User talk:Starsandwhales/2020

Latest comment: 3 years ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic 2020 WikiCup

General

Tree of Life Holi contest

Hi Starsandwhales, Happy New Year and thanks for helping out on the next WP:TOL contest. May I suggest that to keep it even with the wikignomes, perhaps the scoring should be adjusted to only a quarter point (1/4) for each new image or automatic taxobox conversion? 'Cheers, Loopy30 (talk) 02:10, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

@Loopy30: the way it is now, it takes about 54 new images or taxobox conversions for one good article, which I think is fair. However, I do see what you're saying (if someone writes a C class articles and it on DYK it's only worth 9 images or conversions), so maybe we can work out some other way of scaling points? All of these contests have been pretty trial and error in terms of points, to be honest.

This is not good

Today, you passed F. Scott Fitzgerald as a good article. It is not. It is so badly written that I have felt the need to conduct a review of my own. I've only managed to do the first section and already I'm up to 2,500 bytes of text. This is not good. You are doing Wikipedia a disservice by passing articles for the purposes of winning an award. CassiantoTalk 17:38, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

I mean I'm doing it because it's something that's actually engaging and time consuming during these months when I'm stuck at home. I don't care about internet prizes or whatever. You could've added comments while I was still reviewing to add your concerns, there was no need to be rude about it. starsandwhales (talk) 18:01, 27 April 2020 (UTC)
I've seen that you've become acquainted with Cassianto. He's essentially the Mr. Resetti of Wikipedia. Don't let him discourage you from the GA process; I've encountered far worse editors. Cheers. ~ HAL333 18:26, 27 April 2020 (UTC)
I don't watch the Fitzgerald page; I only came to learn of it when you congratulated HAL333 (on what, I don't know). That is why I didn't offer any comments; however, now I have. Please don't take my comments personally - there is no nice way to say that an article is not "good" after someone has declared it a "good article", and I appreciate reviewers at GA are very far and few between. And it is important to keep minds focussed, what with recent events. Do you write articles? CassiantoTalk
I do, recently I wrote Boophis fayi. It wasn't cool to remove HAL333's message on my own talk page though. Also, some of your comments on the Fitzgerald make sense, there were things that I missed. But others don't.
It's not "cool" to issue personal attacks, either, and it's not good to aid and abet such behaviour. Anyway, I'll take a read of the article you've linked to. CassiantoTalk 19:29, 27 April 2020 (UTC)
Boophis fayi is really rather good and has the makings of a good article. We haven't had a decent frog article for years, and this has the makings of one. Cwmhiraeth wrote Frog, which is a FA, which you could use as a style guide. Others can be found here. CassiantoTalk 19:50, 27 April 2020 (UTC)
A comparison to an anthropomorphic mole is hardly much of a personal attack. He's actually somewhat of a cult favorite. This reminds me of when that Turk called Erdogan Gollum, and then argued that he was a virtuous character in court.[1] ~ HAL333 19:39, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

New magazine

You may remember doing an article for the July 2019 Tree of Life.I have just releaded a new free magazine that promotes Wikipedia. Perhaps other readers might be interested.The Link is on my user page user:CharlesjsharpBest wishes Charlesjsharp (talk) 13:50, 4 May 2020 (UTC)Charlesjsharp This was a really interesting read! As someone from the northeastern US desperately trying to remove the nearby ground ivy, it's nice to know our invasive species problem goes both ways. (well, maybe not nice, but a unfun fact)

DYK updates

Template:Did you know nominations/Elsinore (video game)

Please see note on your DYK review. If the article does not have the proper cites, please don't give it an approval tick until it does. Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 17:38, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Boophis fayi

Hello! Your submission of Boophis fayi at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! HaEr48 (talk) 20:18, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

DYK for Boophis fayi

On 29 May 2020, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Boophis fayi, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the frog Boophis fayi can be identified by its unusual green-and-turquoise eyes? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Boophis fayi. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Boophis fayi), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:02, 29 May 2020 (UTC)

WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter

January 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

January 2020—Issue 010


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Megarachne by Ichthyovenator
Christmas imperial pigeon by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by FunkMonk
Paranthropus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by IJReid
Orcinus meyeri by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Enwebb
Christmas darter by Enwebb and Cwmhiraeth, reviewed by J Milburn
Saxifragales by Michael Goodyear, reviewed by starsandwhales
Segnosaurus by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Dryopithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Drosophila subobscura by Andrewoh29, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Egyptian fruit bat by Enwebb, reviewed by FunkMonk
Scale insect by Chiswick Chap and Cwhmiraeth, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77

Newly nominated content

Wolf by LittleJerry
Segnosaurus by FunkMonk
The Goldfinch (painting) by Jimfbleak
Dryomyza anilis by AnuBalasubramanian
Pigs in culture by Chiswick Chap
Coronariae by Michael Goodyear
Neanderthal by Dunkleosteus77
Gharial by BhagyaMani
Honeynut squash by
James John Joicey by RLO1729
Gigantorhynchus by Mattximus
Ardipithecus ramidus by Dunkleosteus77

Plants, fungi, and other organisms (510 designated out of projected 1,200)

Many articles have yet to be designated for Tree of Life taxonomic groups, with 1,942 outstanding articles to be added. Anyone can add vital articles to the list! Restructuring may be necessary, as the only viruses included as of yet are under the category "Health". The majority of vital articles needing improvement are level 5, but here are some outstanding articles from the other levels:

Level 2

· Life · Human · Plant

Level 3

· Abiogenesis · Death · Cell · Human evolution · Organism · Zoology · Cattle · Dog · Reptile · Flower · Nut · Seed · Algae · Eukaryote · Biodiversity · Extinction · Photosynthesis

Level 4

· Sexual dimorphism · Feather · Fur · Hair · Gill · Plant anatomy · Plant morphology · Berry · Leaf · Root · Stoma · Shrub · Plant stem · Bark · Trunk · Epidermis · Ground tissue · Meristem · Vascular tissue · Vascular cambium · Hypha · Mycelium

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February 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

February 2020—Issue 011


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Segnosaurus by FunkMonk
The Goldfinch (painting) by Jimfbleak
Gharial by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Steller's sea ape by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm
Poinsettia by Enwebb, reviewed by Starsandwhales
Honeynut squash by , reviewed by Ealdgyth

Newly nominated content

Danuvius guggenmosi by Dunkleosteus77
Denisovan by Dunkleosteus77
Homo luzonensis by Dunkleosteus77
Homo naledi by Dunkleosteus77
Horseshoe bat by Enwebb
Cimicidae by Cwmhiraeth and Chiswick Chap

Viewership of the articles Bat, Bat-borne virus, Horseshoe bat, and Bat as food from 15 Jan. 2020 to 10 Feb. 2020

From October 2019 – December 2019, the top ten most popular bat articles fluctuated among 16 different articles, with the December viewership of those 10 articles at 209,280. For January 2020, three articles broke into the top-10 that were not among the 16 articles of the prior three months: Bat as food, Horseshoe bat, and Bat-borne virus. Viewership of the top-10 bat articles spiked nearly 300% to 617,067 in January.

While bats have been implicated as a possible natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, an intermediate host may be the bridge between bats and humans. Pangolins have been hypothesized as the intermediate host for the virus, causing a large spike in typical page views of 2-3k each day up to more than 60k in a day. Masked palm civets, the intermediate host of SARS, saw a modest yet noticeable spike in page views as well, from 100 to 300 views per day to as many as 5k views per day.

With an increase in viewers came an increase in editors. In an interview, longtime virus editor Awkwafaba identified the influx of editors as the biggest challenge in editing content related to the coronavirus. They noted that these newcomers include "novices who make honest mistakes and get tossed about a bit in the mad activity" as well as "experienced editors who know nothing about viruses and are good researchers, yet aren't familiar with the policies of WP:ToL or WP:Viruses." Disruption also increased, with extended confirmed protection (also known as the 30/500 rule, which prevents editors with fewer than 30 days tenure and 500 edits from making edits and is typically used on a very small subset of Wikipedia articles) temporarily applied to Coronavirus and still active on Template:2019–20 coronavirus outbreak data. New editors apparently seeking to correct misinformation continuously edited the article Bat as food to remove content related to China: Videos of Chinese people eating bat soup were misrepresented to be current or filmed in China, when at least one such video was several years old and filmed in Palau. However, reliable sources confirm that bats are eaten in China, especially Southern China, so these well-meaning edits were mostly removed.

