Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life
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A few Wikipedians have come together to make some suggestions about how we might organize data in these articles. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the below guidelines may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles! For updates on Tree of Life and its subprojects, there is a monthly newletter published here to which you can subscribe. This WikiProject is both a daughter project of WikiProject Biology and a meta-project in its own right. WikiProject Tree of Life aims primarily to represent the taxonomy and relationships of living organisms, as well as their extinct relatives, in a tree structure. Since there are millions of species, not all will be included, but we aim to handle as many as information, time, and interest permit. However, as a meta-project, Tree of Life directly includes only articles which have meaning across taxa or which pertain to taxonomy and systematics in general, or which do not fall under one of our daughter WikiProjects. A full directory of daughter WikiProjects has been listed below in the form of a cladogram. To see a directory of our sister WikiProjects under WikiProject Biology, see this link. To see activity levels and active editors for these projects, use the Wikiproject Directory tool and find the project in question for further information. Some projects may not be listed. Current labels are based solely on template tags at the top of WikiProject pages and do not represent an in-depth assessment of the activity level of any project by WikiProject Tree of Life. Outer EditInner Edit
Related WikiProjects Edit
Article titles EditIn cases where there is a formal common name (e.g. for birds), or when common names are well known and reasonably unique (e.g. "Cuvier's dwarf caiman"), they should be used for article titles. In all other cases, scientific names should be used. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (flora) for article titles for plants and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna) for article titles for animals. Note the following guidelines in using scientific names:
For a monotypic taxon (one that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon), a single article should cover both taxa (unless the higher-ranked one has had multiple circumscriptions, and an article is written to cover them all). If there is no common name, the article should generally go under the scientific name that is most often used when discussing the two taxa, or under the scientific name of lowest rank if there is no clear preference. However, for a monotypic genus (one that contains a single species), the genus name should be used, as it is included in the binomial nomenclature, and the genus title is more concise than the binomial. For instance, the order Amphionidacea, which has the single species Amphionides reynaudii, is discussed at Amphionides. If the name of a monotypic genus is shared with another topic, it is usually more appropriate to use a binomial as a natural disambiguation, rather than using a parenthetical disambiguating term for the genus. E.g., Alberta magna is a more natural search term than Alberta (plant). Not all species need have separate articles. The simplest (and probably best) rule is to have no rule: if you have the time and energy to write up some particularly obscure subspecies that most people have never even heard of, go for it! As a general guideline, though, it's best to combine separate species into a single entry whenever it seems likely that there won't be enough text to make more than a short, unsatisfying stub otherwise. If the entry grows large enough to deserve splitting, that can always be done later. A useful heuristic is to create articles in a "downwards" order, that is, family articles first, then genus, then species. If you find that information is getting thin, or the family/genus is small, leave the species information in the family or genus article. Don't try to force it down any further. Taxon article template EditArticles about taxa, such as families, genera, or species, typically contain some or all of these sections:
See the general taxon template and descendant project pages, such as the WikiProject Plants taxon template, for more detail specific to different groups. Taxoboxes Edit
Detailed taxonomic information, including notes on how taxa are defined and how they vary between different systems, belongs in the article proper. Where possible, however, a standard table will be provided to allow easier navigation between related groups and quick identification of what sort of organisms are being discussed. These are called taxoboxes. A typical taxobox is shown at right (it belongs on the top right of the page Cetacea). There are three main sections to the taxobox:
Some items that are often included, but are not (necessarily) standardized, include:
Position: The taxobox generally belongs at the top right corner of the article, unless it has been decided otherwise on the relevant talk page - for instance, if the article is not primarily about the biological group. For cultivars — cultivated varieties of plants — don't use a taxobox; instead use a cultivar infobox ({{Infobox cultivar}}) as described at Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Cultivar infobox. For breeds of animals, don't use a taxobox; instead use the appropriate breed template; see for example Wikipedia:WikiProject Dogs/Dog breeds task force and Wikipedia:WikiProject Equine/Horse breeds. Talkpages EditTag talkpages with: Categories EditMajor groups should be given their own categories. When possible, these should use the common name in the plural, except for plants, where WikiProject Plants uses scientific names by default (see WP:NCFLORA). In general, only articles about major subgroups should be added, and more specific articles should be included in subcategories. However, when there are only a few articles about members of the group, they can all go directly into the main category. Use your judgement on when to split, aiming for an approximate category size of 10-50 articles. Note that in addition to taxa, categories may also contain informal subgroups. For instance Category:Primates may include an article or subcategory for monkeys, although they are not treated as a formal group. They may also include some other articles that pertain specifically to members of the group, although they are not about them. Categories for articles about the biota[1] of a region should be based on the common grouping of that region used by zoological, botanical, mycological etc. publications. For example, if it is common to separate a region based on political boundaries (as in parts of Europe), categories should be separated by countries. If it is common to separate regions based on geographic features (such as New Guinea), categories should be separated by geographic region. References Edit
