User talk:LittleLazyLass

Welcome!

Hello, Capra walie, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few links to pages you might find helpful:

Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{Help me}} before the question. Again, welcome!

If you are interesting in me showing you around coding stuff such as taxoboxes and cladograms, feel free to contact my talk page, just like I said on your IPs talk page. Also, if you are interested in a more all-round wikipedian mentoring you, feel free to visit WP:Adopt-a-user, or, if you have questions about wikipedia policies please visit WP:Teahouse. Any questions about dinosaur articles or references can be added to WT:DINO. Hope you enjoy editing as a user - IJReid (talk) 01:09, 13 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

List of creatures in Primeval

As a recent contributor at List of creatures in Primeval your input to a discussion at Talk:List of creatures in Primeval#Removal of substantial amounts of content would be appreciated. Thank you. --AussieLegend (✉) 17:48, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Lourinha Formation paleobiota

Hi Capra. I am currently working on an illustration of the Lourinha Formation including the dinosaurs Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis, Torvosaurus gurneyi, Allosaurus europaeus, Draconyx loureiroi, and Lusotitan atalaiensis. I am not asking for your critique on this, as I will post it on the image review page once the pencil version is done, but I was wondering what other organisms (plants, mammals, other dinosaurs) should be added to the image. An extremely bad image of this so far can be found here (note, the actual image is reversed). The Lusotitan and Draconyx, in successive order from right closer to left farther (on the real image). Are there any taxa to add to the image, or any minor comments at this stage? Just wondering, but is a collaboration between us on the Lourinha page and taxa possible, although noting that I will be on vacation from the 13th to the 21st, because some genera, like Dinheirosaurus, are actually quite close to being good articles soon? IJReid (talk) 02:37, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, I have now also put online a newer version of my current illustration, although the resolution is still crappy. The link is here. IJReid (talk) 02:45, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ok. As for notes on the current state, perhaps adding one or two more Lusotitan behind the current one, representing a small herd, as opposed to a loner. Adding another Draconyx with the current one as well. The only other thing I would think to change about the current creatures would be that the living Torvosaurus would be looking up at the Dinheirosaurus as opposed to tending to it's dead/dying relative (Sibling? Parent? Mate?). As for other taxa, I'd try not to overcrowd the image, so maybe some Dryosaurus, and a Miragaia or Dacentrurus. Also, it may be odd to have the Allosaurus and Torvosaurus attacking the same sauropod, so maybe have the Allosaurus attacking Dryosaurus or Miragaia/Dacentrurus mentioned above. Just some ideas thought. As for non-dinosaurs and plants, I've not gotten to the point of researching Lourinha Formation flora or non-dinosaur fauna yet, so I'm not sure. I'll have to get back to you on that, thought ferns and generic conifers are a safe bet for now.

As for collaboration, I'm open to the idea. Perhaps you could more work on the taxa pages, to avoid any edit conflicts. First thing that needs attending to, I don't think the Richardoestesia page makes any mention that Jurassic Portuguese material from various formations has been assigned to it, so make mention of that, thought note that the identification is tentative and the teeth probably don't belong to it but an unknown relative. Don't bother with the Deltapodus page thought, I plan on re-doing (i.e. essentially writing.) that page after I finish with Lourinha anyway. All references in the article are open access papers except 1 and 3, and the addtional references section, so there should be plenty of sources to go off of. Thought if you can find any more open access refs for Lusotitan or Lourinhasaurus that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, FYI, I've had a username change from Capra walie to Lusotitan.

Thanks. Lusotitan (talk) 14:28, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi again Luso. I have updated the image again, and again, when using my webcam the image appeared with a crappy resolution. The link is here. I have taken some of your requests into consideration, and have some comments on them. I haven't yet added more Lusotitan, Draconyx, or other ornithischians, but I think the Ornithischians will be in a herd together, as suggested by the paired footprints of ornithopods and stegosaurs. I think I will keep the theropods as they are, because what if the Allosaurus was attacking the Dinheirosaurus, which made the Dinheirosaurus rear up, an then the sauropod mistook some passing Torvosaurus as attacking, so it squished one of them. The Torvosaurus doesn't want to become aggressive with the Dinheirosaurus, as the Allosaurus is stronger, more powerful, larger, and bulkier than it, and it wouldn't end well for the Torvosaurus. On the left side of my image is a broken tree trunk with a pterosaur walking along it. I will say the pterosaur is Harpactognathus, which is found in the Morrison, so it is possible its range included Portugal. The pterosaur will be waiting for a partially exposed lizard to come fully out of the log to eat it. I have also added another tree that is possible to have existed in the Lourinha Formation behind the will be herd of ornithischians. I will start our collaboration as soon as the pencil image is done and I have completed User:Reid,iain james/Draft:Parasaurolophus, which you can help on as well. Bye for now, IJReid (talk) 15:06, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Torvosaurus guryeni is actually larger then Allosaurus europaeus, but I assume these are not full grown then, so no problem I guess. However, I have thought of, not a problem, but an idea. Replacing the Dinheirosaurus with a Zby. As it is currently, all of the fauna have very close relatives in the Morrison. And although it is correct the two formations are very similar, including in fauna, there are differences. The two big faunal differences that come to mind are the lack of low browsing sauropods (Maybe. Complicated issue.) and the presence of a turiasaur. Having a Miragaia and Zby will do a great job at representing that the formation is unique. Just an idea.Lusotitan (talk) 16:53, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Merry Christmas!

Oh, you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout, I'm telling you why

Christmas Velociraptor is coming to town

He sees you when you sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for your life's sake

Oh, you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout, I'm telling you why

Christmas Velociraptor is coming to town

Merry Christmas, and watch out for the Christmas Velociraptor, IJReid (talk) 25 December 2014

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May 2016

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Your recent edits

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. When you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion (but never when editing articles), please be sure to sign your posts. There are two ways to do this. Either:

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A page you started (Matheronodon) has been reviewed!

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Signature

Hi -- I noticed when reading one of your recent comments that you don't have a link to your user page or user talk page in your signature. This is rather an nuisance for other editors -- see WP:SIGLINK for the relevant guideline. Would you mind putting a link back into your signature? Thanks. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:41, 4 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Lusotitan, I see you haven't changed your signature. Would you mind adding a link? Per WP:SIGLINK, it is regarded as obstructive not to have a link to your user page or talk page in your signature. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:52, 6 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

How do I add one? Lusotitan 19:53, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Go to Special:Preferences and you'll see the Signature section on the User profile tab. There are instructions there; if you get stuck leave a note here and I can help. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:52, 6 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Signature again

Lusotitan, I see you still haven't added a link to your user page in your signature. Can you take another look at the section above and let me know if you need help doing this? See WP:SIGLINK for the reason why this should be done. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 19:59, 3 December 2017 (UTC)`[reply]

Still don't have two clues how to do it. Lusotitan 22:54, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

I can't do it for you directly, but I can tell you what to do. Go to Special:Preferences, and about halfway down you'll see an input box that says "Signature:". Copy everything in the box, and post it here, but do it like this:

<nowiki>...</nowiki>

with whatever's in that input box where I put the dots. (If you don't put it in those "nowiki" tags, it'll convert the text to your signature, which is not what I need to see.) I'll then be able to tell you what to put into that box to fix it. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 23:29, 3 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Wait, does it work now? Lusotitan' 03:14, 4 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That's much better -- it now links to your user page. Thank you for doing that. A lot of people like to leave a link to their talk page, instead of, or as well as, the link to their user page, since it's usually the talk page they want to get to. But that's up to you. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 03:18, 4 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 03:24, 4 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 03:36, 4 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Heads Up

Just to let you know, that IP that added that "Extinct animals of Korea" category to various articles is a long-term vandal who haunts that IP range, spamming articles with inappropriate, nonexistent, and nonexistent and inappropriate categories. The standard procedure is to revert literally every edit it makes as per WP:DENY, as the vandal's edits can not be trusted due to a combination of poor writing, eagerness to insert original research nonsense, and general incompetence.--Mr Fink (talk) 04:05, 23 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

DYK nomination of Sibirotitan

Hello! Your submission of Sibirotitan at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Chris857 (talk) 04:57, 3 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Signature causing problems at DYK

Lusotitan, I figured out what part of your signature was causing problems at DYK - the pipe character "|" between talk and contribs. Templates use the pipe to separate template arguments. You could change the pipe character to something else, or wrap it in nowiki tags like so: <nowiki>|</nowiki>. And your nomination is good to go. Chris857 (talk) 15:15, 5 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the heads up, I put in the nowiki tags. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 15:36, 5 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Sibirotitan

On 20 January 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Sibirotitan, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the newly named dinosaur Sibirotitan is only the second sauropod species named from the country of Russia, and one of the oldest titanosauriform sauropod species known from all of Asia? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Sibirotitan. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Sibirotitan), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Coffee // have a ☕️ // beans // 14:32, 20 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

That section

The Tarbosaurus section was fine not bad there some research on the piece.

New popular culture for Tarbosaurs

A Tarbosaurus was the main character in Speckles: The Tarbosaurus (The Dino King).^[1] Tarbosaurus also appears in the BBC documentaries Chased by Dinosaur were it fights with Therizinosaurus and The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs where it was seen hunting an Ankylosaurus.^[2] Tarbosaurus is seen in the imax Documentary Dinosaurs Alive where it fights Tarchia.^[3] Tarbosaurus is in Mongolian Post it stamps.^[4] Tarbosaurus appears in books toys. Tarbosaurus appeared in the game Dinosaur King^[5].

