What is Norman I. Platnick?
[[File:NormanPlatnick.jpg|thumb|Norman Platnick at the 15th International Congress of Arachnology, Badplaas, South Africa in 2001]] '''Norman Ira Platnick''' (December 30, 1951 &ndash; April 8, 2020<ref>https://twitter.com/WSC_NMBE/status/1247885502780305408</ref>) was an American biological systematist and [[Arachnology|arachnologist]].<ref name=NYTimes2005>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/25/science/25spid.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |last=Kumar|first= Mohi|date= October 25, 2005|title= The exciting adventures of spider man|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]}}</ref> He was born in [[Bluefield, West Virginia]]. He was a [[Professor]] [[Emeritus]] of the [[American Museum of Natural History#Richard Gilder Graduate School|Richard Gilder Graduate School]] and Peter J. Solomon Family Curator Emeritus of the invertebrate zoology department of the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. Platnick described over 1,800 species of [[spider]]s from around the world.<ref name=Platnick&Raven2013>{{cite journal|last1=Platnick|first1=Norman I.|last2=Raven|first2=Robert J.|title=Spider Systematics: Past and Future|journal=Zootaxa|date=2013|volume=3683|issue=5|pages=595–600|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3683.5.8|pmid=25250473}}</ref> Until 2014 he was also the maintainer of the [[World Spider Catalog]], a website which tracks the arachnology literature. Platnick died on April 8, 2020 at a hospital in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]] of problems caused from a fall, aged 68.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/science/earth/norman-platnick-the-real-spider-man-is-dead-at-68.html Norman Platnick, the ‘Real Spider-Man,’ Is Dead at 68]</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Platnick, Norman}} [[Category:1951 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United States]] [[Category:Educators from West Virginia]] [[Category:American biologists]] [[Category:Scientists from West Virginia]] [[Category:Writers from West Virginia]] {{US-bio-stub}}