Requests EditTaxa EditPhotographs EditIf you wish to have a photo uploaded please add {{Image requested|animals}} on the talk page of the article. Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of animals lists these requests - if you can upload a photograph of any of these it would be appreciated. Cladograms EditIf you would like for a cladogram to be created for an article visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Cladogram requests. |
Taxonomic resources EditThe taxonomy of many groups is in a state of flux as taxonomic experts strive to incorporate the findings of Molecular phylogenetics, so it is not always possible to find a single satisfactory classification, and we would be doing a great disservice by pretending otherwise. The best would be to try and find out what the current consensus is, if there is one, and make notes on variant systems. In this, the following resources may be helpful: General taxonomy Edit
Marine organisms Edit
Animals Edit
Baguñà, J.; Riutort, M. (2004). "Molecular phylogeny of the Platyhelminthes". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 82 (2): 168. doi:10.1139/z03-214., reflected in "Turbellarian taxonomic database". Archived from the original on 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
Plants Edit
Fungi Edit
Protists and prokaryotes Edit
Viruses Edit
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Taxonomic articles by quality log EditSeptember 27, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
September 26, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
Removed Edit
September 25, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
September 24, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
September 23, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
September 22, 2023 EditAssessed Edit
September 21, 2023 EditRenamed Edit
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Userboxes Edit
The following userboxes are available to add to your user page:
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Sample articles Edit
A number of articles under this WikiProject and its descendants have been recognized for their excellence by the Wikipedia community as featured articles or featured lists, and may serve as good models. The articles are sorted by WikiProject:
- General: Archaea, Bacteria, Ediacaran biota, Helicobacter pylori, Myxobolus cerebralis, Starfish
- Amphibians and Reptiles: Australian green tree frog, Cane toad, Crocodilia, Frog, Green and golden bell frog, Hawksbill sea turtle, List of snakes of Trinidad and Tobago, List of Testudines families
- Arthropods: Isopoda, Jaekelopterus, Megarachne, Millipede, Onychopterella
- Birds: Albatross, American goldfinch, Arctic tern, Bald eagle, California condor, Common raven, Elfin woods warbler, Emu, Kakapo, List of birds of Florida, List of birds of Kansas, List of birds of Nicaragua, List of birds of Thailand, Mourning dove, Procellariidae, Red-tailed black cockatoo, Seabird
- Dinosaurs: Albertosaurus, Archaeopteryx, Compsognathus, Diplodocus, Dinosaur, Iguanodon, List of dinosaur genera, Psittacosaurus, Stegosaurus, Styracosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor
- Fungi: Amanita muscaria, Amanita ocreata, Amanita phalloides, Cyathus, Gyromitra esculenta, List of Armillaria species
- Mammals: Elephant, European hare, Giraffe, List of fruit bats, List of mammals of Florida, List of mammals of Korea
- Cats: Bobcat, Cougar, Jaguar, Lion, List of felids, Smilodon
- Cetaceans: Baleen whale, Blue whale, Fin whale, Humpback whale, Killer whale, Right whale, Sei whale, List of cetacean species
- Dogs: Beringian wolf, Dire wolf, Golden jackal, List of canids
- Monotremes and Marsupials: Platypus, Short-beaked echidna, Tasmanian devil, Thylacine
- Primates: Lemur, List of lemur species, The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates, Primate, Ring-tailed lemur, Slow loris
- Plants: Cucurbita, Ficus macrophylla, Lambertia formosa, List of basil cultivars, List of the largest genera of flowering plants, Verbascum thapsus
- Sharks: Cretoxyrhina, Goblin shark, Megalodon, Oceanic whitetip shark, Pigeye shark, Porbeagle, Silky shark
Article alerts Edit
Today's featured articles
- 30 Sep 2023 – Secretarybird (talk · edit · hist) will be Today's Featured Article; see blurb
Did you know
- 25 Sep 2023 – Asiavorator (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Olmagon (t · c); see discussion
- 19 Sep 2023 – Diplobune (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by PrimalMustelid (t · c); see discussion
- 12 Sep 2023 – Alopekis (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Annwfwn (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Sep 2023 – Republicopteron (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Kevmin (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Sep 2023 – Ophidascaris robertsi (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Pamzeis (t · c); see discussion
- 01 Sep 2023 – Anoplotherium (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by PrimalMustelid (t · c); see discussion
- 28 Aug 2023 – Wyethia amplexicaulis (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by MtBotany (t · c); see discussion
- 23 Aug 2023 – Poecilia kykesis (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Surtsicna (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Aug 2023 – Brontosaurus (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Augustios Paleo (t · c); see discussion
Articles for deletion
- 21 Sep 2023 – Baliochila barnesi (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Griseo veritas (t · c); see discussion (7 participants)
Proposed deletions
- 24 Sep 2023 – Cyclosorus elegans (talk · edit · hist) was PRODed by Choess (t · c): This is an invalid name (nomen nudum) and it is not clear which taxon Ching was referring to. Probably not suitable for an article.