Can i please add this one instead. Tarbosaurus Appearance in media is pretty prevalent — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bubblesorg (talk • contribs) at 04:36, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Good you keep track

This Alex guy is just adding stuff without referencing to Hyperodapedon‎, with spelling mistakes, he just doesn't seem to care. Good you do. Cheers, Tisquesusa (talk) 05:00, 19 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Dinosaur articles as part of Wikiproject Paleontology

Hi Lusotitan, I have seen you have removed the wikiproject Paleontology banner from Neovenator talk page, however pretty much every dinosaur article has both a dual wikiproject dinosaurs and paleontology on the talk page (Baryonyx is the only one I can find that only has wikiproject dinosaurs for whatever reason), I find it a bit bizarre to just remove it from the neovenator article, given that the vast majority of articles have both. Thus I have reverted your decision for the meantime. If dinosaurs are going have their wikiproject paleontology banners removed, and thus be excised from the scope of wikiproject paleontology this is quite a huge change and is going have to be discussed on the wikiproject paleontology talk page. Kind regards Hemiauchenia (talk) 21:39, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It's already a guideline over on the WikiProject page, after being discussed previously. The practice just never got properly implemented. Quoting the WikiProject page:

"Since there is already a dedicated palaeontology project, only dinosaur articles that are important to the subject of paleontology in general should be tagged by that project, since all dinosaur articles are already paleontology articles by default."

Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 22:06, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have a direct link the quote and discussion? How does one define "important to the subject of paleontology in general"? That's really vague, does that only apply to taxa important to the development of paleontology in general, like Megalosaurus and Iguanodon? Iconic taxa like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops?. Or important 'transitional' fossils like Archaeopteryx and Microraptor?. If this is going to be done, "important to the subject of paleontology in general" needs to be specifically defined by community consensus on the wikiproject paleontology talk page, the vagueness of the criteria is probably why it wasn't done previously. Hemiauchenia (talk) 22:16, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I've found the link to the quote, but that is on the wikiproject dinosaur page, whether or not a page is part of wikiproject paleontology should only ultimately be the result of wikiproject paleontology guidelines, what the wikiproject dinosaur page says is pretty much irrelevant to that. If wikiproject paleontology links are going to be removed from dinosaur articles this needs to be discussed with wikiproject paleontology members on their project talk page Hemiauchenia (talk) 22:35, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it's how we treat other things. Everyone agrees putting the "Dinosaurs" category on Neovenator would be excessive, since there's already a carcharodontosaurids category we put it in. That automatically also categorizes it as a dinosaur, since all carcharodontosaurids are dinosaurs. Likewise, every article in WikiProject Dinosaurs falls under paleontology since WikiProject Dinosaurs is within WikiProject Paleontology. If we need to ask WikiProject Paleontology whether we can have them excluded, why not ask WikiProject Geology? That's the exact same thing, we've just moved it up a layer.

Regarding the discussion, it seems the discussion on it on the WikiProject Dinosaurs talkpage wasn't archived properly, I can only find it by looking at the editing history.Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 22:48, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

You haven't answered my question. What does "important to the subject of paleontology in general" mean in your opinion? you've just made it out like that wikiproject paleontology should be removed from all dinosaur articles, which is not what the original quote implied. The wikiprojects =/= categories, and having another wikiproject in the talk page does not significantly clutter it. like adding neovenator directly to the dinosaur category would. incidentally the category "dinosaurs" from my brief look at it seems like a wastebasket anyway, and it's subcategory list of dinosaur genera, and dinosaurs by continent are an absolute mess with bizzarely small list of dinosaur taxa and a smaller subcategory of monotypic dinosaur genera despite virtually all dinosaur genera being monotypic. anyways wikiproject dinosaurs is not within wikiproject paleontology, if it was it would be a taskforce. Wikiproject paleontology in turn is not part of wikiproject geology. they are all in fact sister projects. It just seems weird to do it to just Neovenator, when there is nothing about Neovenator in particular that warrants it being removed from wikiproject paleontology over hundreds of other dinosaur articles. If you are going to do this you'd need to be consistent and remove it from hundreds of other dinosaur articles which should not be done unilaterally, but instead discussed with other users on the wikiproject paleontology talkpage, paging FunkMonk for discussion. Hemiauchenia (talk) 23:30, 20 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I wasn't singling out Neovenator. I happened to be on its talk page and decided to enforce the rule. I do a similar thing with updating the portal link templates at the bottom of every dinosaur page; instead of taking the huge timesink to do it to every page at once, systematically, just do it when I happen to be editing anyways. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 00:32, 21 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What I meant back during the dfiscussion and in the guideline is that dinosaur articles are already inherently palaeontology articles. So a dinosaur article doens't need to be tagged with the palaeo project if it isn't somehow important to palaentology in genera. Megalosaurus is important to the history of palaeontology, whereas say, Mojoceratops, isn't really. But there are of course borderline cases. FunkMonk (talk) 22:05, 21 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

on your next edit

On your next edit. Please in your edit summary ask sutt to come to the discussion page so we can ask him a couple of question. I did read our response and i did look at richard sutt. Signs of a very underpriced wikipedia. SHould we offer him up some help?????? Also please ask them to make a user and talk page.

This is my talk page (User talk: Richard.sutt)Richard.sutt (talk) 20:20, 17 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Pachyrhinosaurus

I just wanted to ask why it's unncessary to add both parents. Pachyrostra is lower than Pachyrhinosaurini would'nt that be important to indicate? (User talk: Richard.sutt))Richard.sutt (talk) 20:20, 17 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

As long as Pachyrostra is displayed readers can click on the link to see that groups parents. It also saves the taxonboxes from taking up an unreasonable amount of vertical space. IJReid ^{{{T - C - D - R}}} 14:35, 18 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Permission to add Pachyrostra to the Ceratopsidae template

May I? (User talk: Richard.sutt)

Logged out

Hi. Was this you? The vote has a user-like signature, but it was not made with an account. Cheers, Manifestation (talk) 13:29, 6 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This was not me. It seems the IP just copied the signature code from a nearby comment, which happened to be mine. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 15:34, 6 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Oh ok. I've messaged the anon in question. Thanks, Manifestation (talk) 18:28, 6 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Speciesbox and monotypic genera

Replying here to not further derail the discussion at WP:TOL. I'm not sure what you're seeing with Saurophaganax. Are you viewing it in mobile mode? For me, in non-mobile view, the genus, species, and binomial lines are bold and not clickable, and putting the cursor on them does nothing. In mobile mode, the genus is not bolded, and it kind of acts like a link; while I can't click on it, when I put the cursor on it, it gets underlined like links do. Is that what you're talking about? Plantdrew (talk) 18:38, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not in mobile mode but that it what it's displaying on my end. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 18:41, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Wait, apparently it's a browser thing. It displays bold in Chrome but not Firefox. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 18:42, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Huh. I'm using Firefox 61. It is getting underlined when you put the cursor on it? There does seem to be some sort of problem with self-links in mobile mode (so far I've only tested with going to the mobile page on a desktop computer with Firefox). I'm finding that any self-link (not just in taxoboxes) is not bold and gets underlined when the cursor is placed on it in mobile mode. Of course, there really aren't very many self-links on Wikipedia; taxoboxes for monotypic taxa are one of the few places they show up. Plantdrew (talk) 18:51, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, they underline when hovered over but don't actually work. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 18:53, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it seems to be a bug in how the page is rendered. I've brought it up at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Self-links not bolded in certain viewing configurations. Plantdrew (talk) 19:13, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Your edits on Irritator

Thanks for your recent edits[1] to the Irritator article! I'd noticed a few of those issues before, but was a bit reluctant/unsure of how to fix them. Also yeah, I have GA and FA plans for this article in light of the Museu Nacional fire. FunkMonk is doing the same with Thalassodromeus, which hails from the same formation as Irritator, you might remember from our discussion at the WikiProject Palaeontology page[2]. There's still a lot of work left to do though if it's going to be comprehensive enough for FA, I just got my hands on the Angaturama paper so its description will be filled in pretty soon. And of course there's the postcranial specimens as well, which Machado and Kellner have described in various papers. ▼PσlєοGєєк ƧɊƲΔƦΣƉ▼ 22:23, 19 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Ledumahadi

On 4 November 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Ledumahadi, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that during its time 200 million years ago, Ledumahadi's weight of 12 tonnes (26,000 lb) made it the largest animal to have lived on Earth? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Ledumahadi. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Ledumahadi), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:02, 4 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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Tyrannosaurus

Hi, are you still going to shorten the feeding section? LittleJerry (talk) 22:41, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I will at some point. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 00:08, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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Thanks

Avi

Researcher, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy --Avi gan (talk) 02:13, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Deinonychosauria

Hi, I didn't link Deinonychosauria in Xixiasaurus before because it is now a redirect to Dromaeosauridae. But thinking about this, making it a redirect was probably not sound in the first place, since the term still seems to be used by some researchers. Furthermore, I don't even think Dromaeosauridae would be the right place to redirect it... Should it maybe be restored? FunkMonk (talk) 03:23, 11 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it still redirects to a subsection on the topic, but yes, it feels out of place there. Makes more sense to direct it to the relationships section of Paraves or give it a short page explaining the model and its validity. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 03:43, 11 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

A page you started (Gobiraptor) has been reviewed!

