World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Animal Science and Veterinary

D-Index
32
Citations
5271
World Ranking
2085
National Ranking
594

Overview

William A. Shear is affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy, with significant contributions to related fields including spider taxonomy and behavior studies, insect and arachnid ecology and behavior, lepidoptera biology and taxonomy, species distribution and climate change, amphibian and reptile biology, and invertebrate taxonomy and ecology.

Their work spans multiple disciplines within biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and earth and planetary sciences. Specifically, the main fields of study encompass:

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences

Within these fields, key subfields include:

  • Genetics
  • Paleontology
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Ecology

William A. Shear has published extensively on the following topics:

  • Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
  • Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies
  • Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
  • Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
  • Species Distribution and Climate Change
  • Amphibian and Reptile Biology
  • Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology

Their frequent co-authors include Paul E. Marek, J. Judson Wynne, Francis G. Howarth, Stefano Mammola, and Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira.

William A. Shear has contributed to publications across several venues, most notably:

  • Zootaxa
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility
  • Conservation Letters
  • Science
  • Scientific Reports

Recent published works by William A. Shear provide insight into their focus on taxonomy and biodiversity. These include:

  • The millipede family Striariidae Bollman, 1893. VI. Six new genera and thirteen new species from western North America (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Striarioidea), 2022, Zootaxa
  • Recovery of the family status of Pericambalidae Silvestri, 1909, stat. nov. (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Cambalidea), with a revision of the genera and species from China, 2023, Invertebrate Systematics
  • A conservation roadmap for the subterranean biome, 2021, Conservation Letters
  • Brazilian cave heritage under siege, 2022, Science
  • The first true millipede-1306 legs long, 2021, Scientific Reports

Best Publications

  • Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness

    Zhi-Qiang Zhang;John Na Hooper;Rob Wm Van Soest;Andrzej Pisera

  • The ecology of Paleozoic terrestrial arthropods: the fossil evidence

    William A. Shear;Jarmila Kukalová-Peck

  • Early Land Animals in North America: Evidence from Devonian Age Arthropods from Gilboa, New York

    William A. Shear;Patricia M. Bonamo;James D. Grierson;W. D. Ian Rolfe

  • Molecular evidence for the gnathobasic derivation of arthropod mandibles and for the appendicular origin of the labrum and other structures

    Aleksandar Popadić;Grace Panganiban;Douglas Rusch;William A. Shear

  • The geological record and phylogeny of the Myriapoda

    William A. Shear;Gregory D. Edgecombe

  • A Devonian Spinneret: Early Evidence of Spiders and Silk Use

    William A. Shear;Jacqueline M. Palmer;Jonathan A. Coddington;Patricia M. Bonamo

  • The chemical defenses of millipedes (diplopoda): Biochemistry, physiology and ecology

    William A. Shear

  • Linnaeus Tercentenary: Progress in Invertebrate Taxonomy

    Zhi-Qiang Zhang;William A. Shear

  • Fossil evidence for the origin of spider spinnerets, and a proposed arachnid order.

    Paul A. Selden;William A. Shear;Mark D. Sutton

  • 3 Rustling in the Undergrowth: Animals in Early Terrestrial Ecosystems

    William A. Shear;Paul A. Selden

  • Fossils of large terrestrial arthropods from the Lower Devonian of Canada

    William A. Shear;Patricia G. Gensel;Andrew J. Jeram

  • Millipede phylogeny revisited in the light of the enigmatic order Siphoniulida

    P. Sierwald;W. A. Shear;R. M. Shelley;J. E. Bond

  • A conservation roadmap for the subterranean biome

    J. Judson Wynne;Francis G. Howarth;Stefano Mammola;Stefano Mammola;Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira

  • A terrestrial alicorhagiid mite (Acari: Acariformes) from the Devonian of New York

    John B. Kethley;Roy A. Norton;Patricia M. Bonamo;William A. Shear

  • The millipede family Conotylidae in northwestern North America, with a complete bibliography of the family (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Heterochordeumatidea, Conotyloidea)

    William A. Shear;Casey H. Richart;Victoria L. Wong

  • The harvestman genus Taracus Simon 1879, and the new genus Oskoron (Opiliones: Ischyropsalidoidea: Taracidae)

    William A. Shear;Joseph G. Warfel

  • Cretaceous arachnid Chimerarachne yingi gen. et sp. nov. illuminates spider origins.

    Bo Wang;Jason A. Dunlop;Paul A. Selden;Paul A. Selden;Russell J. Garwood;Russell J. Garwood

  • Three new genera and eighteen new species of miniature polydesmid millipedes from the northwestern United States (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Polydesmidae).

    William A. Shear;Paul E. Marek

  • Urochordeumatidae Silvestri, 1909, a millipede family endemic to Washington State, USA (Chordeumatida, Striariidea, Striarioidea).

    William A. Shear;Paul E. Marek

  • The millipede family Striariidae Bollman, 1893: I. Introduction to the family, synonymy of Vaferaria Causey with Amplaria Chamberlin, the new subfamily Trisariinae, the new genus Trisaria, and three new species (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Striarioidea).

    William A Shear

  • The millipede family Striariidae Bollman, 1893. II. New records and species of the genus Amplaria Chamberlin, 1941 (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Striarioidea).

    William A. Shear

  • Step-wise evolution of complex chemical defenses in millipedes: a phylogenomic approach

    Juanita Rodriguez;Tappey H. Jones;Petra Sierwald;Paul E. Marek

  • The first paleozoic pseudoscorpions (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpionida)

    Wolfgang Schawaller;William A. Shear;Patricia M. Bonamo

  • Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness

    William Shear

  • A redescription of the leggiest animal, the millipede Illacme plenipes, with notes on its natural history and biogeography (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida, Siphonorhinidae).

    Paul E. Marek;William A. Shear;Jason E. Bond

Frequent Co-Authors

Paul A. Selden
Paul A. Selden University of Kansas
Roy A. Norton
Roy A. Norton SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Thomas Pape
Thomas Pape University of Copenhagen
David B. Wake
David B. Wake University of California, Berkeley
Stefano Mammola
Stefano Mammola National Research Council (CNR)
Gilberto J. de Moraes
Gilberto J. de Moraes Universidade de São Paulo
Shane T. Ahyong
Shane T. Ahyong Australian Museum
Hans Klompen
Hans Klompen The Ohio State University
D. Christopher Rogers
D. Christopher Rogers Northeastern State University
Adriano B. Kury
Adriano B. Kury Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

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