Guy Dollman facts for kids
Captain John Guy Dollman (1886-1942) was a British zoologist and taxonomist. This means he studied animals and helped to name and classify them. Two animals, the Dollman's Tree Mouse and Dollman's Vlei Rat, are named after him!
Guy Dollman's Life and Work
Guy Dollman was born on September 4, 1886. His father, John Charles Dollman, was a famous artist. Guy went to St Paul's School and then to Cambridge University.
In 1907, while still a student, he started working at the British Museum (Natural History) in London. He spent most of his career there, helping to look after the mammal collection.
In 1912, Guy Dollman went on an expedition to Vietnam. There, he discovered and officially named the Tonkin Snub-nosed Langur, a type of monkey.
He joined the British Army in 1915. He was injured in an accident involving a bomb, so he did not fight in the First World War.
After the war, in 1919, he returned to the museum. He became an important adviser for a big meeting in 1933. This meeting was called the International Conference for the Preservation of the Flora and Fauna of Africa. It was the most important meeting about protecting nature before the Second World War. Dollman helped decide which animal species needed protection.
Guy Dollman often worked and wrote with Walter Rothschild. They wrote books like New mammals from Dutch New Guinea (1932) and The Genus Dendrolagus (1936), which was about tree kangaroos. Dollman was also a talented artist. He showed his pictures at the Royal Academy and drew illustrations for his own scientific writings.
Dollman passed away on March 21, 1942, when he was 65 years old.
Animals Named by Guy Dollman
When a scientist is the first person to officially name a new species, they are called the "binomial authority" for that animal. Guy Dollman was the binomial authority for many animals, meaning he was the first to describe and name them scientifically. Here are some of the animals he named:
| Bates's Shrew (1915) | Black-headed Night Monkey (1909) | Christy's Dormouse (1914) | Country Mouse (with Thomas) (1909) |
| Cosens's gerbil (1914) | Dent's Shrew (1915) | Diminutive Gerbil (1911) | Dollman's Tree Mouse (1910) |
| Fiery Spiny Mouse (1910) | Flower's Shrew (1915) | Fox's Shrew (1915) | Giant Thicket Rat (1911) |
| Great-tailed Triok (with Rothschild) (1932) | Greater Hamster-Rat (1914) | Heather Shrew (1915) | Hun Shrew (1915) |
| Kemp's Spiny Mouse (1911) | Kemp's Thicket Rat (1911) | Lorrain Dormouse (1910) | MacMillan's Shrew (1915) |
| Mauritanian Shrew (1915) | Moonshine Shrew (1910) | Nyiro Shrew (1915) | Nigerian Shrew (1915) |
| Percival's gerbil (1914) | Percival's Spiny Mouse (1911) | Pygmy Ringtail Possum (with Rothschild) (1932) | Rudd's Mouse (1909) |
| Sahelian Tiny Shrew (1915) | Shaw Mayer's Brush Mouse (with Rothschild) (1932) | Silent Dormouse (1912) | Spurrell's Free-tailed Bat (1911) |
| Tarella Shrew (1915) | Tonkin Snub-nosed Langur (1912) | Turbo Shrew (1910) | |
| Ugandan Lowland Shrew (1915) | Ultimate Shrew (1915) | Zaphir's Shrew (1915) |
- In 1912, Dollman also classified Elephantulus rufescens dundasi, a type of Rufous Elephant Shrew.
- In 1912, Dollman classified Rhynchocyon petersi adersi, a type of Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew.
- In 1915, Dollman classified Crocidura olivieri zuleika, a type of African Giant Shrew.
- In 1932, Rothschild and Dollman also classified Phascolosorex dorsalis brevicaudata, a type of Narrow-striped Marsupial Shrew.
Books and Articles by Dollman
Guy Dollman wrote many important books and articles about animals during his career. These publications helped other scientists learn more about different species and their habitats.
