Hello, I am Robert W. Blanton, a citizen avocational taxonomist from Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA.
I have been interested in taxonomy for over thirty years but now that I am retired, can devote more time to the pursuit of my avocation.
I have been dismayed that scientists, being such methodical and exacting individuals, have not yet been able to produce a viable, up-to-date website listing all known valid genera and species worldwide. Several very good websites do exist, especialy Catologue of Life, but each have their deficiencies. (e.g. Col has the genus Musca listed 28 times with all apecies distributed among the 28 different entries!) {Hooray! COL has finally straightened this out and all Musca species are now under one entry in the 2019 Annual Checklist) Having discovered Wikispecies and its allowing individual users to make contributions, I believe that Wikispecies has the potential to be the premier website for worldwide taxonomic information. It has the advantage of being immediately up-to-date and of quickly correcting confusing or erroneous data.
I have made numerous addtions of familiae and genera since Nov. 2018. I am a conscientious contributor (as can be demonstrated by my numerous edits) hoping to make Wikispecies a spectacular success. Feel free to send me notices or email me with any comments concerning my new pages and corrections. Thanks and happy editing to all!