Thanks for creating Gobiraptor.

I have just reviewed the page, as a part of our page curation process and note that:

Nice work; thanks for creating this!
Do note that it's generally a good idea to have more than one source on any page; in this case, I've added a reference to the Wiener Zeitung and expanded the article a tiny bit using that source. Also, you shouldn't rate articles you create as FA on the quality scale; this status is reserved for featured articles that have gone through a thorough review.
Let me know if you have any questions. Cheers and happy editing!

To reply, leave a comment here and prepend it with {{Re|SkyGazer 512}}. And, don't forget to sign your reply with ~~~~ .

Message delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.

SkyGazer 512 ^{Oh no, what did I do this time?} 01:07, 7 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@SkyGazer 512: Oops, copied over WikiProject code and forgot to change the rating. Regarding the second source, news article sources are generally highly discouraged in WP:DINO due to the poor quality of science journalism (as appears to be the case... they never suggest it ate crustaceans in the paper itself, which the article is entirely based on). Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 01:10, 7 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the response! Regarding the rating, that's completely understandable; mistakes happen. :) I apologize for not realizing that about the news articles sources; it certainly is something I should have thought of. Feel absolutely free to revert my edit if you'd like.--SkyGazer 512 ^{Oh no, what did I do this time?} 01:12, 7 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Weewarrasaurus

On 12 February 2019, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Weewarrasaurus, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the first discovered fossil of the dinosaur Weewarrasaurus was noted for being preserved in green-blue opal? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Weewarrasaurus. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Weewarrasaurus), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

– Amakuru (talk) 00:01, 12 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Map size

I made it equal with the taxobox on my screen resolution and size, but apparently that varies quite a bit. Would be nice to automate that, but I don't know how that would work. Tisquesusa (talk) 17:26, 18 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dubious genera

The automated taxobox system doesn't support dubious genera with names written with ".."; for example it can't at present abbreviate "Tanius" to "T." So I think a manual taxobox is best at "Tanius" laiyangensis. Peter coxhead (talk) 21:47, 18 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: there is another way of handling questionable generic assignments, by using ? rather than ".." – see Tortrix? destructus. This method is supported by the automated taxobox system. Peter coxhead (talk) 21:58, 18 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Inapplicable, as there is no doubt that the species doesn't belong to Tanius. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 22:20, 18 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for Bajadasaurus

On 4 March 2019, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Bajadasaurus, which you recently nominated. The fact was ... that Bajadasaurus had elongated neural spines on its neck, thought to have been used to deter predators? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Bajadasaurus. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, daily totals), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 4 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

About Galleonosaurus

Hi Lusotitan,
I am puzzled why you removed references from BBC News and ABC News (Australia) from that article in this edit. They are without doubt reliable sources.
Given that this species and its genus was only recently described, it would appear to me that this might be a DYK candidate, with those references to support it.
Please let me know if I can assist you in any way about improving the English language Wikipedia.
Pete AU aka --Shirt58 (talk) 09:51, 16 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Press releases are not reliable at all when it comes to palaeontology, anything that doesn't butcher the ideas of the given paper is a rare surprise. They should be avoided unless there is some information about the discovery or history that the literature is unable to provide. When the article can be sourced only with peer reviewed papers written by experts and not repurposes of that exact same source written by someone with no idea what they're talking about, that's ideal, and it's the case here. Now, both this articles look pretty fine, there's no grave errors; but there's no information that can't be gleaned from the far more reliable source of the paper which the articles are merely re-statements of to begin with. There's no need for them. If you want to argue pointless news sources should be used in dinosaur articles against years of precedence, go argue it at the talk for WP:DINO. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 15:57, 16 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Your edit on Tanis (fossil site)

I reverted this addition - sorry.

The reason is, that this is an article on the site. It is not a biographical article on its discoverer, any more than the article on Chicxulub is an article on its discoverer and all that's said about him in the media. There's a lot to write, and this is not really stuff that belongs.

The other problem is that the New Yorker is a single source. It has a somewhat dramatic approach which may mean its coverage isn't exactly balanced - but we don't have good other sources for significant views on the matters you added, which they have claimed, to compare with. And if we did, we'd put them in a BLP, not here - and then only if he himself becomes notable which is not yet clear. Last, as it has a negative tone, the concerns about poorly sourced negative BLPs are relevant.

For all these reasons, I've removed the text, which is virtually a rehash of the New Yorker's description. It may be that we will have an article on him. But it won't be this one.

When he becomes notable, and we have other good sources, you might want to create it :) FT2 ^{(Talk | email)} 02:02, 4 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If you feel this is not important than his whole section should be removed, it's for the most part even less important. The Museum described is directly relevant and this reflects on his reputation as a palaeontologist, which is rather important. Also, I included a second source, ScienceMag, which featured a quote not present in the New Yorker article, so it's not just coming from them (something I know already since I've heard of controversy surrounding him before, but that's irrelevant). Also, why the image removal? It's relevant to the adjacent text and there's nothing else to put there. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 02:10, 4 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter

April 2019—Issue 001

Tree of Life

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
Sturgeon nominated by Atsme, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Eastern brown snake nominated by Casliber, reviewed by Opabinia regalis Cactus wren nominated by CaptainEek, reviewed by Sainsf Bidni nominated by PolluxWorld, reviewed by DepressedPer Crinoid nominated by Cwmhiraeth, reviewed by Chiswick Chap

Newly nominated FAs
Cretoxyrhina nominated by Macrophyseter Eastern brown snake nominated by Casliber

WikiCup heating up

Tree of Life editors are making a respectable showing in this year's WikiCup, with three regular editors advancing to the third round. Overall winner from 2016, Casliber, topped the scoreboard in points for round 2, getting a nice bonus for bringing Black mamba to FA. Enwebb continues to favor things remotely related to bats, bringing Stellaluna to GA. Plants editor Guettarda also advanced to round 3 with several plant-related DYKs.

Wikipedia page views track animal migrations, flowers blooming

A March 2019 paper in PLOS Biology found that Wikipedia page views vary seasonally for species. With a dataset of 31,751 articles about species, the authors found that roughly a quarter of all articles had significant seasonal variations in page views on at least one language version of Wikipedia. They examined 245 language versions. Page views also peaked with cultural events, such as views of the Great white shark article during Shark Week or Turkey during Thanksgiving.

Did you know ... that Tree of Life editors bring content to the front page nearly every day?

April DYKs

* ... that Dippy is the most famous dinosaur skeleton in the world? (1 April)

... that Coccothrinax jimenezii, a palm tree native to the island of Hispaniola, was listed as a critically endangered species within two years of its formal description? (5 April)
... that Hubbard's angel insects groom themselves and each other, perhaps in order to avoid the fungal diseases that kill many zorapterans? (6 April)
... that the polychaete worm Poecilochaetus serpens digs a burrow with its head and lines it with particles of clay or mud cemented with mucus? (8 April)
... that Promachocrinus is unusual among crinoids in having ten pairs of arms? (9 April)
... that while the fan palm Coccothrinax jamaicensis is the only Coccothrinax species native to Jamaica, the neighbouring island of Cuba has 39 native species? (10 April)
... that Sternaspis scutata swallows mud? (11 April)
... that the critically endangered Chinese alligator may have helped inspire the mythology of the Chinese dragon? (11 April)
... that the Indian Creek mushroom can be distinguished from chanterelles by its staining dark purple when cut or bruised? (12 April)
... that the mottled piculet likes to drum on bamboo? (13 April)
... that some leaves of the South African plant Romulea tortuosa are shaped like corkscrews? (15 April)
... that the colour and texture of the transparent lamellaria may vary according to the species of sea squirt on which it is living? (15 April)
... that the royal vole has larder chambers in its burrow but not latrines? (16 April)
... that the scientific name of the Chatham shag commemorates a former governor of New Zealand? (17 April)
... that the weevil species Sicoderus bautistai, described as resembling "black, shiny ants", is named after professional baseball player José Bautista? (18 April)
... that the dire whelk sometimes shares the prey of the ochre sea star while it is eating? (19 April)
... that in the 1970s, spoon worms helped promote biodiversity around the effluent outlets from the Los Angeles sewage system? (21 April)
... that some insect populations have declined dramatically? (22 April)
... that among the threats facing the "critically endangered" freshwater crayfish Euastacus dalagarbe are domestic livestock and cane toads? (23 April)
... that digger's speedwell is so named because it was thought to indicate the presence of gold? (24 April)
... that the yeast Candida blankii, first described from mink organs, is now known to infect humans? (25 April)
... that the young of the striking sea star are nourished in a manner described as "cannibalistic ectoparasitism"? (27 April)
... that the Bonin white-eye can evidently learn about new food sources by watching warbling white-eyes feed? (28 April)
... that the crinoid Aporometra wilsoni broods its young in cavities in the feathery pinnules on its arms? (30 April)

You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:24, 7 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Question about the removal of taxa

Hey um, I do not want to come off as rude, but. Why exactly are you reverting my edits on adding in ornithopod genera? Some of them are indeed valid. OviraptorFan (talk) 12:07, 10 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Invalid or dubious taxa don't get put in taxoboxes. I'm not aware of taking away any valid ones. Lusotitan (Talk | Contributions) 19:38, 10 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

May 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

May 2019—Issue 002

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
Cretoxyrhina by Macrophyseter Bramble Cay melomys by The lorax/Vanamonde93, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Chimpanzee by LittleJerry/Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Tim riley Spinophorosaurus by FunkMonk/Jens Lallensack, reviewed by Enwebb Trachodon mummy by Jens Lallensack, reviewed by Gog the Mild Megabat by Enwebb, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated FAs
Spinophorosaurus by FunkMonk/Jens Lallensack Trachodon mummy by Jens Lallensack

Fundamental changes being discussed at WikiProject Biology

On 23 May, user Prometheus720 created a talk page post, "Revamp of Wikiproject Biology--Who is In?". In the days since, WP:BIOL has been bustling with activity, with over a dozen editors weighing in on this discussion, as well as several others that have subsequently spawned. An undercurrent of thought is that WP:BIOL has too many subprojects, preventing editors from easily interacting and stopping a "critical mass" of collaboration and engagement. Many mergers and consolidations of subprojects have been tentatively listed, with a consolidation of WikiProjects Genetics + Molecular and Cell Biology + Computational Biology + Biophysics currently in discussion. Other ideas being aired include updating old participants lists, redesigning project pages to make them more user-friendly, and clearly identifying long- and short-term goals.

