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Many people have influenced my interests in natural history, but
two in particular have provided considerable information and encouragement.
I greatly appreciate the assistance and guidance of Frieda Schilling.
Frieda's experience and knowledge of Missouri's Mollusk fauna is
vast, and her relentless pursuit of knowledge and understanding
is very inspiring. Frieda's contributions to these web pages
has been very direct, as well. She has reviewed, validated
and/or corrected many of my identifications of troublesome species,
and has contributed hard-to-find specimens for study and Illustration.
Ron Oesch is the local authority on Missouri's Mollusks.
Many amateur shell collectors have worn out the pages of his Missouri
Naiades: Guide to the Mussels of Missouri. I studied and
was inspired by his publications long before I met him personally.
Ron is currently engaged in a publication on the Missouri land snails,
and much of the material presented on this web site reflects his
many years of study and effort which has not yet been published.
In addition to offering the use of his published work and work in
progress, Ron has kindly provided much raw data on species distributions.
Thank you Frieda and Ron.
Larry Watrous, Feb. 2000
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