User talk:Elmidae/Archive 8

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Naum Koen

Hi Elmidae, thanks for reviewing the page i accepted. I am trying to go through few articles from the AFC submissions every day(there is a HUGE backlog). I have had my logic for approving questioned once, but never in a form of launching an AFD right of the bat. So it took me a bit by a surprise. My understanding is that according to WP:BEFORE in questioning notability its preferable to add a {{notability}} tag specially in a case of an article that was recently created. Shemtovca (talk) 20:56, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

Hi Shemtovca - in practice, no. If a New Page Patroller happens upon something that they think AfD-worthy, they are encouraged to send it there. This is based on the understanding that putting a notability tag on an article really only amounts to passing the buck to someone else, or in the worst case, having the article linger in mainspace at questionable quality but without improvement. This particularly applies to articles at the end of the queue (i.e. old ones), because they are in danger of slipping into auto-indexing 90 days after creation, and should be dealt with decisively before that happens. That's our huge backlog :p Since Naum Koen started life in February, it is really close to that cut-off. - Personally I will only leave-but-tag in cases where I really can't tell but still have substantial misgivings. So this is in no way a slight on your specific judgement. At least AfDs tend to attract a number of people who will take the time to really assess the situation, and the result is something you can take to the bank! Cheers --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:37, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

So how do you understand WP:BEFORE points C2 & C3? Doesn't it contradict this New Page Patroller practice? Shemtovca (talk) 21:55, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

C2 (recently created): In my experience reviewers take care to observe that in actual new articles, since people often move stuff to mainspace while they are still filling out some serious holes; every so often someone pounces on this kind of stub regardless and gets trouted (correctly so, I'd say). But when something comes through AfC I would expect it to be past that stage.

C3 (tag first): assuming it's not a brand-new article, I think this functionally does not work for notability issues, as noted. See, the boil-it-down-to-essentials definition of an NPP pass is "does this look like it would survive an AfD?" If yes, keep in mainspace and tag for improvements; if no, send to AfD (or back to draft, depending on circumstances). Since notability is one of these real world parameters that no amount of editing can improve if it is actually absent, that is a sensible binary to my mind.

Having said that, it does depend on personal assessment, and sometimes one makes a faceplant. I admit it happens to me most frequently with non-English-sourced businesspeople, because of translation issues and difficulties in sorting the promotional chaff from the useful sources. If people agree that this was an unjustified nomination and we gain an article, then all the better :) --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 22:18, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

I appreciate your responses. As someone who speaks Russian & Ukrainian i can say that i did hear of this business person so in my opinion he is notable, but i guess that's a form of WP:OR ;-) Shemtovca (talk) 22:27, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

No just no

https://sta.sh/0159rg0yo2yn, https://sta.sh/01u9cok1v0v1 he is not the same person. --Bubblesorg (talk) 00:08, 20 May 2019 (UTC)

Walrus vandalism

Hey, thanks for your vigilance on the walrus article! The same clown invented an entire species of walrus for his hoax, which I've CSDd now. When dealing with vandalism I always recommend checking contribution histories for related vandalism that needs to be nuked at the same time. Blythwood (talk) 21:15, 20 May 2019 (UTC)

That's some dedication... including making up references without slipping into obvious taking-the-piss phrasing. Glad to see nobody went and marked that as reviewed, at least :p --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:19, 20 May 2019 (UTC)

here i need help with this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus can you check the page.--Bubblesorg (talk) 21:16, 21 May 2019 (UTC) I need help on it--Bubblesorg (talk) 21:16, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

@Bubblesorg: Do you mean your entries under "Popular culture"? Looks reasonable to me - I've polished it up a bit. Not sure whether the cryptozoology entry belongs there, but with cryptozoology someone will be unhappy wherever and however you insert it, so might as well give it a try. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 22:34, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Okay thanks--Bubblesorg (talk) 23:34, 21 May 2019 (UTC) Nah, i mean its worked for megalodon. It should for this as well, in that page they were violent they said fiction, besides i think a cryptozoology guy would rather put a scientific taxobox for champ then edit this--Bubblesorg (talk) 13:35, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

The common name should have an apostrophe -- as in the original description of Devil's Hole pupfish (Wales 1930). The place name Devils Hole should not have an apostrophe (per NPS regulations).

Thanks for your edits! Sorry I'm new to wikipedia editing.

Do you have a source that the original description doesn't have authority over common name? Who decides the common name? Sorry this is a long pedantic battle I've been having over this apostrophe!

@2606:a000:4045:aa00:61a7:d09f:7488:b55e and 152.23.46.213: I'm not actually aware of any rules regarding common names that are universally accepted in the scientific community. Our article Common name does a good job of laying out the various approaches taken; some fields encourage coining them, others explicitly discourage it. I couldn't say what is the case with fish. My interpretation with the pupfish goes back to what is the general approach used by Wikipedia: use the common name that is in most widespread use. If you look over the various sources referenced in the article you will see that variants both with and without the apostrophe are used. E.g., the IUCN uses the apostrophe, while Fishbase does not - both are what we would normally consider authoritative sources, which doesn't help if they contradict each other :p

The main reason for reverting your changes was that we want to avoid differences in spelling between the article title and the two most prominent mentions in the article itself (the lede and the taxonomic information box). You changed the latter two but not the first, which would involve moving the article to another name. Under these circumstances, the matter would probably have to be discussed on the article's talk page, if you consider it important enough. Feel free to start a discussion there! --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:21, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

(You might consider making an account for easier communication - your IP address has already changed between your edits on the article and your message here.) --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:21, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation! In that case, can we revert to the apostrophe? The only reason for lack of one is USFWS's rule for certain geographic locations (which doesn't include fish names!).