Redirects for discussion
- 26 Sep 2023 – Tarāpuku (talk · edit · hist) →Black-billed gull was RfDed by ArcticSeeress (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Sep 2023 – Phytophtires (talk · edit · hist) →Neoptera was RfDed by Monster Iestyn (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Sep 2023 – Phalaenea crataegella (talk · edit · hist) →Scythropia crataegella was RfDed by Randi Moth (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Sep 2023 – A dog (talk · edit · hist) →Dog was RfDed by Skynxnex (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Sep 2023 – A cricket (talk · edit · hist) →Cricket (insect) was RfDed by Skynxnex (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Sep 2023 – A human (talk · edit · hist) →Human was RfDed by Skynxnex (t · c); see discussion
- 12 Sep 2023 – Kingdom of misfits (talk · edit · hist) →Protist was RfDed by Snoteleks (t · c); see discussion
Featured article candidates
- 24 Sep 2023 – Mountain pigeon (talk · edit · hist) was FA nominated by AryKun (t · c); see discussion
- 20 Aug 2023 – Mimodactylus (talk · edit · hist) was FA nominated by FunkMonk (t · c); see discussion
Good article nominees
- 23 Sep 2023 – Buellia frigida (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Esculenta (t · c); start discussion
- 15 Sep 2023 – Lycorma meliae (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Etriusus (t · c); start discussion
- 11 Sep 2023 – Life (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Chiswick Chap (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Sep 2023 – Aristonectes (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Amirani1746 (t · c); see discussion
- 18 Aug 2023 – Hypericum perforatum (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Fritzmann2002 (t · c); see discussion
- 18 Sep 2023 – Spinular night frog (talk · edit · hist) GA nominated by AryKun (t · c) was closed
- 17 Sep 2023 – Homalinotus coriaceus (talk · edit · hist) GA nominated by André Ribeiro Cardoso (t · c) was not promoted by Etriusus (t · c), see discussion
Good topic candidates
- 27 Sep 2023 – Apatosaurinae (talk · edit · hist) was GT nominated by Augustios Paleo (t · c); start discussion
Featured article reviews
Peer reviews
- 04 Sep 2023 – Hypericum sechmenii (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Fritzmann2002 (t · c); see discussion
- 30 Aug 2023 – Aristonectes (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Amirani1746 (t · c); see discussion
- 19 Aug 2023 – Bachitherium (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by PrimalMustelid (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Aug 2023 – Kaikaifilu (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Amirani1746 (t · c); see discussion
- 20 Aug 2022 – Kentrosaurus (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Augustios Paleo (t · c); see discussion
Requested moves
- 25 Sep 2023 – Amanita muscaria var. guessowii (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Amanita chrysoblema yellow-orange variant by 2605:8D80:32D:6192:A882:5121:C6CD:4F3D (t · c); see discussion
- 24 Sep 2023 – Deer (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Cervidae by PrimalMustelid (t · c); see discussion
- 18 Sep 2023 – Eruca vesicaria (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Arugula by Always beleive in hope (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Aug 2023 – Melanotaenia fluviatilis (talk · edit · hist) move request to Murray River rainbowfish by 99% fad-free (t · c) was moved to Murray River rainbowfish (talk · edit · hist) by ModernDayTrilobite (t · c) on 21 Sep 2023; see discussion
Articles to be merged
- 15 Sep 2023 – Nimbacinus dicksoni (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Nimbacinus by FunkMonk (t · c); see discussion
- 15 Sep 2023 – Nimbacinus richi (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Nimbacinus by FunkMonk (t · c); see discussion
- 07 Sep 2023 – Galerucella calmariensis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Neogalerucella calmariensis by Monster Iestyn (t · c); see discussion
- 07 Sep 2023 – Neogalerucella calmariensis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Galerucella calmariensis by Monster Iestyn (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Sep 2023 – Prasinococcaceae (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Prasinococcus by Snoteleks (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Sep 2023 – Trypaea australiensis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Trypaea by Jlwoodwa (t · c); see discussion
- 30 Aug 2023 – Haplochromis aff. bloyeti (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Astatotilapia bloyeti by Big Blue Cray(fish) Twins (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Aug 2023 – Cosmopolitodus planus (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Cosmopolitodus by FunkMonk (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Aug 2023 – Short-tooth sawpalate (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Black sawtoothed eel by Big Blue Cray(fish) Twins (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Aug 2023 – Black sawtoothed eel (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Short-tooth sawpalate by Big Blue Cray(fish) Twins (t · c); see discussion
- (13 more...)
