My research centers on the magnitude and origin of species-level diversity in the Mollusca. Estimates of the total number of living mollusk species range from less than 100,000 to more than 200,000 and there is little agreement even as to how many species of mollusks have already been discovered. I use electronic databases to better document the known diversity of mollusks and to estimate their total diversity. One such database is Malacolog, for Western Atlantic marine gastropods. Another is a Biotic Database of Indo-Pacific Marine Mollusks. I also do research in Jamaica, which has one of the most diverse faunas of terrestrial mollusks in the world, and have developed an interactive key to land snails of Jamaica. I'm a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, and started the ICZNwiki, which is being used to develop the fifth edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Last update, 23 March 2010. |