@2606:a000:4045:aa00:d573:a5d4:4af4:cae6: Well, as I said, "common usage" would allow either... so there aren't good grounds for me to just go ahead and change the article title from what it is right now. I can put it up for discussion on the talk page and we can see what people say? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:07, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Draft:Mahmoud Ghandi

• http://navideshahed.com/fa/news/431304/%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%85-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%82%D9%86%D8%AF%DB%8C

• http://navideshahed.com/fa/news/259615/%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%AF%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%82%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%8A

• http://www.shohadayenokhbe.ir/%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A8%D8%A7/item/46-%D9%82%D9%86%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF

• https://www.habilian.ir/fa/%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1/%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%AF%DA%AF%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%B4%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D9%82%D9%86%D8%AF%DB%8C.html
  • Hamaredha (talk) 17:08, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Thanks, that should do. Filled it in and returned to mainspace. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 18:29, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you Hamaredha (talk) 18:31, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

British Crusade?

Hello Elmidae. "British crusade"? Why do you think I have a British crusade? Do you know where I'm from? Are there only two countries that speak English? Are the U.S. and the U.K. the only countries with an official standardised English?

Australians use neither U.S. nor U.K. English, rather they use Australian English. Some examples of Australian English spelling include: the 's' in the 'ise' suffix e.g. terrorise, organisation, colonising, analysed; the 'ou' in words like colour, labour, and favour; the 'll' e.g. travelling; the 'c' in words like defence, and offences; 'r before e' in words like centre, theatre and millimetres; the 'e' in grey; and spelt as well as spelled.

The Diamond dove Article was using Australian English mixed with some American English before I edited it, the Australian variants outnumbered the American, it used 'colour' three times and 'color' once, 'grey' six times and 'gray' not once, 'centre' once and 'center' not once, it used the metric system (as does Australia) in the word centimetre, but spelt it the American way rather than the Australian and International Bureau of Weights and Measures way. If you go back into the article's history you will see that it originally used 'colour' and 'centimetre'. So I cleaned up the odd ones out and it was all consistent. Can you really call that 'disruptive editing'? But then you came and changed it, so as it stands now, it uses two different spelling systems in the same article. It has 'colour' and 'color' right next to each other. It's hard not to see that as disruptive editing.

The Zebra Finch article was using 'colour' and 'grey' which is in line with the spelling of the counties of the native range of the species (Australia and Indonesia) but then randomly used the U.S. 'ize' suffix. I didn't change it to 'British English' I standardised it by cleaning up the parts that weren't in line with the rest of the article, rather than having native (Australian and Indonesian) and foreign (U.S.A) spelling mixed together. Plus the article says to use British English.

The Lion article was using 'colour' not 'color', 'grey' not 'gray', 'centre' not 'center', 'kilometres' not 'kilometers' (or miles) 'defence' not 'defense' all of which is customary English spelling in India, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, and South Sudan which all are home to native Lions. Now, I changed three words using the American 'ize' suffix to the 'ise' suffix that would then match the English already used on the article. The Lion article already used the various forms of the 'ise', 'isa', 'isi', 'yse' suffix 45 times. It was 45 times an s, and thrice a z, so I made it consistent. But you put it back and threatened to report me. I find this very disruptive behavior and will let you off on a warning this time. It seems you are not even reading my edits or you would know that I am not making "far-ranging spelling changes" as I am being falsely accused of. I am literally bringing "individual outliers in an article in line with the spelling adopted throughout the rest of the text". And please stop this American crusade. BernardFox1595 (talk) 05:45, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

No, the point is that users making things like this their causes célèbre is disruptive, which three users have advised you about. So don't do that? cygnis insignis 07:06, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

@BernardFox1595: As long as you persist in the fiction that species articles have to follow the spelling that happens to be used in part or all of the species' range, you will continue to be asked to desist in most of what you do. Direct suggested connection of spelling to subject is reserved for "strong national ties to a topic" - that is emphatically not the case for most species ("national animals" like the bald eagle excepted). Each of your comments along the lines of "not an American animal" demonstrates that you haven't yet understood that. MOS:RETAIN is the fundamental guideline here - stick with the version origianlly used in the article. - If I reverted cases where you actually edited with that in mind, I apologize; but overall I'm getting an impression of disruptive busywork carried out under mistaken premises. If you can refrain from trying to impose your interpretation of national identity on topics that don't mandate it, then there shouldn't be much of a problem in the future. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:09, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Precious

Three years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:07, 26 May 2019 (UTC)

John Sykes (British businessman)

Hi Elmidae! Would you please advise under which guidelines the article John Sykes (British businessman) serves as an advertisement and which part of the article identifies as an advert for it to be marked as so. This is not a COI. WPContributor123 (talk) 10:05, 30 May 2019 (UTC) WPContributor123

