W. Frank Blair
William Franklin Blair (25 June 1912 – 1984) was a zoologist and president of the Ecological Society of America.[1][2]
Life
Blair was born in Dayton, Texas. He was the eldest of five children of Percy Franklin and Mona Clyde (Patrick) Blair. In 1916, his family moved tro Oklahoma, where Blair graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1930, then from the University of Tulsa in 1934 with a degree in zoology. He married Fern Antell, a librarian at the university, on October 25, 1933.[3]
Career
Blair earned his master's degree at the University of Florida in 1935, and completed his doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1938.[1] His advisor was Lee R. Dice
He began to work at the University of Michigan's Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology in 1937. He studied the home ranges of small
Works
Between 1935 and 1982 Blair published or edited some 162 papers, articles, and books.
- Vertebrates of the United States (1957)
- The Rusty Lizard: A Population Study (1960)
- Evolution in the Genus Bufo (1972)
- Big Biology: The U.S.- International Biological Program (1977)
- The Biotic Provineces of Texas. (1950)
Awards and legacy
Blair received many awards.
- Joseph Priestley Award from Dickinson College (1977)
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
He is commemorated by the W. Frank Blair Eminent Naturalist Award.[5]
Blair and his wife donated ten acres, on the site of Fort Colorado, to the Travis
The "blairi" color morph of the gray-banded kingsnake is named after Frank Blair. It was originally described as a new species, Lampropeltis blairi, later considered a subspecies, Lampropeltis alterna blairi, and then determined to be a color morph.[6][7]
References
- ^ S2CID 252228148.
- ^ a b "A Guide to the W. Frank Blair Papers, 1935-1986". Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
- ^ a b "Blair, William Franklin (1912–1985)". tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association.
- ISBN 978-1-62349-572-5.
- ^ "W. Frank Blair Eminent Naturalist Award". BioMedSearch. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Blair, W. F.", p. 26).
- ^ Species Lampropeltis alterna at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.