Another level of complexity was added by the fluctuating terminology of the virus. Over a dozen moves and merges were requested within WikiProject Viruses. To give you an idea of the musical chairs happening with article titles, here are the move histories of two articles:

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

2019–20 coronavirus outbreak

Awkwafaba noted that "the main authorities, WHO and ICTV, don't really have a process for speedily naming a virus or disease." Additionally, they have different criteria for naming. They said, "I remember in a move discussion from the article then called Wuhan coronavirus that a virus name cannot have a geographical location in it, but this is a WHO disease naming guideline, and not an ICTV virus naming rule. ICTV may have renamed Four Corners virus to Sin Nombre orthohantavirus but there are still plenty of official virus species names that don't abide by WHO guidelines."

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March 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

March 2020—Issue 012


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Argentinosaurus by Slate Weasel and Jens Lallensack
Wolf by LittleJerry
Horseshoe bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Cimicidae by Cwmhiraeth and Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Enwebb
Coronariae by Michael Goodyear, reviewed by Dank
Ardipithecus ramidus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by starsandwhales
Ooedigera by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm
Bathyphysa conifera by Awkwafaba, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Calliphora vomitoria by Y.shiuan, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated content

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations by Britishfinance
Bathyphysa conifera by Awkwafaba
Moniliformidae by Mattximus
Disease X by Britishfinance
Mandarin Patinkin by Rhododendrites