Personally I think the article is within the acceptable bounds for BLP items, even although is has clearly been added because someone close to the subject wanted them on WP, rather than because they have received so much coverage that uninvolved people have taken notice. I probably would not have added the tag myself. However, as an editor who has been prominently responsible for content at John Sykes Foundation, which was indeed considered somewhat promotional, you should not remove this tag here. The idea is for the assessment to be carried out by editors who have no prior involvement with the subject at all. Bluntly, for someone who has previously written promotionally on the topic to remove the tag with "confirmed as not an advert" is inappropriate. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:15, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your response on this, Elmidae. Would you please point out the section of the article of which the editor decided it was grounds for an advert. I know for a fact that the WP user who wrote the article does not have a COI, and I only watch it for unwanted spam. WPContributor123 (talk) 09:57, 31 May 2019 (UTC)User:WPContributor123

Pinging @Mean as custard: - maybe they can comment on what specific part of the article seems to be of concern? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 14:32, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

"advanced over recent years to build a large international real estate portfolio" - "exclusive private retreat" - "centered on helping to transform lives" - "delivered back to the community where he was born and raised". . . Mean as custard (talk) 19:31, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

@Mean as custard: - Thanks for advising of this. Would you please be able to suggest if possible how to reword this so that it does not come across as an advertisement? Perhaps we could change the subjectivity of the wording? WPContributor123 (talk) 15:34, 3 June 2019 (UTC)WPContributor123

Okay, I've removed/rephrased what might be construed as advertorial and/or corporate language, and I think the rest can pass muster as reasonably neutral. Removed the tag. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:42, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for this Elmidae, much appreciated. WPContributor123 (talk) 09:34, 4 June 2019 (UTC)WPContributor123

Some baklava for you!

Thank you very much for your patience. AidenD (talk) 17:25, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

Can you help?

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Post_KPG_Coelacanth_fossils&action=history --Bubblesorg (talk) 19:33, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

My primary comment would be that this really does not require a separate article (especially not one with a title that will never ever be a search term). There's no reason why this should not be treated at Coelacanth, as indeed it already is. Suggest you insert additional material there; this almost certainly will be merged in otherwise. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 19:45, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

i truely doubt that it will never be searched, i mean a lot people will search this up, skeptics an creationists as well as crypto folks.but okay i will--Bubblesorg (talk) 20:15, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

is this art okay?

Suskityrannus paleoart

is this okay? --Bubblesorg (talk) 20:36, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Well... I'm not a fan of this type of illustration, so you probably won't get a lot of positive reinforcement from me here :/ I really think you need to clear this type of thing with the guys at Wikipedia:WikiProject Dinosaurs/Image review, who know what anatomical points to check for. FWIW, I don't quite understand why there's so much empty space in the image, and I think the teeth are rather fuzzy and of unlikely shape? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:36, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

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)

Assistance in creation of Sykes Capital Wikipedia article

Hello Elmidae! I'm leaving a message on your talk page due to your recent involvement in John Sykes (British entrepreneur) and John Sykes Foundation. There was recently a deletion of the page Atlantis Group, done by user GSS. This was done due to changes in Sykes's company name from Atlantis Group to Sykes Capital. However, following the deletion of the Atlantis Group article, I think it seems sensible writing a Sykes Capital article from scratch. But, due to recent issues, I request that you help and advise myself in my article writing as I don't want my work being taken down. I'll follow Wikipedia guidelines and reference all evidence. I just ask that yourself be able to advise / check before the article goes live to fellow Wikipedians. Would this please be something you can get involved in? If not, would you please point myself in the right direction. Kind Regards. Screading (talk) 12:18, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi Screading, as you can see from the reasoning at the deletion discussion, the article was deleted not because of any name change, but because there appeared not to be the required amount and quality of sources to justify an article on Wikipedia. Especially with companies, groups and corporations (basically any entity with a desire to generate web presence for promotional purposes), it is crucial that the sourcing in the article consist almost entirely of independent, in-depth coverage by unconnected sources. I.e., it has to be demonstrated that the subject has been noticed and discussed by sources that are not promotional outlets or just re-publishing slightly polished press releases. This is to ensure that Wikipedia does not devolve into a advertising directory. It appears that at the time of deletion, this was not the case for Atlantis Group.

If you believe that sourcing of the needed type is available however, then by all means give it a go. The applicable guidelines are at Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies). Note that incontroversial information like fiscal figures, names of personnel etc. can be referenced to primary (in-house) sources, but most everything else cannot. I would suggest that you start such an article as a draft at Draft:Sykes Capital and then submit it for review (there will be a button on the page to do that). This way there will be some vetting of the sources before it appears in mainspace, which will hopefully allow addressing of any problems before it comes to deletion. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:27, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi Elmidae, Following this, I feel that Sykes Capital currently does not warrant its own article. The coverage in John Sykes (British entrepreneur) is enough. However, fellow user GSS has put this article up for deletion. Due to the article being 9 years old with input from a variety of Wikipedians including yourself (when you removed the promotional language), I disagree with this notice. I would like to know your thoughts if possible and whether you think the notice should be removed. Thank you again! Screading (talk) 12:07, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Stepping on toes

