Humphreys, William F. (Bill)

Summary

Bill Humphreys is an invertebrate zoologist whose early research was on wolf spiders but also included coral reef ecology and echinoderms. He spent several years in the mid-1970s as a research fellow at La Trobe University studying thermoregulation of terrestrial invertebrates and in collaborative projects on the ecology of small mammals in Victoria and northern New South Wales. In 1980 he joined the University of Western Australia for its survey of the invertebrate community of the Eastern Goldfields. From 1988, having realised that many cave invertebrates found in Cape Range had adapted to an otherwise arid environment by retreating to humid caves, Humphrey's research turned to these underground habitats. With colleagues he studied the faunas of caves, and aquifers which were not open to the surface, across inland Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Their research has shown these faunas to have a high degree of genetic diversity and endemism. An extension to this research has been a move to protect these fragile environments from damaging exploitation. Humphreys's particular interest was flightless, eyeless subterranean diving beetles (Dytiscidae), Australia proving to have the most diverse such fauna recorded anywhere in the world. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia and an Research Associate of the Western Australian Museum where he was formerly Curator and Head of Terrestrial Invertebrates. Mandjelia humphreysi (Barychelidae), a species of mygalomorph spider, was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

? - 2001

Career position - Head, Terrestrial Invertebrates, Western Australian Museum

? - 2005

Career position - Curator, Terrestrial Invertebrates, Western Australian Museum

1973 - ?

Career position - Research Fellow, La Trobe University

1973

Education - PhD, Australian National University

1980

Career event - Joined Department of Biological Survey, Western Australian Museum

2010 - 2013

Award - ARC Linkage and Discovery Program (with Andy Austin, University of Adelaide, and Steve Cooper, South Australian Museum)

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Humphreys, W. F. and Eberhard, Stefan M., Assessment of the ecological values and management options for cave use on Christmas Island (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 1995), 134 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Humphreys, W. F. ed., The biogeography of Cape Range, Western Australia: being the proceedings of a symposium held under the auspices of the Western Australian Museum on 21 November 1992 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 1993), 248 pp. Details
• Humphreys, W. F. and Harvey, M. S. eds, Subterranean biology in Australia 2000 (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 2001), 227 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Blake, Michael, Watts, Chris H. S., Cooper, Steven J. B., Humphreys, William F. and Volger, Alfried, 'A highly modified stygobiont diving beetle of the genus Copelatus (Coleoptera, Dytidcidae): taxonomy and cladistic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequences', Systematic entomology, 29 (1) (2004), 59-67, https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1365-3113.2004.00229.X. Details
• Boulton, A. J., Humphreys, W. F. and Eberhard, S. M., 'Imperilled subsurface waters in Australia: biodiversity, threatening processes and conservation', Aquatic ecosystems health and management, 6 (1) (2003), 41-54, https://doi.org/10.1080/14634980301475. Details
• Finston, Terrie, Johnson, M. S., Humphreys, William F., Eberhard, Stefan M. and Halse, S. A., 'Cryptic speciation in two widespread subterranean amphipod genera reflects historical drainage patterns in a ancient landscape', Molecular ecology, 16 (2) (2007), 355-65, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-294X.2006.03123X. Details
• Fletcher, Murray, 'Grey area [Peter McQuillan and Bill Humphreys]', Myrmecia, 60 (3) (2024), 39-43, https://www.austentsoc.org.au/public/111/files/Myrmecia/Myrmecia%2060%3B3_FinalV2_reduced%20(1).pdf. Details
• Humphreys, W. F., 'Rising from down under: developments in subterranean biodiversity in Australia from a groundwater perspective', Invertebrate systematics, 22 (2) (2008), 85-101, https://doi.org/10.1071/IS07016. Details
• Jaume, Damià, Boxshall, Geoffrey A. and Humphreys, William F., ' New stygobiont copepods (Calanoida: Misophrioida) from Bundera Sinkhole, an anchialine cenote in north-western Australia', Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, 133 (1) (2001), 1-24, https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1096-3642.2001.TB00620.X. Details