  1. Please describe how you went about creating WikiProject COVID-19. What made you think a project was needed?
    I've been following the outbreak and editing related Wikipedia articles since January. I'm not particularly interested in infectious diseases or viruses, but I've been to China a few times and wanted to monitor the outbreak's impact on society as well as the government's response. For a while, I was casually tracking updates to the first couple pages about the outbreak. Then a pattern began to emerge as February saw the creation of separate articles about outbreaks in Iran, Italy, and South Korea. New Wikipedia articles continued being created in early March, and the outbreak was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11. Knowing there would many more articles, lists, templates, illustrations, and other pages on Wikipedia, I created WikiProject COVID-19 on March 15. My goal was simply to create a temporary or permanent space for editors to collaborate, communicate, and focus specifically on content related to this ongoing pandemic. I'm a member of many WikiProjects and have created several before, but this one definitely felt more necessary and urgent. Most WikiProjects unite editors with similar interests, which is fine and serves a purpose, but I felt this project could have a much bigger real life impact. I don't think I was alone in my thinking; the project had 80 members by March 20 and 100 members by March 26.
  2. Who or what was invaluable to getting off the ground?
    If I'm being honest, getting this project off the ground required little work on my part. All I did was create the space and post invitations to existing talk pages related to the outbreak. Editors joined the project very quickly; 30 members joined on the same day I started the project, and there were more than 50 participants one day later. I've been a daily Wikipedia editor for more than 12 years, and I've never seen so much interest in a project or content added to Wikipedia about a specific topic in such a short period of time. WikiProject members worked expeditiously to build a framework and hang a barnstar, tagging related pages, assessing content, and starting talk page discussions about the project's goals and scope. I'm thankful to the many editors who pitched in to get the project established, and I look forward to seeing how editors collaborate in this space as we move forward.
  3. What are the short-term goals of the project?
    No specific goals have been posted to the project page yet, but I'd like to think members share a collective desire to ensure Wikipedia has accurate and reliable information about the disease and pandemic. Disinformation and misinformation seem rampant these days, so we're working to give readers around the globe access to accurate, objective, and possibly even life-saving information. Unlike some WikiProjects which may take a more historical approach to documenting certain topics, WikiProject COVID-19 members have the ability to mitigate the disease's spread in real time by arming communities with facts about outbreaks in their region as well as information about prevention, testing, vaccine research, societal impact, etc.
    Viewership of WikiProject Medicine, WikiProject Viruses, and WikiProject COVID-19 in the month of March 2020
  4. What are the long-term goals? English Wikipedia has many of 'lumpers' who think there are too many projects already. The project has also inspired the creation of two portals, which I imagine caused some raised eyebrows in this trend of portal deletionism. What will come of the WP after the current outbreak subsides?
    After creating WikiProject COVID-19, a couple editors said I should have created a task force instead of a standalone WikiProject. I wasn't bothered. The number of 'thank you' notifications I received for creating the page vastly outweighed these critical comments. I knew the page I created was much needed, and I would be fine if editors decide to call the page by another name. I understand some editors think there are too many WikiProjects. No one's required to join WikiProject COVID-19, but the 100+ of us who have already joined invite you to help with our efforts, if you're interested. As for the project's future, I would be fine if editors decided to convert the WikiProject into a task force, or even put the project into retirement if the time comes. Given the level of interest and impact the pandemic has already had on a global scale, I have a feeling the WikiProject will be active for a long time.
  5. Another criticism of the project is its narrow focus. It is focused on only one strain of virus, and the disease it causes. Even WikiProject AIDS is about two species of virus. Is the scope of the project too small? What would an expanded scope look like? Why would including another virus strain in the same species, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus which causes SARS, not be wanted? or is it wanted?
    Narrow focus? I disagree. The project may focus on a single virus and disease, but the pandemic has resulted in the creation of hundreds of Wikipedia articles documenting outbreaks in most countries and territories. There are pages covering the pandemic's impact on aviation, cinema, education, politics, religion, sports, and television, not to mention others related to the resulting economic turmoil. Additionally, there are hundreds of templates, charts, and other graphics. Who knows how many thousands of images and other media will be uploaded at Wikimedia Commons by the time this pandemic subsides? There's also COVID-19 WikiProject COVID-19 at Wikidata, and I wouldn't be surprised if similar spaces are created for other Wikimedia projects soon. Even if the focus is narrow, there's plenty of content for Wikimedians to improve and protect.
  6. In your opinion, what should be the guidelines for creating a new project, as opposed to creating a task force or working under an existing WikiProject?
    I don't feel strongly about new project creation guidelines, or the differences between WikiProjects and task forces. Project members should decide what structure works for them and call themselves whatever name they prefer. I understand project construction requires maintenance and can come at an administrative cost, but we should be careful about discouraging editors from proposing new projects.
    Ideally, editors would only create a new WikiProject if at least a few others were committed to joining. I created WikiProject COVID-19 without conferring with others because I assumed the interest would be there. I encourage people to be bold and create project pages, but maybe ask a few other editors for feedback first. I'll let other editors worry about the guidelines.
  7. What tools (templates, bots, etc.) are essential, or even just really helpful, for organizing and maintaining a successful project? What is something every WP should do, that maybe isn't doing now?
    I appreciate the standard WikiProject assessment framework. AlexNewArtBot and Article alerts have also been very helpful.
  8. What have you learned about Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or COVID-19 during this process that surprised you?
    I don't have any sort of medical background, and I'm more interested in the pandemic's impact than details about the disease or virus. Most surprising to me has been the lack of preparedness for combating outbreaks by governments around the world, including here in the United States. I don't know how COVID-19's spread compares to other infectious diseases, but as I've watched the outbreak develop I've continually wondered why governments did not start preparing earlier. What was happening in China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea should have prompted action sooner.
  9. What important things about 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic do you think folks should know and maybe have missed in the deluge of information coming at people?
    1. Know the most common symptoms: cough, fever, and difficulty breathing.
    2. Learn what behavioral adjustments you should make to protect yourself and reduce transmission, and remember to wash your hands.
    3. Get your information from reputable sources. I'd like to think Wikipedia editors are pretty good at this last bit of advice.