Looks like we were both reviewing Suhaiymah Manzoor Khan at the same time. I just wanted to leave a note clarifying that I agree with your decision to approve the article, but added tags (which were added during what would have been an edit conflict) because I was concerned that the article is overly reliant on citations to Manzoor-Khan's work and reads like a list of accomplishments rather than an encyclopedia entry. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 21:13, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

@Rosguill: Righto, thanks! While you are here, want to have a quick look at Laura Cooper Olivieri and see if you agree with the AfD nomination I just fired off? I'm a bit shy of the academic notabilities lately. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:25, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Oswald Boelcke

Your reasoning for undoing my deletion that Oswald Boelcke was one of the few German heroes not associated with Nazism is an example of faulty logic. Most of the WWI brass who fought on the German side during WWII didn't do it because they believed in Nazism; they did so because the were military people. (Of course, Göring was an exception - he was a Nazi through and through!) And besides it doesn't matter how many WWI brass segued into Nazism, it doesn't mean that he, and the other deceased WWI heroes would have done likewise. I suggest you read the TALK page concerning edits to Oswald Boelcke's Wikipedia article. Rtmorphine (talk) 04:08, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

John Sykes (British entrepreneur)

Hi Elmidae, another user has put the article John Sykes (British entrepreneur) up for deletion. This is one that you helped edit to remove the promotional language in the content. The content hasn’t changed since this language was reworded to make it a NPOV, but now there is the AfD nomination. Should the nomination be taken down as it suffices for BLP - what are your thoughts? It has been on Wikipedia for nearly 9 years now with input from yourself and other notable Wikipedians. 45.41.181.75 (talk) 10:58, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Actually, I'll sit this one out. I'm kind of on the fence re notability, and will be happy to let others decide in this instance. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 22:26, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Fuck Boy

Can you NOT redirect the article that I am currently working on, as you can see I added an In use template to the article to make editors notice that I am currently EDITING and which I have been for a very long amount of time now so next please do not interrupt me while I am editing or even try to redirect the article or else you must be trying to begin an edit war and many other administrations will get involved. Skinnytittykiesha (talk) 22:21, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

@Skinnytittykiesha: so am I to understand that you intentionally started out with all crappy sources, and that documented notability is suddenly going to go through the roof in the next few days? More power to you then. I'll check in again on the weekend, but honestly if sourcing is at the level it is now, I'll take it straight to AfD and make the redirect stick. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 22:25, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

text module "advertising" on the page Junker Group

Dear Elmidae, I have noticed that you have inserted the text module "advertising" on the Wikipedia page "Junker Group". I'm interested in improving this article. Could you please give me some feedback on what steps and measures are necessary to make the article neutral from your point of view and allow us to remove the text module? Many thanks in advance and best regards yon.i --Yon.i (talk) 13:07, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

@Yon.i: The problem is that the entire article is written with the aim of making the company look good, rather than just provide information. You need to remove wording that belongs in a promotional press release, and replace it with formulations that present the material neutrally (that inlcudes getting rid of many of the name drops of the compant name). As an example, this is what I would do to the beginning of the "Innovations" section:

JUNKER has been shaping added to grinding technology since 1962 with patented processes and innovative technologies. A few years after the company was founded, JUNKER it launched a world first, the first fully automatic flute grinding machine for thread taps, onto the market. In 1978, JUNKER laid the foundation for later developments with the introduction of the first CBN high-speed grinding machines were introduced. In the mid-1980s, the company entered into the automotive industry with groundbreaking inventions. For example, in 1984, JUNKER invented with technology like the QUICKPOINT machine. With this new point grinding, it was suddenly possible to handle, capable of handling a variety of different contours in just a single clamping operation. The computer-controlled grinding wheel moves along the programmed contour with pinpoint accuracy and machines almost any material from plastic to carbide. In 2003 JUNKER launched the first CBN high-speed grinding machine for complete machining of crankshafts in a single clamping set-up onto the market (the JUCRANK machine model). Another milestone was reached in 2008 with the JUCENTER machine model. and 2008, the company launched further novel grinding machines with the JUCRANK and JUCENTER models.

- that kind of thing. Maybe have a look at the tone in other articles (grabbing one at random, Robert_Bosch_GmbH#History). Cheers --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 14:19, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

@Elmidae:Thank you for your quick response and your input. I'm trying to implement it. Best regards, yon.i --Yon.i (talk) 08:23, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter July-August 2019

Hello Elmidae,

WMF at work on NPP Improvements

More new features are being added to the feed, including the important red alert for previously deleted pages. This will only work if it is selected in your filters. Best is to 'select all'. Do take a moment to check out all the new features if you have not already done so. If anything is not working as it should, please let us know at NPR. There is now also a live queue of AfC submissions in the New Pages Feed. Feel free to review AfCs, but bear in mind that NPP is an official process and policy and is more important.

