HANNA, G. Dallas

From Islapedia
G Dallas Hanna (1887-1970)

HANNA, G Dallas (1887-1970)[SS#558-07-8104], was born in Carlisle, Arkansas on April 24, 1887. (Hanna had only the letter "G" for a first name. Therefore, as with Harry S Truman, the letter is not an abbreviation and does not need a period after it.) In 1911, he received his A.B. from the University of Kansas in zoology, paleontology and chemistry. Soon after, he accepted a position with the United States Bureau of Fisheries and was sent to Bristol Bay, Alaska, where he examined the aquatic biology and wildlife of the area for planning and conservation purposes. Hanna quickly became an expert seaman and dog-sledder. During the winter of 1912-1913, Hanna took his dog-sled from Bristol Bay to Iditarod, the only telegraph station from which he could communicate with Washington D.C. to receive his orders for the following summer. Along the distance of 1000 miles, he collected over 800 birds and mammals for the U.S. National Museum. Hanna’s orders sent him to the Pribilof Islands to act as custodian and census taker of the local fur seal population at its breeding grounds. He also wrote about the mammals and birds of the area, studied geology and paleontology and developed an interest in fossil diatoms.

In 1918, he received his Ph.D. from George Washington University. His dissertation was on the shells of eastern Kansas. He worked for the Bureau of Fisheries intermittently during these five years.

In 1919, Dr. Hanna accepted a position as the Curator of Paleontology at the California Academy of Sciences. He was offered the job by the Academy’s new director, B. W. Evermann, the former Chief of Alaska Division United States Bureau of Fisheries. Hanna established the Diatom Collection at the California Academy of Sciences in 1919.

In 1922 Hanna joined the American staff of a scientific expedition to the islands off the west coast of Lower California in collaboration with Mexico and some of their scientists. The expedition visited the following islands: Guadalupe, San Martin, Cedros, the three San Benitos, Natividad, San Roque, Asuncion, Magdalena and Santa Margarita.

During his 51 year tenure in the Department of Paleontology, Hanna collected many fossil localities in western North America. These collections, which formed the backbone of the Academy’s diatom holdings, served as the material for his research program on the taxonomy and biostratigraphy of marine diatoms. With the publication of his many research articles, Hanna became the acknowledged leader and pioneer in applying diatom biostratigraphy to practical problems, including oil exploration. In addition to his own collections, he received many diatom-bearing samples from prospective oil-drilling sites and well core samples, all of which included well-documented stratigraphic information. The notoriety Hanna achieved led to extensive correspondence with U.S. and foreign workers. Diatom materials were sent to Hanna from all over the world for his review, insight and interpretation. As a result, Hanna generated about 1200 samples and 9000 slides for the collection.

During his lifetime Hanna authored approximately 450 publications, from abstracts, popular articles, and reviews, to lengthy scientific papers.


G Dallas Hanna = Elizabeth Frances Farquhar (1884-1954)

  • 1. Edna F Hanna [Matson] (1914-1954)



[original in SCIF archives]



Hanna collected on:

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FARALLON ISLANDS
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Farallon Islands G. D. Hanna MVZ May 14, 1949 MVZ-9678 Oryctolagus cuniculus ssp. Mammals
Farallon Islands G. D. Hanna MVZ May 14, 1949 MVZ-9679 Oryctolagus cuniculus ssp. Mammals


ISLA CEDROS
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna CAS July 17, 1922 CAS Felis silvestris Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS July 23, 1922 CAS-25488 Carduelis psaltria hesperophila Birds
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS July 23, 1922 CAS-4172 Chaetodipus fallax Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 6, 1922 CAS-4244 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 6, 1922 CAS-4245 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 6, 1922 CAS-4143 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & FrankTose CAS August 8, 1922 CAS-4141 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 11, 1922 CAS-4146 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 11, 1922 CAS-4147 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 12, 1922 CAS-4141 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 12, 1922 CAS-4304 Peromyscus Mammals
Isla Cedros G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 12, 1922 CAS-4142 Peromyscus eremicus cedrosensis Mammals


ISLA GUADALUPE
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Isla Guadalupe G. D. Hanna CAS July 17, 1922 CAS Felis silvestris Mammals


ISLA NATIVIDAD
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Isla Natividad G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 4, 1922 CAS-25556 Puffinus opisthomelas Birds
Isla Natividad G. D. Hanna & Frank Tose CAS August 4, 1922 CAS-25557 Puffinus opisthomelas Birds



In the News~

Los Angeles Times [July 11, 1922]: “Party to seek rare mammals. Mexicans and Americans on exploration trip. Lower California is mecca of scientific party. Commissioner of fisheries in charge of work. San Diego, July 10. The Mexican fisheries guard boat Tecate, on which a party of Mexican and American scientists are to seek reported remnants of rare species of mammals in Lower California waters in the next few weeks, left San Diego yesterday. The Mexican government supplied the boat and subsistence for forty-five days for the party. The Tecate is under the general direction and supervision of Prof. Carlos Cuesta Terron, commissioner of fisheries, Mexico City, who has associated with him the following Mexican scientists: Prof. Jose M. Gallegos, mammalogist and botanist, and Luis G. Rubio, taxidermist of the natural history museum, Mexico City; Rodolpho Lasano, inspector of lighthouses, Ensenada, and Enrico Gonzales, inspector of fisheries, Tijuana. The American scientific staff of the expedition is composed of Dr. G Dallas Hanna, secretary of the committee on conservation of marine life of the Pacific and curator of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; A. W. Anthony, member of the committee on conservation of marine life of the Pacific and curator of vertebrates in the San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park; Joseph R. Slevin, assistant curator of herpetology, and Frank Tose, chief taxidermist of the museum of the California Academy of Sciences; P. S. Barnhart of the Scripps Institution for Biological Research, and Ernest Hinkley of the San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park.”

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