Editor Spotlight: These editors want you to write about dinosaurs

Editors FunkMonk and Jens Lallensack had a very fruitful month, collaborating to bring two dinosaur articles to GA and then nominating them both for FA. They graciously decided to answer some questions for the first ToL Editor Spotlight, giving insight to their successful collaborations, explaining why you should collaborate with them, and also sharing some tidbits about their lives off-Wikipedia.

1) Enwebb: How long have you two been collaborating on articles?

Jens Lallensack: I started in the German Wikipedia in 2005 but switched to the English Wikipedia because of its very active dinosaur project. My first major collaboration with FunkMonk was on Heterodontosaurus in 2015.
FunkMonk: Yeah, we had interacted already on talk pages and through reviewing each other's articles, and at some point I was thinking of expanding Heterodontosaurus, and realised Jens had already written the German Wikipedia version, so it seemed natural to work together on the English one. Our latest collaboration was Spinophorosaurus, where by another coincidence, I had wanted to work on that article for the WP:Four Award, and it turned out that Jens had a German book about the expedition that found the dinosaur, which I wouldn't have been able to utilise with my meagre German skills. Between those, we also worked on Brachiosaurus, a wider Dinosaur Project collaboration between several editors.

2) Enwebb: Why dinosaurs?

JL: Because of the huge public interest in them. But dinosaurs are also highly interesting from a scientific point of view: key evolutionary innovations emerged within this group, such as warm-bloodedness, gigantism, and flight. Dinosaur research is, together with the study of fossil human remains, the most active field in paleontology. New scientific techniques and approaches tend to get developed within this field. Dinosaur research became increasingly interdisciplinary, and now does not only rely on various fields of biology and geology, but also on chemistry and physics, among others. Dinosaurs are therefore ideal to convey scientific methodology to the general public.
FM: As outlined above, dinosaurs have been described as a "gateway to science"; if you learn about dinosaurs, you will most likely also learn about a lot of scientific fields you would not necessarily be exposed to otherwise. On a more personal level, having grown up with and being influenced by various dinosaur media, it feels pretty cool to help spread knowledge about these animals, closest we can get to keeping them alive.

3) Enwebb: Why should other editors join you in writing articles related to paleontology? Are you looking to attract new editors, or draw in experienced editors from other areas of Wikipedia?

JL: Because we are a small but active and helpful community. Our Dinosaur collaboration, one of the very few active open collaborations in Wikipedia, makes high-level writing on important articles easier and more fun. Our collaboration is especially open to editors without prior experience in high-level writing. But we do not only write articles: several WikiProject Dinosaur participants are artists who do a great job illustrating the articles, and maintain an extensive and very active image review system. In fact, a number of later authors started with contributing images.
FM: Anyone who is interested in palaeontology is welcome to try writing articles, and we would be more than willing to help. I find that the more people that work on articles simultaneously with me, the more motivation I get to write myself. I am also one of those editors who started out contributing dinosaur illustrations and making minor edits, and only began writing after some years. But when I got to it, it wasn't as intimidating as I had feared, and I've learned a lot in the process. For example anatomy; if you know dinosaur anatomy, you have a very good framework for understanding the anatomy of other tetrapod animals, including humans.

4) Enwebb: Between the two of you, you have over 300 GA reviews. FunkMonk, you have over 250 of those. What keeps you coming back to review more articles?

FM: One of the main reasons I review GANs is to learn more about subjects that seem interesting (or which I would perhaps not come across otherwise). There are of course also more practical reasons, such as helping an article on its way towards FAC, to reduce the GAN backlog, and to "pay back" when I have a nomination up myself. It feels like a win-win situation where I can be entertained by interesting info, while also helping other editors get their nominations in shape, and we'll end up with an article that hopefully serves to educate a lot of people (the greater good).
JL: Because I enjoy reading Wikipedia articles and like to learn new things. In addition, reviews give me the opportunity to have direct contact with the authors, and help them to make their articles even better. This is quite rewarding for me personally. But I also review because I consider our GA and FA system to be of fundamental importance for Wikipedia. When I started editing Wikipedia (the German version), the article promotion reviews motivated me and improved my writing skills a lot. Submitting an article for review requires one to get serious and take additional steps to bring the article to the best quality possible. GAs and FAs are also a good starting point for readers, and may motivate them to become authors themselves.

5) Enwebb: What are your editing preferences? Any scripts or gadgets you find invaluable?

FM: One script that everyone should know about is the duplink highlight tool. It will show duplinks within the intro and body of a given article separately, and it seems a lot of people still don't know about it, though they are happy when introduced to it. I really liked the citationbot too (since citation consistency is a boring chore to me), but it seems to be blocked at the moment due to some technical issues.
JL: I often review using the Wikipedia Beta app on my smartphone, as it allows me to read without needing to sit in front of the PC. For writing, I find the reference management software Zotero invaluable, as it generates citation templates automatically, saving a lot of time.
- Editor's note: I downloaded Zotero and tried it for the first time and think it is a very useful tool. More here.

6) Enwebb: What would surprise the ToL community to learn about your life off-wiki?

FM: Perhaps that I have no background in natural history/science, but work with animation and games. But fascination with and knowledge of nature and animals is actually very helpful when designing and animating characters and creatures, so it isn't that far off, and I can actually use some of the things I learn while writing here for my work (when I wrote the Dromaeosauroides article, it was partially to learn more about the animal for a design-school project).
JL: That I am actually doing research on dinosaurs. Though I avoid writing about topics I publish research on, my Wikipedia work helps me to keep a good general overview over the field, and quite regularly I can use what I learned while writing for Wikipedia for my research.

Get in touch with these editors regarding collaboration at WikiProject Dinosaurs!

Marine life continues to dominate ToL DYKs

May DYKs

... that the Pacific baza has been rumoured to imitate the calls of tree frogs when hunting, inducing them to return the call? (1 May)
... that 'Dumelow's Seedling' is known by more than 50 alternative names? (2 May)
... that staghorn hydrocoral grows on a mollusc shell occupied by a hermit crab? (3 May)
... that the burrow of the spoon worm Maxmuelleria lankesteri is sometimes modified by fish and crustaceans that take up occupancy there? (4 May)
... that the hairy sea squirt is preyed on by the Oregon hairy triton? (5 May)
... that the splendid hermit crab almost exclusively chooses to inhabit a shell on which a colonial hydroid is living? (8 May)
... that crinoids are closely related to sea urchins and starfish? (14 May)
... that El Drago Milenario, located in Parque del Drago, Tenerife, is the largest and oldest known specimen of Dracaena draco? (16 May)
... that the deepwater crinoid Notocrinus virilis broods its young in pouches on its arms? (17 May)
... that some ancient trees of the olive cultivar 'Bidni' have been recognised as "national monuments" in Malta? (18 May)
... that sturgeons are ancient fishes, widely sought after for caviar and more critically endangered than any other group of animal species? (19 May)
... that when several of the small bivalve molluscs Lasaea rubra occupy the same rock crevice, they are likely to be clones? (21 May)
... that the small crustacean Pseudamphithoides incurvaria builds itself a home out of forded sea tumbleweed, a brown seaweed that is distasteful to fish? (23 May)
... that while a red Irish lord can change color, it is not a yellow Irish lord? (24 May)
... that the whiteknee hermit crab is benefitted by the presence of the hedgehog hydroid but harmed by the barnacle Clistosaccus? (25 May)

Discuss this issue

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Sent by DannyS712 (talk) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 03:44, 4 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

June 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

June 2019—Issue 003

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
Masked booby by Casliber and Aa77zz, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Rook (bird) by Cwmhiraeth, reviewed by J Milburn Vernonopterus by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Super Dromaeosaurus Campylocephalus by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Super Dromaeosaurus Unionopterus by Super Dromaeosaurus, reviewed by Ashorocetus Big Cat, Little Cat by Barkeep49, reviewed by J Milburn Félicette by Kees08, reviewed by Nova Crystallis

Newly nominated content
Masked booby by Casliber Adelophthalmidae Plains zebra by LittleJerry Letter-winged kite by Casliber

