- Frank N. Blanchard
Frank Nelson Blanchard (1888-1937) was an American herpetologist, and professor of
zoology at theUniversity of Michigan . He is credited with identifying several new species, including the Broad-banded Water Snake, "Nerodia fasciata confluens ", and the Florida King Snake, "Lampropeltis getula floridana ". As well, he has been honored by havingreptile s andamphibian s named after him, including the Western Smooth Green Snake, "Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi ", and Blanchard's Cricket Frog, "Acris crepitans blanchardi ".Born in
Stoneham, Massachusetts , Blanchard attained his bachelors of science in biology fromTufts University in 1913, and his doctorate in zoology from the University of Michigan in 1919. Where he studied withHelen Gaige under Dr.Alexander Grant Ruthven . His thesis was an extensive account of thegenus "Lampropeltis ", king snakes.From 1913 until 1916 he taught zoology at
Massachusetts State College inAmherst, Massachusetts . In 1918 he became an aide in the division of reptiles for theSmithsonian Institution , working underLeonhard Hess Stejneger until 1920, when he became a zoology professor at the University of Michigan. In 1922 he published "Amphibians and Reptiles of Western Tennessee". For the year of 1927, he took asabbatical from the University to travel toNew Zealand ,Australia andTasmania , primarily to study thetuatara . In 1935 he spent a summer withHoward K. Gloyd , travelling through the southwestern United States, writing a manual of the snakes of the US, which was completed by Gloyd after his death. In 1936, he was elected vice president of theAmerican Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists . His most enduring legacy to the field of herpetology are his techniques for studying live animals in the field.References
* [http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html Biographies of People Honored in the Herpetological Nomenclature North America]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.