QUALITY of REVIEWING

Articles are still not always being checked thoroughly enough. If you are not sure what to do, leave the article for a more experienced reviewer. Please be on the alert for any incongruities in patrolling and help your colleagues where possible; report patrollers and autopatrolled article creators who are ostensibly undeclared paid editors. The displayed ORES alerts offer a greater 'at-a-glance' overview, but the new challenges in detecting unwanted new content and sub-standard reviewing do not necessarily make patrolling any easier, nevertheless the work may have a renewed interest factor of a different kind. A vibrant community of reviewers is always ready to help at NPR.

Backlog

The backlog is still far too high at between 7,000 and 8,000. Of around 700 user rights holders, 80% of the reviewing is being done by just TWO users. In the light of more and more subtle advertising and undeclared paid editing, New Page Reviewing is becoming more critical than ever.

Move to draft

NPR is triage, it is not a clean up clinic. This move feature is not limited to bios so you may have to slightly re-edit the text in the template before you save the move. Anything that is not fit for mainspace but which might have some promise can be draftified - particularly very poor English and machine and other low quality translations.

Notifying users

Remember to use the message feature if you are just tagging an article for maintenance rather than deletion. Otherwise articles are likely to remain perma-tagged. Many creators are SPA and have no intention of returning to Wikipedia. Use the feature too for leaving a friendly note note for the author of a first article you found well made or interesting. Many have told us they find such comments particularly welcoming and encouraging.

PERM

Admins are now taking advantage of the new time-limited user rights feature. If you have recently been accorded NPR, do check your user rights to see if this affects you. Depending on your user account preferences, you may receive automated notifications of your rights changes. Requests for permissions are not mini-RfAs. Helpful comments are welcome if absolutely necessary, but the bot does a lot of the work and the final decision is reserved for admins who do thorough research anyway.

Other news

School and academic holidays will begin soon in various places around the Western world. Be on the lookout for the usual increase in hoax, attack, and other junk pages.

Our next newsletter might be announcing details of a possible election for co-ordinators of NPR. If you think you have what it takes to micro manage NPR, take a look at New Page Review Coordinators - it's a job that requires a lot of time and dedication.

---

Stay up to date with even more news – subscribe to The Signpost.
Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:38, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Dan Burton (actor)

Would you please reconsider your AfD at Dan Burton (actor)? I did a Google search and found plenty of coverage of his half-dozen West End theatre roles and roles in UK national tours, and I added references to his article. -- Ssilvers (talk) 00:39, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

@Ssilvers: I actually couldn't withdraw the nomination at this point, because there is at least one "delete" !vote present. However, this does improve the notability claims. I'll make a note on the page. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 01:19, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks. BTW, the delete vote is by a vandal account that was just blocked indefinitely. -- Ssilvers (talk) 01:55, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

How do I thank reviewers?

I sometimes get thanks for edits, but I wanna know how to do it for reviewers of my articles. Oct13 (talk) 01:36, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

I believe you can thank for the action of leaving the reviewing notice on your talk page? That would be the only method I'm aware of :) --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:53, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

June 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

Extended content

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 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) 20:29, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

Missed a copyvio during NPP

Hey! You marked Max Caulfield as reviewed despite there being a blatant copyvio. Please keep a watch for these copyvios :) It's easy to find them, simply click the info button in your Curation Toolbar and it calculates the chance of there being a copyvio. Thanks, MrClog (talk) 12:03, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

@MrClog: Actually I was reasonably sure that the Youtube text is a copy of the WP text, and not the other way round (as is the case with these other two hits I found). However, it's probably safer to err on the side of caution, so I've removed it at this point. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:46, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

is this look okay so far?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus are any of my and others changes okay?--Bubblesorg (talk) 18:03, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

I don't think I'm going to out in a full article review at this point, sorry :) Overall I'd say it certainly has improved. I'd remove the next-to-last entry from the Popular Culture section (these are popular science books, not popular culture, and especially of the general-extinct-species type there are thousands), as well as the Ogopogo image (unlikely to find favour with editors outside a dedicated cryptozoology article, and the connection is somewhat weak). --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 18:45, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

so I should maybe call the section cultural influence--Bubblesorg (talk) 20:56, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

Nah, just leave out the pop science books. As I said there are thousands of them that will mention Basilosaurus - it's not worth mentioning. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 21:17, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

Okay sure--Bubblesorg (talk) 17:05, 10 July 2019 (UTC) Okay is everything else i have done okay, i am going to remove the ogopogo image now--Bubblesorg (talk) 22:28, 10 July 2019 (UTC) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus okay how about now?--Bubblesorg (talk) 23:58, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

Complains

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuario:TAURO1919 User:TAURO1919 12:36 July 2019 (UTC) I have seen that you have deleted some of the editions about birds because of a supposed spam, I ask you to review the articles before deleting them and to verify that the information is relevant and true. Do not return to eliminate anything without your correct verification. Greetings.