Relative WikiWork
Project name	Relative WikiWork
Cats	4.79
Fisheries and fishing	4.9
Dogs	4.91
Viruses	4.91
ToL	4.94
Cetaceans	4.97
Primates	4.98
Sharks	5.04
All wikiprojects average	5.05
Dinosaurs	5.12
Equine	5.15
Bats	5.25
Mammals	5.32
Aquarium fishes	5.35
Hypericaceae	5.38
Turtles	5.4
Birds	5.46
Australian biota	5.5
Marine life	5.54
Animals	5.56
Paleontology	5.57
Rodents	5.58
Amphibians and Reptiles	5.64
Fungi	5.65
Bivalves	5.66
Plants	5.67
Algae	5.68
Arthropods	5.69
Hymenoptera	5.72
Microbiology	5.72
Cephalopods	5.74
Fishes	5.76
Ants	5.79
Gastropods	5.8
Spiders	5.86
Insects	5.9
Beetles	5.98
Lepidoptera	5.98

Spineless editors overwhelmed by stubs

Within the Tree of Life and its many subprojects, there is an abundance of stubs. Welcome to Wikipedia, what's new, right? However, based on all wikiprojects listed (just over two thousand), the Tree of Life project is worse off in average article quality than most. Based on the concept of relative WikiWork (the average number of "steps" needed to have a project consisting of all featured articles (FAs), where stub status → FA consists of six steps), only seven projects within the ToL have an average rating of "start class" or better. Many projects, particularly those involving invertebrates, hover at an average article quality slightly better than a stub. With relative WikiWorks of 5.98 each, WikiProject Lepidoptera and WikiProject Beetles have the highest relative WikiWork of any project. Given that invertebrates are incredibly speciose, it may not surprise you that many articles about them are lower quality. WikiProject Beetles, for example, has over 20 times more articles than WikiProject Cats. Wikipedia will always be incomplete, so we should take our relatively low WikiWork as motivation to write more articles that are also better in quality.

Editor Spotlight: Showing love to misfit taxa

We're joined for this month's Editor Spotlight by NessieVL, a long-time contributor who lists themselves as a member of WikiProject Fungus, WikiProject Algae, and WikiProject Cephalopods.

1) Enwebb: How did you come to edit articles about organisms and taxonomic groups?

Nessie: The main force, then and now, driving me to create or edit articles is thinking "Why isn't there an article on that on Wikipedia?" Either I'll read about some rarely-sighted creature in the deep sea or find something new on iNaturalist and want to learn more. First stop (surprise!) is Wikipedia, and many times there is just a stub or no page at all. Sometimes I just add the source that got me to the article, not sometimes I go deep and try to get everything from the library or online journals and put it all in an article. The nice thing about taxa is the strong precedent that all accepted extant taxa are notable, so one does not need to really worry about doing a ton of research and having the page get removed. I was super worried about this as a new editor: I still really dislike conflict so if I can avoid it I do. Anyway, the most important part is stitching an article in to the rest of Wikipedia: Linking all the jargon, taxonomers, pollinators, etc., adding categories, and putting in the correct WikiProjects. Recently I have been doing more of the stitching-in stuff with extant articles. The last deep-dive article I made was Karuka at the end of last year, which is a bit of a break for me. I guess it's easier to do all the other stuff on my tablet while watching TV.

2) Enwebb: Many editors in the ToL are highly specialized on a group of taxa. A look at your recently created articles includes much diversity, though, with viruses, bacteria, algae, and cnidarians all represented—are there any commonalities for the articles you work on? Would you say you're particularly interested in certain groups?

Nessie: I was a nerd from a time when that would get you beat up, so I like odd things and underdogs. I also avoid butting heads, so not only do I find siphonophores and seaweeds fascinating I don't have to worry about stepping on anyone's toes. I go down rabbitholes where I start writing an article like Mastocarpus papillatus because I found some growing on some rocks, then in my research I see it is parasitized by Pythium porphyrae, which has no article, and how can that be for an oomycete that oddly lives in the ocean and also attacks my tasty nori. So then I wrote that article and that got me blowing off the dust on other Oomycota articles, encouraged by the pull of propagating automatic taxoboxes. Once you've done the taxonomy template for the genus, well then you might as well do all the species now that the template is taken care of for them too. and so on until I get sucked in somewhere else. I think it's good to advocate for some of these 'oddball' taxa as it makes it easier for editors to expand their range from say plants to the pathogenic microorganisms of their favorite plant.

My favorite clades though, It's hard to pick for a dilettante like me. I like working on virus taxonomy, but I can't think of a specific virus species that I am awed by. Maybe Tulip breaking virus for teaching us economics or Variola virus for having so many smallpox deities, one of which was popularly sung about by Desi Arnaz and then inspired the name of a cartoon character who was then misremembered and then turned into a nickname for Howard Stern's producer Gary Dell'Abate. Sorry, really had to share that chain, but for a species that's not a staple food it probably has the most deities. But anyway, for having the most species that wow me, I love a good fungus or algae, but that often is led by my stomach. Also why I seem to research so many plant articles. You can't eat siphonophores, at least I don't, but they are fascinating with their federalist colonies of zooids. Bats are all amazing, but the task force seems to have done so much I feel the oomycetes and slime moulds need more love. Same thing with dinosaurs (I'm team Therizinosaurus though). But honestly, every species has that one moment in the research where you just go, wow, that's so interesting. For instance, I loved discovering that the picture-winged fly (Delphinia picta) has a mating dance that involves blowing bubbles. Now I keep expecting them to show me when they land on my arm, but no such luck yet.

3) Enwebb: I noticed that many of your recent edits utilize the script Rater, which aids in quickly reassessing the quality and importance of an article. Why is it important to update talk page assessments of articles? I also noticed that the quality rating you assign often aligns with ORES, a script that uses machine-learning to predict article quality. Coincidence?

Nessie: I initially started focusing on WikiProject talk page templates because they seem to be the key to data collecting and maintenance for articles, much more so than categories. This is where you note of an article needs an image, or audio, or a range map. It's how the cleanup listing bot sorts articles, and how Plantdrew does his automated taxobox usage stats. The latter inspired me to look for articles on organisms that are not assigned to any ToL WikiProjects which initially was in the thousands. I got it down to zero with just copypasta so you can imagine I was excited when I saw the rater tool. Back then I rated everything stub/low because it was faster: I couldn't check every article for the items on the B-class checklists. Plus each project has their own nuances to rating scales and I thought the editors in the individual projects would take it from there. I also thought all species were important, so how can I choose a favorite? Now it is much easier with the rater tool and the apparent consensus with Abductive's method of rating by the pageviews (0-9 views/day is low, 10-99 is med, 100-999 is high...). For the quality I generally go by the ORES rating, you caught me. It sometimes is thrown off by a long list of species or something, but it's generally good for stub to C: above that needs formal investigation and procedures I am still learning about. It seems that in the ToL projects we don't focus so much on getting articles to GA/FA so it's been harder to pick up. It was a little culture shock when I went on the Discord server and it seemed everyone was obsessed with getting articles up in quality. I think ToL is focusing on all the missing taxa and (re)organizing it all, which when you already have articles on every anime series or whatever you can focus on bulking the articles up more. In any event, on my growing to-do list is trying to get an article up to FA or GA and learn the process that way so I can better do the quality ratings and not just kick the can down the road.

4) Enwebb: What, if anything, can ToL and its subprojects do to better support collaboration and coordination among editors? How can we improve?

Nessie: I mentioned earlier that the projects are the main way maintenance is done. And it is good that we have a bunch of subprojects that let those tasks get broken up into manageable pieces. Frankly I'm amazed anything gets done with WikiProject Plants with how huge its scope is. Yet this not only parcels out the work but the discussion as well. A few editors like Peter coxhead and Plantdrew keep an eye on many of the subprojects and spread the word, but it's still easy for newer editors to get a little lost. There should be balance between the lumping and splitting. The newsletter helps by crossing over all the WikiProjects, and if the discord channel picked up that would help too. Possibly the big Enwiki talk page changes will help as well.

5) Enwebb: What would surprise the ToL community to learn about your life off-Wikipedia?

Nessie: I'm not sure anything would be surprising. I focus on nature offline too, foraging for mushrooms or wild plants and trying to avoid ticks and mosquitos. I have started going magnet fishing lately, more to help clean up the environment than in the hopes of finding anything valuable. But it would be fun to find a weapon and help solve a cold case or something.

