Donald Leslie Frizzell (19 October 1906, in Bellingham, Washington – 17 October 1972, in

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

, Missouri) was an American paleontologist, geologist and

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

. He is honored in the

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

name '' Pitar frizzelli'' Hertlein & Strong, 1948.

Early life and education

Don L. Frizzell was born on 19 October 1906 in Bellingham, Washington. He attended grade school in White Bird, Idaho. In 1926, Frizzell entered the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

where he received master's degree in zoology under the direction of Professor Kincaid. During 1930–1931, he published three papers in ''Nautilus'' and one more paper on the new molluscan species. In summer 1931, Frizzell worked as a junior paleontologist with the Northwest Experiment Station,

U.S. Bureau of Mines The United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary United States government agency in the 20th century that conducted scientific research and disseminated information on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral resour ...

in Seattle. In autumn 1931, Frizzell started a five-year doctorate in paleontology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Pursuing graduate school, he received several fellowships such as Jacob Fellow in 1931–1932, Scholar in 1933–1934, and Jordan Fellow in 1934.

Career

After graduating from Stanford in 1936, Frizzell started working for

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

as a

micropaleontologist Micropaleontology (American spelling; spelled micropalaeontology in European usage) is the branch of paleontology (palaeontology) that studies microfossils, or fossils that require the use of a microscope to see the organism, its morphology and i ...

. However, he did not consider this job very promising and left it a year later. In 1937, he joined the International Petroleum Corporation spending next 7 years working in the oil field of Peru and Ecuador. On 29 August 1938, Frizzell married an American

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

Harriet Exline Lloyd in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In 1939, Frizzell was in M. Smith's 2nd International Directory of Malacologists in Negritos, Peru, and in 1943, M. Smith's International Directory of Malacologists in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In January 1945, Frizzell accepted an offer to work as an associate professor in geology department at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in Austin. In 1946–1948, he spent summers working as a geologist for the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin. In 1948, Frizzell moved to Rolla and started working in the Department of Geology at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

School of Mines and Metallurgy. At the University of Missouri Frizzell taught micropaleontology, paleontology, petroleum geology, and later also

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

paleontology. Having completed work on ''Foraminitera'' Frizzell opened new avenues of study in the area of

holothurian Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number being in the Asia� ...

sclerites. ''Monograph of fossil holothurian sclerites,'' written jointly with his wife Harriet Exline, was published in 1955. In 1959, Frizzell was awarded a

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

grant for a two-year (1959 to 1961) study of "Recent otoliths and the Eocene-Oligocene otoliths of the Gulf Coast". Frizzell kept teaching activities until September 1972. He died at Jefferson City, Missouri, in Still Hospital on 17 October 1972. Frizzell is honored in the bivalve name '' Pitar frizzelli'' Hertlein & Strong, 1948.

Books and publications

* 1928. Frizzell, Don L. " Pododesmus macroschisma Deshayes". In: ''Nautilus'' 42(2): 67 & 43(3) 104 (1930) * 1930. Frizzell, Don L. "A new

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

fossil from

Port Blakely, Washington Port Blakely is a community of Bainbridge Island, Washington in the western United States. It is located on the east side of the island, slightly to the south. The center of Port Blakely is generally defined as the intersection of Blakely Hill R ...

". In: ''Nautilus'' 43(4): 120–21. * 1930. Frizzell, Don L. "Variation in the sculpture of Acila castrensis Hinds". ''Nautilus'' 44(2): 50-53 * 1930. Frizzell, Don L. "Schizothaerus nuttalli capax Gld. not maxima Midd". ''Nautilus'' 44(2): 69 * 1930. Frizzell, D. L. "The status of Paphia tenerrima alta Waterfall". ''The Nautilus'' 44(2): 48-50 * 1931. Frizzell, Don L. "A Molluscan Species New to the Recent West Coast Fauna". In: ''Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist.'', Vol. VI, No. 21, pp 319–24, plate 22 * 1935. Frizzell, Donald Leslie. ''Studies in the molluscan superfamily Veneracea''. Stanford University Press. 262 pages * 1935. Frizzell, Don L. "Bivalves of the genus Protothaca". In: ''Proc. Geol. Soc. Amer''. for 1934: 387–88. * 1936. Miller, R.C. & Don L. Frizzell. "Key to the

pelecypod Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...

genera of Puget Sound". In: ''Proc. Geol. Soc. Amer.'' for 1935: 415 * 1936. Frizzell, D. L. ''Preliminary reclassification of veneracean pelecypods''. Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, Bulletin 12(34): 84 pp. * 1953 (with A. Myra Keen). ''Illustrated Key to West North American Pelecypod Genera.'' Stanford Univ. Press * 1955 (with Harriet Exline). ''Monograph of fossil holothurian sclerites''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frizzell, Donald Leslie 1906 births 1972 deaths 20th-century American geologists American paleontologists University of Washington alumni Stanford University alumni American malacologists 20th-century American zoologists Missouri University of Science and Technology faculty