Articles to be split
- 04 Jul 2023 – Corvidae (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Super Dromaeosaurus (t · c); see discussion
- 20 May 2023 – Mollusca (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Felix QW (t · c); see discussion
- 16 Mar 2023 – Acephala group (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Artoria2e5 (t · c); see discussion
- 16 Nov 2022 – Melanthera (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Mat Kiyan (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Mar 2022 – List of organisms named after famous people (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Mrbeastmodeallday (t · c); see discussion
- 16 Oct 2021 – Tetrahymena (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by CycoMa (t · c); see discussion
- 26 May 2021 – Pea enation mosaic virus (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Awkwafaba (t · c); see discussion
- 11 Apr 2021 – Paradracaena (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by YorkshireExpat (t · c); see discussion
- 01 Nov 2020 – Corroboree frog (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Bobamnertiopsis (t · c); see discussion
Articles for creation
- 21 Sep 2023 – Draft:List of virus species ICTV 2022 (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Webclouddat (t · c)
- 10 Sep 2023 – Draft:List of unassigned taxa in Caudoviricetes (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Edward-Woodrow (t · c)
- 02 Aug 2023 – Draft:Mustela formosana (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Mafalda4144 (t · c)
- 11 Sep 2023 – Draft:Merianthera calyptrata (talk · edit · hist) submitted for AfC by Megan.odell (t · c) was moved to Merianthera calyptrata (talk · edit · hist) by Ozzie10aaaa (t · c) on 25 Sep 2023
To do Edit
New articles Edit
To browse Tree of Life subjects that require articles, see the Tree of Life list of requested articles. If adding to the list of requests, make sure to include scientific names, as it will make it easier for others to track down information. One-sentence stubs are discouraged: try to create a worthwhile start class article, with a taxobox, and sources properly cited. When adding weblinks, look for standard references first, such as the IUCN and its sub-commissions.
Specific request lists also include:
- Missing encyclopedic articles about animals.
- Missing encyclopedic articles about plants
- Requested articles about plants (botany)
- Fact-check new biology articles nominated for "Did you know ...?" here. The link is to all nominated articles, but binomial species names are easy to pick out. Successful candidates will be linked to from our Main Page, so let's make them look good!
Cleanup Edit
Please add {{missing-taxobox}} to the talk page of articles that need taxonomic information.
Articles needing taxoboxes
Articles needing attention Edit
- Biology pages needing attention (cleanup, expansion, wikification, expert needed, etc.)
Articles needing attention
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Articles without images
- Category:Taxonomic articles needing attention
- Plant articles needing attention
- Plant articles needing expert attention
- Wikipedia requested images of plants
- Unidentified plant images - Unidentified plants on Commons
Assessment Edit
Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Assessment
Contest Edit
If you have significantly improved an article recently, consider participating in the Tree of Life Contest, a monthly rolling contest to motivate editors to improve articles related to any aspect of the Tree of Life.
Popular pages Edit
Popular pages, a bot-generated list of pageviews, useful for focused cleanup of frequently viewed articles.
Quality operations Edit
Quality operations, a bot-generated detail activity log.