family Anyphaenidae. Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University. * & (1979): A revision of the spider family Mecicobothriidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae)." ''American Museum Novitates'' 2687''
Abstract, PDF
* . & (1981): ''Systematics and biogeography: cladistics and vicariance.'' Columbia University Press, New York. 567 pp. * (1990): Spinneret Morphology and the Phylogeny of Ground Spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosoidea). ''American Museum Novitates'' 2978: 1–42
PDF (33Mb)
* , , , and (1991): Spinneret Morphology and the Phylogeny of Haplogyne Spiders (Araneae, Araneomorphae). ''American Museum Novitates'' 3016: 1–73
PDF (50Mb)
* (1998): Advances in Spider Taxonomy 1992–1995, with Redescriptions 1940–1980. ''New York Entomological Society'' 976 pp. * , , & (1999): Towards a Phylogeny of Entelegyne Spiders (Araneae, Araneomorphae, Entelegynae). ''Journal of Arachnology'' 27: 53–63.'
PDF

from: Cracraft, J. & Grifo, F.T. (eds.) (1999). The Living Planet In Crisis – Biodiversity Science and Policy. ''Columbia University Press''. * (2000): A Relimitation and Revision of the Australasian Ground Spider Family Lamponidae (Araneae: Gnaphosoidea). ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' 245: 1–330.
Web version
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Abstract, PDF
* (2020): Spiders of the World. A Natural History Edited by Platnick''Princeton University Press''

References

External links

Official website at AMNH

* from the AMNH 1951 births 2020 deaths People from Bluefield, West Virginia Scientists from West Virginia Arachnologists American arachnologists Harvard University alumni People associated with the American Museum of Natural History {{US-zoologist-stub