Okay corrected

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurus what do you think of the progress?--Bubblesorg (talk) 01:57, 17 July 2019 (UTC) Just make sure to check everything--Bubblesorg (talk) 01:58, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

I'm not going to check everything - that's for the GA review to do (I assume that's where you are headed). I've only been commenting on things that caught my notice. For what it's worth, all the material about TV series with CGI monsters tends to be weak in such articles - this "fourth most deadly hazard" stuff is freely invented bullshit even if broadcast by the BBC. And re original interpretations, whether a cameo is "inaccurately placed" is for the source to say, not the editor (and consider whether "small cameos" are even worth mentioning). BTW, the reference for the "largest known animal post-KT event" in the Description section is dead - quite an important ref because that is a claim that needs to be well sourced. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 02:42, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

sure--Bubblesorg (talk) 04:16, 17 July 2019 (UTC) I found archives https://web.archive.org/web/20160321212438/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/onehundredyears/featured_objects/Basilosaurus.html--Bubblesorg (talk) 04:19, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

Confusing description of MAMS

Thank you for adding a short description of MAMS to Single-cell analysis. However, the way how it is stated now is not really correct. It is confused with other MS-based techniques described in the same paragraph. These are different techniques, and used for different purposes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Natriumchloratum (talk • contribs) 05:46, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

@Natriumchloratum: Please feel free to fix that up and/or rephrase - I didn't really know where best to insert it. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:53, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Tree of Life Newsletter

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.

Pied kingfisher eating a chick, photographed by Charlesjsharp

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?"

Panther chameleon male, photographed by Charlesjsharp

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

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

Link to book chapter

Thank you for correcting me. I was looking for URLs redundant with their corresponding DOI, I must have seen the DOI a few words before it without realising it was another reference. Nemo 17:24, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

What are you doing the my page

why you being deleted my page of Angel Tee what is my fault, I made a page on wikipedia often redirected to other pages without the as far as you know me? Roseirena (talk) 14:14, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

We do have notability guidelines that are intended to help prevent the encyclopedia from turning into a pop star fan site. Specifically applicable in this case are the guidelines listed at WP:SINGER. Please feel free to comment in the deletion discussion, which is located at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Angel Tee. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 15:55, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Scientific conventions with English bird names

Hello. I hope this is now the correct forum. (Again I will repeat the basic argument here and add the detailed part later:)

There is an effective way of making my point I think: WIKI has quite successfully and correctly applied scientific conventions to Latin names. THANK YOU! AND WELL DONE! The problem is that anyone outside of ornithology and botany does not know that English names are as comprehensive and deliberately named as Latin ones. We do not speak of any old "common name" here.

In other words, English names have been systemmatically applied to birds since the time of Linneus, for hundreds of years. The conventions are strict and predictable. In fact since about 20 years ago, English has actually become more precise and reliable than Latin. Because of the upheaval in taxonomy resulting from exponential technological growth with DNA, laboratory biochemistry costs and digital processing, we now have daily species name changes. Ornithology has literally been turned inside out. It is very hard to keep up, so naming conventions are even more important.

Once again, WIKI recognizes the need for conventions with scientific names and handles them well. However, there is sort of a collective gap in management of common names. English common names are thrown together with all of the other modern languages. Therein lies the mistake. With birds (And maybe plants) there is very consistently applied convention.

So, one cannot say that "WIKI has their own style" in this context. Whatever you might think that is, it cannot override scientific convention. An example for clarification: Fulvous-bellied Whistling-Duck. The second word in the category is capitalized; in the adjective it is not. Universal convention. Also: Rose-throated Becard. You incorrectly write it as Rose-throated becard.

"SchreiberBike" and "Elmidae" are mistaken. I appreciate your work on bringing consistency to WIKI language, but scientific conventions are sacred!

This broad policy decision needs to be taken at some higher adminstrative level, but I don't yet understand my access...

Douglas Knapp

FYI: My history includes the publishing of several bird guides, one birdsound CD, association with several other field-guide authors, and collaboration with the most noted ornithologists in the Neo-tropics. (Hate to toot my own horn here, but feel the need since I am not getting the desired response!)

Douglas Knapp (talk) 19:38, 9 August 2019 (UTC)

@Douglas Knapp:, the correct forum was the the first place you posted at: the talk page of the Tree of Life project. I have copied your response there. Please continue the discussion at that venue. The link to that page is here: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Tree_of_Life#Consistency_of_Scientific_names,_especially_in_English. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 20:22, 9 August 2019 (UTC)

DYK for Teladorsagia circumcincta

— Maile (talk) 00:02, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Leopard seal page

I added subheadings to the leopard seal human interactions page to add some more information about different interactions with humans. Unfortunately I ran out of time to do this. I'm new to Wikipedia and am not 100% sure how to undo your edits now I have some time to add more information.

As this section reads currently I am concerned that it may lead people to believe that leopard seals are aggressive which is generally not the case. Unfortunately here in New Zealand we have had a lot of Leopard Seals injured or killed because people think they are aggressive Pinnipedsnz (talk) 06:44, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

@Pinnipedsnz: I removed the subheadings because these are generally not needed if there are only one or two sentences under each that are still well covered by the higher level heading. However, if you have more material to add to increase the size of a subsection, do feel free to put them back in. I would ask you to take care to avoid phrases like "tragically killed" (even if the source itself says so) as they conflict somewhat with the neutral tone the encyclopedia wants to maintain. Cheers --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:30, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for the review

Hi Elmidae, just to say thanks for reviewing the page Nomenclator Zoologicus which I created yesterday. Cheers - Tony Rees Tony 1212 (talk) 22:22, 22 August 2019 (UTC)

@Tony 1212:, I was glad to see that pop up! Been using the digitized version for quite some while and never was aware that we didn't have an article on it. Nice work and thank you :) --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 22:25, 22 August 2019 (UTC)

August 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

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?