June DYKs

June DYKs

... that the deep-sea coral species Gersemia juliepackardae was named for Julie Packard, executive director of Monterey Bay Aquarium, for her work as an ocean conservationist? (1 June)
... that despite a genus name referring to its dull leaves, Astilbe chinensis was celebrated as the most important new hardy perennial by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902? (2 June)
... that the pea crab Tunicotheres moseri lives inside the water-filled chamber of a sea squirt? (4 June)
... that the primrose family and the evening primrose family are not closely related? (5 June)
... that Calma glaucoides has such a rich diet of eggs that it does not need an anus? (6 June)
... that the pea crab Calyptraeotheres garthi effectively castrates its slipper limpet host, but breeding resumes if the crab is removed? (11 June)
... that if the disc coral Cycloseris cyclolites gets buried in sediment, it can "float" itself free? (16 June)
... that the sea cucumber Leptopentacta elongata has a U-shaped or S-shaped body and occupies a burrow in the seabed? (17 June)
... that Al Hoceima National Park is one of the few locations where the ribbed Mediterranean limpet survives? (18 June)
... that the marine worm Themiste pyroides is unusual in that it forms swarms when breeding? (20 June)
... that cut branches of the small tree Erythrina berteroana are used to make living fence posts? (26 June)
... that the ripe seed pods of Brachystegia eurycoma burst explosively and throw out the large disc-shaped seeds? (28 June)
... that Swedish entomologist Carl H. Lindroth suggested that more than 40 species of North American ground beetle were inadvertently transported from Europe in ship's ballast? (29 June)
... that the sea hedgehog is a cannibal? (29 June)

Discuss this issue

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sent by ZLEA via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:29, 3 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Tree of Life Newsletter

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July 2019—Issue 004

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
List of felids by PresN Masked booby by Casliber Letter-winged kite by Casliber, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Plains zebra by LittleJerry, reviewed by starsandwhales Ornithogalum umbellatum by Michael Goodyear, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated content
Letter-winged kite by Casliber Megabat by Enwebb Onychopterella by Super Dromaeosaurus Dvulikiaspis by Super Dromaeosaurus Kosmoceratops by FunkMonk Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee by Hunter Kahn Giant golden-crowned flying fox by Enwebb Myxomatosis by Rabbit Vet

Two Tree of Life editors in WikiCup round of 16

The WikiCup, an annual editing competition, is now in its fourth round. Casliber, consistent participant since 2010 and winner in 2016, is currently dominating Group A with 601 points. Largely responsible is the successful Featured Article nomination of Masked booby. The other remaining Tree of Life participant, Enwebb, is participating in her first ever WikiCup. In this round, she has a grand total of...5 points. But with the recent Featured Article nomination of Megabat, she stands to gain 600 points if successful. As it stands, though, it appears that at least one ToL editor is headed to the fifth and final round of 8 contestants, which begins September 1.

Thus far, all participants in the WikiCup have generated 17 Featured Articles, 116 Good Articles, 16 Featured Lists, and 57 Featured Pictures. The Good Article Nominations backlog has been reduced as well, with 286 Good Article Reviews.

Editor spotlight: Photographing the tree of life

For this month's editor spotlight we're joined by Charlesjsharp, a longtime contributor to Wikimedia Commons with a plethora of featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

1) Starsandwhales: How long have you been editing Wikipedia, and how did you get interested? How did you begin your journey of photographing wildlife?

Charlesjsharp: I uploaded my first pictures to Wikipedia twelve years ago for fun, to show my kids how it works. The pictures of my daughter (static trapeze), my son (Revell), my dog (Border Terrier) and my parents’ home (Tealing) are all still in the articles! I then started to upload wildlife images.

I’d got my first camera aged eight and went on my first safari in the Kruger Park, South Africa in 1970. I was hooked. I switched to digital in 2004, but didn’t buy any high-end lenses till 2014. Such a shame that hundreds of great photos I took before then look so dreadful by today’s quality standards. My 100-400mm lens transformed mammal and bird photography opportunities and when I got my 100mm macro lens in 2016, the whole new world of insects was open for business.

2) S&W: Over the years, you've taken photos of many different organisms from birds to insects to big cats; you have an extensive list of favorite images. Which animals have been the most exciting for you to photograph?

Charlesjsharp: The trophy animals the hunters used to shoot are the ones I like to shoot too: it was lion, elephant and baboon in 1970. More recently, hunting for tiger by jeep in Kanha National Park in India was exciting and so was searching for jaguar by boat in the rivers of the Pantanal in Brazil. Our encounters with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda was amazing, but the actual photography was no challenge.

But photographing animal behaviour is the most exciting and challenging. There’s usually movement and it all happens so fast, like when a bird captures its prey. Every now and then you snap something really unusual – like the cannibal kingfisher

3) S&W: Many articles under ToL have requests for people to add images that can go unanswered. What can the community do to improve the coverage of different organisms on Wikipedia, especially when it comes to images?

Charlesjsharp: It’s a very time consuming process because the Wikipedia code is cumbersome (*see below). It take an age to upload to Commons: to describe, categorize, geocode. Many of the categories don’t exist so have to be created. If the image is of a subspecies, then all the images have to be checked before you can nominate an image for VI. It’s also takes ages to nominate images for VI and QI on Commons. May be some users use sophisticated tools to lighten the load, but I don’t know if they exist. In other words, Wikipedia is OK, but Commons is a nightmare. Hundreds of really poor quality photos clog up the system and some users are too lazy to filter and edit their nominations.

Recently, some thoughtless editor added a ‘caption’ box to Commons. A waste of time. The image title should act as the caption.

I applied for a grant to attend Wikimania, but was unsuccessful. Not much can happen without some funding to kickstart and then drive improvements forward.
Here was my response to the question: "How can we increase the quality and diversity of images being uploaded and, in particular, improve the Featured Picture, Quality Image and Valued Image projects?"

1. Work together on pre-defined projects to develop a team spirit that will help us develop a set of shared values

2. Through brainstorming, Identify what we need to do to improve the quality and diversity of images being uploaded and, in particular, identify what we need to do to improve the credibility of the Featured Picture, Quality Image and Valued Image projects

3. By sharing our photographic skills, find ways to share skills with the community. Knowledge transfer is time-consuming and we need to set limited objectives and realistic time frames. This will require compromise as individuals have to listen and find ways to agree. This is going to be much easier through face-to-face meetings

3. Identify what we need to do to improve the quality and diversity of images being uploaded (diversity of contributor and diversity in subject) and, in particular, identify what we need to do to improve the credibility of the Featured Picture, Quality Image and Valued Image projects

4. Spend more time talking about values and knowledge transfer than sharing photography tips amongst delegates, then getting all delegates to agree to DO SOMETHING WHEN THEY GET HOME to take things forward.

4) S&W: What advice would you give to people new to photographing wildlife?

Charlesjsharp: An impossible question unless you know what someone’s objective is. So you’re on your first safari? Borrow or rent a decent camera and a quality 300mm lens. Then read a few of the dozens of free advice pages on the internet. Then when you’re out and about, take the lens cap off and set the camera to fully automatic sports mode. Be ready. If you’ve time, get in the right place (sunlight/background). Watch the animal’s behaviour. Point and shoot. Glance at the screen. If OK, repeat. Only then start playing with the settings to optimise shutter speed, F number and ISO.

5) S&W: What would the Tree of Life community be surprised to learn about your life off-wiki?

Charlesjsharp: I used to be a high-end stamp collector (early USA). My photography is a sort of collecting. And I’m a keen bridge player.

* An example of cumbersome code: getting the layout of my responses to your questions. So dated, and no online spellchecker.

July DYKs

... that the wildlife of Senegal includes a critically endangered subspecies of the giant eland and the common Senegal one-striped grass mouse? (July 1)

Cycloseris distorta

Tiny the Wonder, killing rats
at the Blue Anchor Tavern

Episcia cupreata flower

... that the free-living, solitary coral Cycloseris distorta (pictured) can subdivide its stony skeleton and form two new individuals? (July 4)
... that the wildlife of Nigeria includes 940 species of bird and all eight known species of West African mangrove? (July 6)
... that Hypericum olympicum , an Award of Garden Merit winner, is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses? (July 10)
... that flyways used by migrating wetland birds have traditional staging points where they can rebuild their energy reserves? (July 12)
... that in two species of megabat, males have been observed to produce milk? (July 13)
... that the cave-nesting rockwarbler has also been called the "hanging dick" because of its nest? (July 15)
... that Strombosia pustulata is one of over two hundred species of tree growing in the Omo Forest Reserve? (July 16)
... that Tiny the Wonder (pictured) could kill 200 rats per hour in London's rat-baiting pits? (July 17)
... that the clingfish Diplecogaster bimaculata has been photographed cleaning a moray eel? (July 17)
... that in South Africa, the mosquito Anopheles funestus used to breed in fast-moving streams but now prefers swamps? (July 18)
... that while the leaf shape varies among hybrids of Episcia cupreata (pictured), the flowers always have the same form? (July 19)
... that Sommen charrs are a relict population that has survived because of Lake Sommen's great depth, and its cold and oxygen-rich waters? (July 20)
... that the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys was described as the first for a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change? (July 21)
... that Félicette, the first cat in space, was subjected to 9.5 g of acceleration and five minutes of weightlessness? (July 22)
... that the fly Phytobia betulae is just 5 mm (0.2 in) long but the tunnel made by its larva inside a birch tree may reach 17 m (56 ft)? (July 23)
... that rooks are intelligent birds and can rival or even beat chimpanzees in puzzle-solving tests? (July 24)
... that the Guinean striped mojarra is one of the fish caught in the less polluted part of the Ébrié Lagoon (July 27)
... that a new disease which is deadly to corals is spreading from the Florida Keys to other parts of the Caribbean? (July 28)
... that the yellow-footed honeyguide probably includes beeswax in its diet? (July 30)

Discuss this issue

You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.

Sent by ZLEA via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:59, 1 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Why do you delete every major edit I do?

Is pretty understandable if my edits were bandalism, I was only trying to expand stubs, thats what the page says, This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Honestly it feels like only extended users can do edits, while new users can not, even if you have valid sources.--PaleoNeolitic (talk) 02:46, 6 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

What do you think of this and how can we get the page reviewed?

