Bill Bateman

Biography

Bill Bateman isa wildlife biologist. This is a very broad title and my own interests lie primarily in behaviour, conservation, and ecophysiology and I have published over 85 papers and book chapters in this area. I worked in Africa and America before locating to Australia, where we have a 'Curtin University Behavioural Ecology' (CUBE) group. We collaborate with other researchers, particularly at Murdoch University, and together we have formed a 'Western Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour' group, the members of which have a wide range of interests and expertise. We are always keen to make links with other researchers and to hear from excellent students that want to make an impact in this area.

Research Interest

Bill Bateman is primarily a behavioural ecologist and as such I am not limited to particular taxa and have worked on invertebrates through to large mammals. Having said that, I have a special affection for insects (especially crickets) and lizards and other reptiles. Much of my research has centred on sex and death: how animals find and choose mates and how animals avoid death through predation; I have a particular interest in dramatic tactics like autotomy: the shedding of part of the body to escape predation, such as lizards shedding their tail, or insects their legs. I am interested in sexual selection; in particular how it can influence physiology and anatomy as well as behaviour, such as the size and structure of genitalia in mammals and sexual dimorphism in body size and muscle development in kangaroos. I am also interested in animals in urban environments: some birds and mammals do very well in urban areas, others do not - in Australia there are both natives e.g. bandicoots and kangaroos, and introduced species e.g. foxes, in which we have much interest. Our group has several potential projects available for future Hons. and PhD students in these areas and I would welcome any enquiries.