WikiJournal of Science is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal

One publishing pipeline for WikiJSci

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)

Golden gecko

You're ridiculously boring with this "original research" stuff, it's simply translation, while name "golden gecko" for this species is not supported by any reliable sources, except some random pet-site where more than likely this name was borrowed from wikipedia, from here, where this page was named "golden gecko" for years without any source in it. In most cases it is not even looks anywhere near golden. So most likely this gecko is called "golden" now because some random anonymous person called it golden in wikipedia. And after this you calling translation of its scientific name an "original research", that's really funny.--Igor Balashov (talk) 01:49, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

Anything that requires you to use a phrase like "it could be translated as" is original research. Source it or leave it out. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 02:26, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

Travelling throughout September and largely inactive during that period

Just FYI --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 13:22, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter September-October 2019

Hello Elmidae,

Backlog

Instead of reaching a magic 300 as it once did last year, the backlog approaching 6,000 is still far too high. An effort is also needed to ensure that older unsuitable older pages at the back of the queue do not get automatically indexed for Google.

Coordinator

A proposal is taking place here to confirm a nominated user as Coordinator of NPR.

This month's refresher course

Why I Hate Speedy Deleters, a 2008 essay by long since retired Ballonman, is still as valid today. Those of us who patrol large numbers of new pages can be forgiven for making the occasional mistake while others can learn from their 'beginner' errors. Worth reading.

Deletion tags

Do bear in mind that articles in the feed showing the trash can icon (you will need to have 'Nominated for deletion' enabled for this in your filters) may have been tagged by inexperienced or non NPR rights holders using Twinkle. They require your further verification.

Paid editing

Please be sure to look for the tell-tale signs of undisclosed paid editing. Contact the creator if appropriate, and submit the issue to WP:COIN if necessary. WMF policy requires paid editors to connect to their adverts.

Subject-specific notability guidelines' (SNG). Alternatives to deletion

• Reviewers are requested to familiarise themselves once more with notability guidelines for organisations and companies.
• Blank-and-Redirect is a solution anchored in policy. Please consider this alternative before PRODing or CSD. Note however, that users will often revert or usurp redirects to re-create deleted articles. Do regularly patrol the redirects in the feed.

Not English

• A common issue: Pages not in English or poor, unattributed machine translations should not reside in main space even if they are stubs. Please ensure you are familiar with WP:NPPNE. Check in Google for the language and content, and if they do have potential, tag as required, then move to draft. Modify the text of the template as appropriate before sending it.

Tools

Regular reviewers will appreciate the most recent enhancements to the New Pages Feed and features in the Curation tool, and there are still more to come. Due to the wealth of information now displayed by ORES, reviewers are strongly encouraged to use the system now rather than Twinkle; it will also correctly populate the logs.

Stub sorting, by SD0001: A new script is available for adding/removing stub tags. See User:SD0001/StubSorter.js, It features a simple HotCat-style dynamic search field. Many of the reviewers who are using it are finding it an improvement upon other available tools.

Assessment: The script at User:Evad37/rater makes the addition of Wikiproject templates extremely easy. New page creators rarely do this. Reviewers are not obliged to make these edits but they only take a few seconds. They can use the Curation message system to let the creator know what they have done.

DannyS712 bot III is now patrolling certain categories of uncontroversial redirects. Curious? Check out its patrol log.

Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:15, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to support me at RfA. The NPP community is really important to me and so it was so meaningful to have you and other reviewers leave such nice comments. Know that I hope to continue to keep my cool even though I know have a few extra buttons I could press. I look forward to continuing to work together at NPP and wherever else our paths might cross. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 02:03, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

September 2019 Tree of Life Newsletter

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

5

10

15

20

'02

'04

'06

'08

'10

'12

'14

'16

'18

•   Active
•   Others

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)
• ... that despite the Zulu serotine bat having a widespread distribution in Africa, it is not known where it roosts during the day? (17 September)
• ... that Lady Burton's rope squirrel (pictured) was named in honour of Isabel Burton, wife of British explorer Sir Richard Burton? (17 September)
• ... that there is a myth that the pieces of the broken tail of the slender glass lizard can grow into new lizards? (18 September)
• ... that Thomas's rope squirrel can communicate with other squirrels vocally or by stamping? (18 September)
• ... that the cut flesh of the bitter tooth mushroom smells of watermelon? (19 September)
• ... that although honeynut squash originated about forty years ago, it has only been in markets for four years? (19 September)
• ... that the phloem sap of Phyllanthus balgooyi contains up to 16.9 per cent nickel by weight, giving it a bright green color? (20 September)
• ... that although Schreber's yellow bat is believed to be an insectivore, the related white-bellied yellow bat has been observed to eat dead bats in captivity? (20 September)
• ... that nests of the black-tailed tree rat resemble those of the red-billed buffalo weaver? (21 September)
• ... that jackfruits and chili peppers (pictured) are among the many crops planted in Indonesian home gardens? (22 September)
• ... that the African tropical tree Pouteria adolfi-friedericii was named after a German explorer? (23 September)
• ... that the Celebes warty pig has been domesticated and introduced into other Indonesian islands? (23 September)
• ... that the metabolic rate of Rhoptropus bradfieldi is about a quarter of that of other desert lizards? (24 September)
• ... that the dune hairy-footed gerbil locates its burrows close to plants, where the roots stabilise the shifting sand? (28 September)

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) at 22:26, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

I have sent you a note about a page you started

Thanks for creating Glyptidotea lichtensteini.

