Frederic Brewster Loomis (November 22, 1873 – July 28, 1937) was an American
paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
. Educated at
Amherst College and the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, he spent his entire professional career at Amherst. His specialty was
vertebrate paleontology
Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...
. Many
fossils he uncovered during his extensive field work are still exhibited at Amherst's
Beneski Museum of Natural History
The Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College is located on the campus of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. It showcases fossils and minerals collected locally and abroad, many by past and present students and professors. The ...
. He was a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, a fellow of the
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
, and president of the
Paleontological Society
The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...
.
Early life and education
Loomis was born November 22, 1873, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York, to Julie R. Loomis (''née'' Brewster) and Nathaniel H. Loomis, a businessman who ran produce warehouses in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
[ Walter Granger. Memorial to Frederick Brewster Loomis. ''Proceedings of the Geological Society of America for 1937'', Jun. 1938, pp. 173–82.] In March 1877 his father died of
rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...
contracted from a dog bite. The family later moved to
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
, New York, where he attended
Rochester Free Academy and then
Canandaigua Academy,
[ which was then a private school for boys. Loomis's interest in ]paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
dates from this period, when we spent his spare time collecting invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
fossils.[
In 1892 Loomis entered Amherst College, where he joined Phi Delta Theta. After graduating in 1896 he remained at Amherst for a year as a research assistant in biology. In the fall of 1897 he entered the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich to study under ]Karl Alfred von Zittel
Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German palaeontologist best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880).
Biography
Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the Grand Duchy o ...
. He earned his Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from LMU in 1899.[
]
Career
After earning his Ph.D. Loomis returned to Amherst, where he remained on the faculty until his death. He was first an Instructor in the Department of Biology. He was named Associate Professor of Biology in 1903, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in 1908, and Professor of Geology in 1917. He also served as Vice President of the College and held this office at the time of his death.[
Loomis was chiefly a ]vertebrate paleontologist
Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by u ...
, and most of his published research is in this area. He was highly active in field work. Most notably, a 1911 expedition to Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
funded by Loomis's Amherst Class of 1896 yielded several remarkable fossils of the extinct mammal ''Pyrotherium
''Pyrotherium'' ('fire beast') is an extinct genus of South American ungulate, of the order Pyrotheria, that lived in what is now Argentina and Bolivia, during the Late Oligocene.[Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...]
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
, returning to Amherst with fossils of vertebrates including ''Eohippus
''Eohippus'' is an extinct genus of small equid ungulates. The only species is ''E. angustidens'', which was long considered a species of ''Hyracotherium''. Its remains have been identified in North America and date to the Early Eocene (Ypresian ...
'', mastodon
A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...
s, and mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...
s. These joined the collection of Amherst's natural history museum,[ known today as the ]Beneski Museum of Natural History
The Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College is located on the campus of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. It showcases fossils and minerals collected locally and abroad, many by past and present students and professors. The ...
. Loomis regarded the museum as his finest accomplishment,[ and his contributions were still exhibited there almost a century later.
He was elected a fellow of the ]Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
in 1909 and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1917. He was also active in the Paleontological Society
The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...
, serving as its President in 1920.[
The Springfield Science Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, features an exhibit which includes a bone initially collected in New Mexico in 1924 during one of 17 expeditions led by Loomis. The exhibit includes photographs of Loomis on one of his expeditions. ]
Death
On July 28, 1937, while fishing with his wife, Florence (Calhoun) Loomis, and sons off the coast of Sitka, Alaska, Loomis suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. He was buried a little more than a week later at Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts.Five College Consortium
The Five College Consortium (often referred to as simply the Five Colleges) comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount ...
Archives & Manuscript Collections
Frederic Brewster Loomis (AC 1896) papers, 1901–1936
Accessed Feb. 13, 2014.
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loomis, Frederic Brewster
1873 births
1937 deaths
People from Brooklyn
Scientists from Rochester, New York
Rochester Free Academy alumni
Amherst College alumni
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Amherst College faculty
American paleontologists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the Geological Society of America