ABSTRACT London-born William Roy Branch spent nearly 50 years working as a herpetologist while associated with Port Elizabeth Museum. Bill, as he was known, passed away at home in Port Elizabeth on 14 October 2018, at the age of 72, after battling motor neurone disease. This tribute summarises various aspects of his life, his achievements, and their significance to African herpetology, with special reference to his impact on the Herpetological Association of Africa. It documents his involvement in field work in southern Africa and elsewhere on the continent, which contributed to making the herpetological collection at Port Elizabeth Museum among the largest such collections in Africa. Bill was the most prolific Africa-based herpetologist of his era, having produced an astonishing 659 herpetological publications. He was author of 68 taxon names and had six taxa named in his honour. We also offer personal recollections of our associations with a man we were honoured to know and collaborate with.

中文翻译：

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向 William Roy Branch (1946–2018) 致敬：非洲爬虫学先驱

摘要 出生于伦敦的威廉·罗伊·布兰奇 (William Roy Branch) 在与伊丽莎白港博物馆 (Port Elizabeth Museum) 合作期间从事爬虫学家工作近 50 年。众所周知，比尔在与运动神经元疾病作斗争后于 2018 年 10 月 14 日在伊丽莎白港的家中去世，享年 72 岁。这篇悼词总结了他生活的各个方面、他的成就及其对非洲爬虫学的意义，特别提到了他对非洲爬虫学协会的影响。它记录了他在南部非洲和非洲大陆其他地方的实地工作，这有助于使伊丽莎白港博物馆的爬虫学收藏成为非洲最大的此类收藏。比尔是他那个时代最多产的非洲爬虫学家，出版了惊人的 659 篇爬虫学出版物。他是 68 个分类群名称的作者，并有 6 个分类群以他的名字命名。我们还提供了我们与一个我们有幸认识并与之合作的人的个人回忆。