Draft:Adratiklit

Atlantis536 (talk) 06:44, 20 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

August 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

Shortcut

WP:TOLN

August 2019—Issue 005

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
Letter-winged kite by Casliber Megabat by Enwebb Rock parrot by Casliber Adelophthalmidae by Super Dromaeosaurus Giant golden-crowned flying fox by Enwebb, reviewed by Starsandwhales Myxomatosis by Rabbit Vet, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Tylopterella by Super Dromaeosaurus, reviewed by Starsandwhales and Enwebb Kosmoceratops by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Slender glass lizard by SL93, reviewed by Casliber Guano by Enwebb, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Dvulikiaspis by Super Dromaeosaurus, reviewed by Casliber Rock parrot by Casliber, reviewed by The Rambling Man Leptospirosis by Cerevisae, reviewed by Ajpolino Hepatitis E by Ozzie10aaaa, reviewed by Casliber Cardabiodon by Macrophyseter, reviewed by FunkMonk Clostridium tetani by Ajpolino, reviewed by Chiswick Chap

Newly nominated content
Kosmoceratops by FunkMonk Western yellow robin by Casliber Pekarangan by Dhio270599 Hibbertopterus by Ichthyovenator

What's the relevance of WikiJournals to WP:TOL?

Guest column by Thomas Shafee (Evolution and evolvability), Editor in Chief of WikiJournal of Science

The Tree of Life WikiProject and its sprawling phylogeny of daughter projects is one of the largest and most active communities in Wikipedia. It encompasses approximately 570 Featured Articles and well over a thousand Good Articles (second only to military history). The WikiJournal of Science (one of three current journals in the user group) has a few aims that may closely align with the interests of the ToL community.

Review of existing articles

Firstly, WikiJSci can be a complementary system for FA review (getting external review, input, and validity). When an Wikipedia article is nominated (via WP:JAN), journal editors go out to non-Wikipedian academics and researchers who have published on the subject on the last five years and invite them to give feedback comments (e.g. Peripatric speciation and Baryonyx). The resulting changes can then be integrated back into the Wikipedia article.

Attracting new articles and contributors

Getting more editors involved in Wikipedia is always a high priority. WikiJSci can also be a way to encourage new people to contribute articles (especially on missing/stub/start topics). An example of an article that was written from scratch by a group of non-Wikipedians is Teladorsagia circumcincta. This not only resulted in a new Wikipedia page on an underdeveloped topic, but introduced the idea of Wikimedia contribution to a group of people who had previously never considered it.

Images, videos, sound and galleries

The journal can be a way to get multimedia content reviewed or encourage contribution. The same approach could be easily adapted to sounds (e.g. frog mating calls) or videos (e.g. starfish feet motion). It also allows for tracking of those images in new articles via Altmetric (this example has >200, which is bananas). There aren't any biology examples in WikiJSci yet, but the sister medical journal has published a few summary diagrams, photography, and image galleries. Examples include this gallery by Blausen Medical or the diagram of cell disassembly during apoptosis.

Other projects

For those interested in other Wikimedia sister projects, there's also broad scope for interactions with the WikiJournals. Perhaps peer reviewed teaching resources could be useful to sit alongside sets of Wikipedia articles and be integrated into Wikiversity courses (like this or this)? Can sections of Wikidata & Wikispecies be peer reviewed? What are the potential avenues for integration with WikiCite, WikiFactMine, Scholia, etc.? Currently, WikiJSci is aiming to be very flexible and try out different formats so long as they can be externally peer reviewed.

For more info, see the 2019-06-30 Signpost article and the current sister project proposal.

Editor spotlight: Cwmhiraeth

1) Enwebb: You're very prolific with DYKs, with over 2,000 nominations credited (in fact, I'll highlight which DYK nominations this month were yours below). What made you become so involved in this part of Wikipedia? Why should Tree of Life editors nominate articles for DYK?

Cwmhiraeth: I became aware of the WikiCup in 2012 and entered the contest. The scoring structure seemed to me to favour DYKs, and I went to considerable trouble to identify short stubs that could be expanded into qualifying start class articles with multiple bonus points. Casliber introduced me to preparing articles for FAC and Sasata helped me with my first solo FA. I won the WikiCup that year, and repeated that success the following year, after which the Cup got a bit more competitive. By that time, nominating articles for DYK was an ingrained habit, and I have continued doing so ever since, but at a rather slower rate. I do more work behind the scenes at DYK now, reviewing other people's nominations in excess of my QPQ requirement, and building prep sets ready to go on the main page, and I retired from competing in the WikiCup and became a judge instead. I would encourage ToL editors to nominate suitable articles for DYK because it gives great satisfaction to know that hundreds or even thousands of people have appreciated your work, and it provides a foil for the biographies and historical articles that predominate there.

2) Enwebb: I noticed that your DYK nominations reflect a diverse array of flora and fauna, from trees, marine invertebrates, birds, fishes, and mammals. How do you decide what to work on?

Cwmhiraeth: As I look around different articles I keep a note of things I might work on, red links, stub articles that need expanding or places in articles where I would like to add a wikilink but no suitable target page exists. So I have this list, but more often than not I choose a new article to work on based on a Google book that I have been using in a previous article. I like Google books; some of them are really useful for species articles, the main annoyance being when certain pages are permanently unavailable, although I am quite good at tricking the books into revealing pages that they were trying to prevent me from viewing. Eventually I get bored with African rodents, or whatever my present topic is, and move on. I am particularly interested in organisms living in extreme habitats, endangered species, invasive species, pest species, parasites or creatures with interesting behavioural traits.

3) Enwebb: Which of your Wikipedia accomplishments are you most proud of?

Cwmhiraeth: Well, Sea really. Again that was inspired by the WikiCup, and working in collaboration with Chiswick Chap, we took it from virtually nothing, little more than a list of seas, through DYK and GA, culminating in a really tough FA. That was very satisfying (as were the 1000 odd points it gained me at the WikiCup). In complete contrast was the article Tree. I completely rewrote it in a sandbox as an entry for the "Core contest". The previous version had been quite short with a section on "Record breaking trees" which I hived off into a separate article. My new version was immediately challenged and an edit war would have erupted had I not decided to retire from the fray. My version had some serious flaws, I had never studied botany and I had used a book source which misled me. However, after corrections, my version largely remained in place and I later joined Chiswick Chap in bringing the article to GA status.

4) Enwebb: What motivates you to keep contributing? What's your 10,000 ft view (pardon the non-SI) of the community and Tree of Life?

Cwmhiraeth: I think Wikipedia is a really great project. The idea of Wikipedia as a pool of knowledge contributed to by thousands of individuals in hundreds of countries is inspiring. It would be nice if we had no vandalism and everyone co-operated with everyone else in an amicable spirit, but as we are all human, it does not quite work out like that. I like to think of my efforts as a legacy that will continue in existence after I am gone.

6) Enwebb: How did you first become interested in natural history?

Cwmhiraeth: When I was young I had an elderly aunt who used to come to stay and who would take me for walks in the countryside, during which we would watch birds and identify wild flowers. She would take me out at weekends from my girls-only boarding school and we would search for orchids on the Wiltshire Downs. My school was not geared up for science, we just did general science for O-levels, and when it came to A-levels, I was the only pupil in my year to do zoology and chemistry, and one of only two to do physics, for which we had to cycle off to the grammar school on the other side of town. I wanted to be a vet, but was discouraged by my father, obtained a BSc in biochemistry and ended up in an unrelated job. If I were to live my life again, things might work out differently, but then I dare say we could all say that!

