You don't consider peat as humus? It pretty much matches the definition of humus to a T.
I know you know, but many equate humus with compost and they are 2 different things ... mostly.
Wet
Absolutely it's a humus.
BUT it's so damn old, and then inevitably dried, packed, etc, etc.
My "definition" of humus is a freshly made source with loads of microbial activity.
But you are 100% correct, peat is totally humus, but not the "type" i'm talking about..
I know, I know, it's kinda stupid.
But it's the difference between store bought EWC vs a homemade.. yea, they are sorta the same, but one is vastly superior to the other.
Compost IS humus, but not all of it, but that's sort of a pointless endeavor to argue that, ewc is humus, peat is humus, leaf mold is humus, grass clippings, pine needles(I had two runs of a compost that was 75% redwood one needles, worked really well, wasn't acidic at all), most anything organic will turn into humus at the end.
BUT that's where it gets murky.. as far as the definition.
For example, the consistency of homemade ewc is extremely dense and thick, it's great shit, but you need to match it 1/1 with aeration, I actually prefer the leaf mold "version" of humus, it's more spongey, almost like tiny pieces of black sponges, and they also have some sort of "elastic" quality to them, meaning it doesn't compact over time, which is advantageous when you re-use your soil for yrs and yrs.
Almost reminds me of rice hulls sorta.
My point is simply that humus is a poorly defined substance, our understanding of it's EXACT role is fairly rudimentary.
I guess this ramble could be simplified..
All humus is NOT created equal.