User:Rosguill while examining this page as a part of our page curation process had the following comments:

Whack! You've been whacked with a wet trout. Don't take this too seriously. Someone just wants to let you know that you did something silly.

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

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

_signed, Rosguill ^talk 03:27, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Us dauntless experimenters always suffer, but we bear it with the utmost grace (strikes pose). Hence, thou varlet! --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 03:32, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

I actually had to go check a dictionary for "varlet". Good to have you back on page patrol. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 14:01, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

William Bernsteins

Last I knew as an IP address user (of very long inflexible principle) I wasn't allowed to create new articles so a disambig with a pointer was all I could do.12.144.5.2 (talk) 17:36, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

12.144.5.2 well, there's that. However, there's no downside to creating an account, so if that is what is preventing you from creating articles, I suggest you just go ahead and get registered. It's not as if you are asked to post your credit card number and home address... --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:49, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

As I said,it's a matter on which I have been inflexible for a very long time.In any case,just getting rid of the link in the Mike Medavoy article (which intends to link to the movie executive and instead lands one at an article about the unrelated writer) would remove the need for a disambig at present.12.144.5.2 (talk) 19:09, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Source for Nile crocodiles preying on Aardvarks.

Hello. I've noticed you partially reverted my edit to the page on the Aardvark, removing Nile crocodiles as their regular predators. Before I consider adding it back, I wanted to let you know where I got my source from and where else on Wikipedia it is also cited. Within the article on the Nile crocodile, Aardvarks are mentioned as one of their regular non-ungulate prey, and the same source is cited. I should mention, I believe that the link is broken and only works in archive mode. As to where the source mentions Nile crocodiles, just use Ctrl+F (or Command+F if you're using a Mac) and search the word "crocodile" and several instances should be listed. In particular, it lists crocodiles as among the animals that have been observed killing Aardvarks and eating them, and in particular according to the source, this depredation was known to occur in two separate nature parks in South Africa and Tanzania. I hope that clears things up a bit, and thank you for your dedication in improving animal and ecology related articles on Wikipedia and keeping them as accurate as possible! Titanoboa Constrictor (talk) 03:21, 3 October 2019 (UTC)

Hi Titanoboa Constrictor, when I checked the source I went to the section on species interactions, particularly predators - that's pages 65-67. I noted that crocodiles here are not assessed as habitual predators of aardvarks, and thus seem to fall into the "probably scavenger" category - also note the stated ambiguity of the questionnaire. I am inclined to regard this as insufficient evidence of predation by crocodiles, and would suggest that at least a second, independent source should be found before we can state this in Wikipedia's voice. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 01:28, 5 October 2019 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Editor's Barnstar
	Thank you for all of your useful contributions to Wikipedia over the years. Dino245 (talk) 17:48, 3 October 2019 (UTC)

Assamese Language Movement

Hello!

I am thankful for your review of the article Assamese Language Movement. The issue of close paraphrasing has been taken note of and changes have been made.

Kindly refer to Talk:Assamese Language Movement and please revoke the tag.

Yours thankfully

IKHazarika (talk) 08:48, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

Hi IKHazarika, looks better now! The copyvio detector ([1]) still throws up a number of issues, but these seem to be mostly specific set (or "proper") phrases that cannot be easily reworded. I have removed the tag. Cheers --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:47, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

Thank you very much!! IKHazarika (talk) 17:02, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

Review

Thank you for reviewing my BSO Discography. MinorProphet (talk) 04:10, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

Nomination of Cheloniology for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Cheloniology is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cheloniology until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Regards, Sun Creator^(talk) 14:21, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Barnstar!

		The Editor's Barnstar
		Thanks for all of the editing that you do, it is appreciated! OhNoitsJamie Talk 19:34, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Thank you!

Thank you for reviewing my contribution Nedaa Elias. As advised, I have split publications from exhibitions and put them in a separate section. Please let me know if you have any more suggestions. Shafiqshatara (talk) 05:42, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

A cup of tea for you!

Your deletion nomination statement at Jean Richardson made me chuckle a bit. No hard feelings from Wiki Education. That was one of the weaker bios from the recent Dr. Barnes crop and I had my doubts about notability as well, but thought I'd leave it to the community. Elysia (Wiki Ed) (talk) 17:32, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

Glad to hear it! I'm already going against my own predilections by AfD'ing borderline academics, and would as soon avoid ticking people off in the process :) --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:52, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

You've got mail!

Hello, Elmidae. Please check your email; you've got mail! The subject is Rodrigues solitaire vandalism.
Message added 00:29, 30 October 2019 (UTC). It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Can you please watch the page "Rodrigues solitaire" for vandalism? Lots of IPs have been vandalizing it lately. Thanks. Dinan8 (talk) 00:29, 30 October 2019 (UTC)