August DYKs

Weebill

Nanhaipotamon macau

P. lutzii (yeast phase)

Cannonball mangrove

Ruspolia nitidula male

Female kob and calf

... that falguera, a plant known from only one valley in Spain, is threatened by rock climbers and by road maintenance? (1 August)
... that Dioscorea chouardii is known from a single crag in the Pyrenees and has been monitored using scaffolding and telescopes? (3 August)
... that the tree Humbertia madagascariensis, whose durable timber is used in heavy construction, is a member of the morning glory family? (4 August)
... that the new pine knot-horn is a serious pest of maritime pine plantations? (5 August)
... that William Pope created "the first comprehensive, well executed pictorial record of Canadian birds"? (7 August)
... that fronds of the seaweed Halimeda tuna each consist of a single cell? (8 August)
... that Elongatoolithus, Macroolithus, and Nanhsiungoolithus were the first types of fossil eggs to be given names in the modern classification system? (9 August)
... that the maple Acer beckianum was described from a piece of petrified wood found near Vantage, Washington, in 1954? (10 August)
... that the queen parrotfish feeds on the algae it scrapes from corals and other surfaces, resulting in bioerosion? (11 August)
... that the weebill (pictured), measuring 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long, is Australia's smallest bird? (12 August)
... that sheep infected with the parasitic nematode Teladorsagia circumcincta may suffer from protein deficiency? (12 August)
... that the Sahel bush sparrow, found in the Oti Valley Faunal Reserve, is one of 676 species of bird recorded in Togo? (13 August)
... that the Ethiopian white-footed mouse and the Ethiopian forest brush-furred rat are two of the most abundant rodents in the montane forests of Ethiopia? (13 August)
... that Dardanus deformis is one of at least 24 species of hermit crab that transfer sea anemones to a new shell? (14 August)
... that the ornate rainbowfish can survive in water as acidic as orange juice? (14 August)
... that the African giant shrew was first described from a mummified specimen found in an ancient Egyptian tomb? (15 August)
... that the brown-cheeked hornbill is among the eleven species of hornbill native to Ivory Coast? (15 August)
... that among the many uses of Erythrophleum ivorense and Lannea welwitschii, trees growing in Assagny National Park, are rope-making, canoe-building and to poison fish? (16 August)
... that the densely-populated territory of Macau is home to a recently discovered, endemic species of freshwater crab of the genus Nanhaipotamon (pictured)? (17 August)
... that the crimson seedcracker has two morphs, large-billed and small-billed, but this trait is not related to sex, age, body size, or location? (18 August)
... that the large leaves of Marantochloa purpurea are used for wrapping cola nuts to prevent them from becoming desiccated? (18 August)
... that the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata is known as ortiguilla in southern Spain, where it is a popular seafood? (19 August)
... that the Sorana bean is grown in such small quantities and is in such demand that it commands prices six to ten times higher than those of other cannellini beans? (19 August)
... that antelope grass can recover quickly after wildfires even in the middle of the dry season? (19 August)
... that the Namib brush-tailed gerbil uses ultrasonic whistles and foot drumming to communicate? (20 August)
... that deforestation in Brazil could be linked to higher rates of the severe fungal infection caused by P. lutzii (pictured), a neglected tropical disease?
... that in Cameroon, edible caterpillars are cultivated on dwarf red ironwood leaves? (20 August)
... that the lesser seedcracker enjoys rice and the large, hard seeds of carrycillo? (21 August)
... that despite their names, the greater Egyptian gerbil and the lesser Egyptian gerbil are found across much of North Africa? (21 August)
... that it is not known whether larvae of Deretaphrus beetles spin their cocoons from their mouths or anal glands? (22 August)
... that the toxic bark of a Madagascan tree species has been used as a poison in trials by ordeal? (23 August)
... that the cannonball (pictured) and white-flowered black mangroves are among the ten species of mangrove listed as occurring in Mozambique? (24 August)
... that strips of bark from the West African copal are used to make beehives, while the flowers are attractive to bees? (24 August)
... that the swamp musk shrew scrambles around among aquatic vegetation in the dark? (25 August)
... that the rock parrot often nests in the old burrows of seabirds? (26 August)
... that the bush cricket Ruspolia nitidula (pictured) is commonly eaten in Uganda, where the price per unit weight is periodically higher than that of beef? (26 August)
... that despite its reported disappearance from Britain and other European countries, the fountain spleenwort is still considered to have a stable population trend? (27 August)
... that the African hut tampan can transmit relapsing fever in humans and African swine fever in pigs? (28 August)
... that in 1946, entomologists E. B. Pinniger and Cynthia Longfield were the first to identify the dainty damselfly in Britain? (28 August)
... that the Argus tortoise beetle is named after the mythical Greek giant Argus Panoptes? (28 August)
... that Pollichia campestris was first described in 1789 by the Scottish botanist William Aiton in the publication Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of all the plants then being cultivated at Kew Gardens? (30 August)
... that the wildlife of Uganda includes the Ugandan kob (pictured), the Uganda mangabey, and the Ugandan musk shrew? (30 August)
... that the blue korhaan favours habitats with short grass, dwarf shrubs, and termite mounds, but few trees? (31 August)
... that forests in the Guineo-Congolian region of Africa include patches dominated by a single species of tree, such as Brachystegia laurentii, Julbernardia seretii, Michelsonia microphylla, or Gilbertiodendron dewevrei? (31 August)
Highlighted DYKs were submitted by this month's spotlighted editor, Cwmhiraeth

Discuss this issue

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Sent by ZLEA via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 15:43, 1 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

September 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

Shortcut

WP:TOLN

September 2019—Issue 006

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content
Kosmoceratops by FunkMonk Onychopterella by Super Dromaeosaurus Western yellow robin by Casliber Western yellow robin by Casliber, reviewed by Josh Milburn Apororhynchus by Mattximus, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Pekarangan by Dhio-270599, reviewed by Cerebellum Fritillaria by Michael Goodyear, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Embioptera by Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth, reviewed by Vanamonde93 Durio graveolens by NessieVL, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Big brown bat by Enwebb and Gen. Quon, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 King brown snake by Casliber, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Staffordshire Bull Terrier by Atsme, reviewed by FunkMonk Ambush predator by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Enwebb Belemnitida by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Chiswick Chap

Newly nominated content
Apororhynchus by Mattximus Meinhard Michael Moser by J Milburn St. Croix macaw by FunkMonk Paleocene by Dunkleosteus77 Orcinus meyeri by Dunkleosteus77 Snakefly by Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth Tricolored bat by Enwebb Halloween darter by Enwebb

News at a Glance

An end in sight for the WikiCup

The 2019 WikiCup is in its fifth and final round, with two of the eight remaining contestants from the ToL community. The 2016 winner Casliber is in first place as of 1 October, and Enwebbb is in seventh place.

Getting spooky for Halloween

It's the most wonderful time of the year...Halloween, that is. With articles on skeleton frogs, ghost bats, and Satanic nightjars, Wikipedia has more spooky taxa than a graveyard has ghosts. In the new Spooky Species Contest, Tree of Life editors are turning Wikipedia into Spookypedia, working from a crowd-sourced list of taxa. There's still time to sign up! How can you let an article like Draculoides bramstokeri pass you by?

The never-ending article title

September saw the creation of (takes deep inhalation) Cneoridium dumosum (Nuttall) Hooker F. Collected March 26, 1960, at an Elevation of about 1450 Meters on Cerro Quemazón, 15 Miles South of Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, México, Apparently for a Southeastward Range Extension of Some 140 Miles. Just two characters shy of Wikipedia's limit on article title length, Cneoridium dumosum...140 Miles now has the longest article title of any on English Wikipedia. In contrast to its verbose title, the journal article that is the subject of the article is only five words long.

Welcoming WikiProject Diptera and Project Creation Trends

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Tree of Life subprojects and task forces by start year and whether currently considered active or not

This month saw a vanishingly rare occurrence for the Tree of Life: a new WikiProject joined the fold. WikiProject Diptera, however, is also unusual in being a classroom project. Whether or not this project will stay active once the semester ends remains to be seen. It does not bode well, however, that WP:WikiProject Vespidae—a creation from the same instructor at St. Louis University—faded to obscurity shortly after the fall semester concluded in 2014. WikiProject Vespidae is defunct and now redirects to the Hymenoptera task force of WikiProject Insects.

Since 2014, the Tree of Life has seen a string of years where one or zero projects or task forces were created. The only projects and task forces created since then are WikiProject Animal anatomy (2014), Hymenoptera task force (2016), Bats task force (2017), WikiProject Hypericaceae (2018), and now WikiProject Diptera (2019). The year 2006 saw the greatest creation of WikiProjects and task forces, with fourteen still active and the remaining six as "semiactive", "inactive", or "defunct".

September DYKs

Enischnomyia fossil in Dominican amber

Lebombo wattle in the sand forest

Betula leopoldae leaf fossil

Pholiota squarrosoides

Lady Burton's rope squirrel

A child picks chili peppers in an Indonesian home garden.

... that the Natal cycad and the dune false currant are among the 1,900 endemic plant species found in the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot? (1 September)
... that the Ethiopian epauletted fruit bat uses its hind feet to comb its fur and its tongue to wash its face, wing membranes, and genital region? (3 September)
... that the scaly ground roller mostly eats earthworms and centipedes, but has been known to also eat frogs, lizards, and shrews? (4 September)
... that Kihaule's mouse shrew is named after the medical-entomological technician who collected the type specimen from the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania? (5 September)
... that the bat fly Enischnomyia (pictured) was first described from a specimen fossilized with Vetufebrus malaria in its gut? (5 September)
... that Duthie's golden mole and the long-tailed forest shrew are among the wildlife of South Africa that are both endemic and "vulnerable"? (7 September)
... that the Lebombo wattle (pictured), the water ironplum, and the Zulu coshwood grow in the Southern African Sand Forest, where they are often swathed in pinhead orchids and other epiphytes? (8 September)
... that Zenker's fruit bat often forages in areas of forest where Haumania liebrechtsiana grows, a plant favoured by gorillas and chimpanzees? (8 September)
... that the hard seeds of the Guinea plum are dispersed by elephants, and crushed and eaten by Sanje mangabeys? (9 September)
... that the extinct birch Betula leopoldae (leaf fossil pictured) is named after conservationist Estella Leopold? (10 September)
... that the Namib day gecko can sprint at 2.5 m/s (8 ft/s) in bright light? (10 September)
... that there are believed to be fewer than 100 mature specimens of Dacrydium guillauminii, which is considered critically endangered? (11 September)
... that the parasite Enteromyxum scophthalmi causes a severe illness in farmed turbot for which no cure is known? (13 September)
... that the nymphs of the mayfly Ephemera simulans are able to burrow? (14 September)
... that the Asian garden dormouse can enter torpor, a state in which it may remain for several days? (14 September)
... that Alexander's bush squirrel is named after Lieutenant Boyd Alexander, a British Army officer, explorer, and ornithologist? (15 September)
... that the mushroom Pholiota squarrosoides (pictured) has decayed logs of the trees Acer saccharum and Tilia glabra in the Great Lakes region of the US? (15 September)
... that a dark form of the Angolan slender mongoose is found to the south of the Cunene River and a pale form to the north? (16 September)
... that clover grass used to grow in the Pacific Ocean, but has not been seen there since a severe storm in 1996? (16 September)

[1] "IMDB Dinosaur King".

[2] "BBC Nature Tarbosaurus".

[3] "Dinosaurs Alive IMDB".

[4] "Paleophilatelie.EDU".

[5] "wikidata Dinosaur King WIKI".

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