Thank you to Another Believer for your time, both in this interview and in this project. Interested readers can join WikiProject COVID-19. And please stay safe and healthy out there. --Awkwafaba

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April 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

April 2020—Issue 013


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Danuvius guggenmosi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by J Milburn
Neanderthal by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Homo luzonensis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Lythronax by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Ichthyovenator by PaleoGeekSquared, reviewed by FunkMonk
Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber, reviewed by The Rambling Man
James John Joicey by RLO1729, reviewed by The Rambling Man
Homo naledi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek, reviewed by HickoryOughtShirt?4
Canada lynx by Sainsf, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Alice Gray by Rhododendrites, reviewed by The Rambling Man
Caryodendron orinocense by CPC273, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Jaguarundi by Sainsf, reviewed by Usernameunique
Gigantopithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Starsandwhales
Denisovan by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Starsandwhales
Disease X by Britishfinance, reviewed by DannyS712

Newly nominated content

Lythronax by FunkMonk, Lythronaxargestes and IJReid
Ichthyovenator by PaleoGeekSquared
Neanderthal by Dunkleosteus77
Alpine newt by Tylototriton
Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber
List of ursids by PresN
Borchgrevinkium by Super Dromaeosaurus
Caryodendron orinocense by CPC273
Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared
Canada lynx by Sainsf
Vietnam mouse-deer by Sainsf
Jaguarundi by Sainsf
Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek
Alice Gray by Rhododendrites
Gigantopithecus by Dunkleosteus77
Paleobiota of the Posidonia Shale by Yewtharaptor
Meerkat by Sainsf

Good Article Category as ofFeb 23,
2008
Sep 16,
2008
Sep 16,
2010
Dec 1,
2011
Jan 1,
2015
Jan 1,
2020
Pct chg
Feb 2008
to 2011
Pct chg
Feb 2008
to 2020
Agriculture, food and drink27343755113226104%737%
Art and architecture1341883214506831022236%663%
Engineering and technology256396882119818282407368%840%
Geography and places1912484245237161052174%451%
History26131265182512191894216%626%
Language and literature173215377462686982167%468%
Mathematics19222730366758%253%
Media and drama4036581352130030703961223%883%
Music357527997143725323892303%990%
Natural sciences5446861275171724043426216%530%
Philosophy and religion134174244294365557119%316%
Social sciences and society46854979099814301854113%296%
Sports and recreation3845461074140223503802265%890%
Video games1682203734436841349164%703%
Warfare155241989165425443996967%2478%
Total367450169813127882066030487248%730%
Organisms*1191304025286851017344%755%

*subset of natural sciences

Unsurprisingly, the number of GAs has increased more rapidly than the number of FAs. Organisms, which is a subcategory of Natural sciences, has seen a GA growth of 755% since 2008, besting the Natural sciences overall growth of 530%. While Warfare had far and away the most significant growth of GAs, it's a clear outlier relative to other categories.

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:40, 5 May 2020 (UTC)

May 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

May 2020—Issue 014


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Lythronax by FunkMonk, Lythronaxargestes and IJReid
Meerkat by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Borchgrevinkium by Super Dromaeosaurus, reviewed by Amitchell125
Nakalipithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Gog the Mild
Scanisaurus by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Gog the Mild
Sand cat by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Aven13
Pigs in culture by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Sainsf
Sun bear by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Megacephalosaurus by Macrophyseter, reviewed by Aven13
Cinnamon red bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Banteng by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap
Cartorhynchus by Lythronaxargestes, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Black-footed cat by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Amitchell125
Homo ergaster by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Black coral by Aven13, reviewed by Sainsf
Heuglin's gazelle by Sainsf, reviewed by The Rambling Man
Australopithecus garhi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm
Chororapithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by IJReid
Ornithocheiromorpha by JurassicClassic767, reviewed by IJReid






Newly nominated content

Gigantorhynchus by Mattximus
Leech by LittleJerry, Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth
List of mephitids by PesN
Sand cat by BhagyaMani
Cinnamon red bat by Enwebb
Kristianstad Basin by Ichthyovenator
Nakalipithecus by Dunkleosteus77
Scanisaurus by Ichthyovenator
Sun bear by Sainsf
Heuglin's gazelle by Sainsf
Black coral by Aven13
Australopithecus garhi by Dunkleosteus77
Chororapithecus by Dunkleosteus77
Northern crested newt by Tylototriton
Megacephalosaurus by Macrophyseter
Banteng by Sainsf
Cartorhynchus by Lythronaxargestes
Ornithocheiromorpha by JurassicClassic767
Black-footed cat by BhagyaMani
Bat virome by Enwebb
Echinodon by IJReid
Homo ergaster by Ichthyovenator
Dwarf dog-faced bat by Enwebb
Doedicurus by Dunkleosteus77
Zebra by LittleJerry

Passerea
Otidae

Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos)

Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds)

Gruae

Opisthocomiformes (hoatzin)

Gruimorphae

Gruiformes (cranes, rails)

Charadriiformes (shorebirds)

Ardeae

Aequornithes (core waterbirds)

Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds)

Telluraves
(core landbirds)


Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds)

Columbaves

Columbimorphae (pigeons, mesites, sandgrouse)

Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos)

Gruiformes (cranes, rails)

Aequorlitornithes

Charadriiformes (shorebirds)

Mirandornithes(flamingoes, grebes)

Ardeae

Aequornithes (core waterbirds)

Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds)

(waterbirds)
Inopinaves

Columbimorphae (pigeons, mesites, sandgrouse)

Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos)

Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds)

Opisthocomiformes (hoatzin)

Gruiformes (cranes, rails)

Charadriiformes (shorebirds)

Mirandornithes (flamingoes, grebes)

Ardeae

Aequornithes (core waterbirds)

Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds)

Do you have any personal projects or goals you're working towards on Wikipedia?

As I said I like organisation and systems. So I find efforts like the automated taxobox system and {{taxonbar}} appealing. I would like to see more reuse of the major phylogenetic trees on Wikipedia with more use of consensus trees on the higher taxa. Too often they get edited based on one recent report and/or without proper citation. Animals and bilateria are examples where this is a problem.

Towards this I have been working on a system of phylogeny templates that can be reused flexibly. The {{Clade transclude}} template allows selective transclusion, so the phylogenetic trees on one page can be reused with modifications, i.e. can be pruned and grafted, used with or without images, with or without collapsible elements, etc. I have an example for the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification (see {{Phylogeny/APG IV}}) and one for squamates that also includes collapsible elements (see {{Phylogeny/Squamata}}).

A second project is to have a modular reference system for taxonomic resources. I have made some progress along this lines with the {{BioRef}} template. This started off simply as a way of hardlinking to Catalog of Fishes pages and I’ve gradually expanded it to cover other groups (e..g. FishBase, AmphibiaWeb and Amphibian Species of the World, Reptile Database, the Mammalian Diversity Database). The modular nature is still rudimentary and needs a rewrite before it is ready for wider use.

What would surprise your fellow editors to learn about your life off-Wikipedia?

I don’t think there is anything particularly surprising or interesting about my life. I’ve had an academic career as a research scientist but I don't think anyone could guess the area from my Wikipedia edits. I prefer to work on areas where I am learning at the same time. This why I spend more time with neglected topics (e.g. mosses at the moment). I start reading and then find that I’m not getting the information I want.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

My interest in the classification of things goes beyond biology. I am fascinated by mediaeval attempts to classify knowledge, such as Bacon in his The Advancement of Learning and Diderot and d’Alembert in their Encyclopédie. They were trying to come up with a universal scheme of knowledge just as the printing press was allowing greater dissemination of knowledge.

With the internet we are seeing a new revolution in knowledge dissemination. Just look at how we could read research papers on the COVID virus within weeks of its discovery. With an open internet, everyone has access, not just those with the luxury of books at home or good libraries. Sites like the Biodiversity Heritage Library allow you to read old scientific works without having to visit dusty university library stack rooms, while the taxonomic and checklist databases provide instant information on millions of living species. In principle, the whole world can now find out about anything, even if Douglas Adams warned we might be disinclined to do so.

This is why I like Wikipedia, with all its warts, it’s a means of organising the knowledge on the internet. In just two decades it’s become a first stop for knowledge and hopefully a gateway to more specialised sources. Perhaps developing this latter aspect, beyond providing good sources for what we say, is the next challenge for Wikipedia.

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Enwebb (talk) 19:40, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

June/July 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

June and July 2020—Issue 015


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Canada lynx by Sainsf
Gigantorhynchus by Mattximus
Leech by LittleJerry, Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth
Orangutan by LittleJerry
Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber
Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek
Bat virome by Enwebb, reviewed by Chidgk1
Doedicurus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm
Dwarf dog-faced bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77
Echinodon by IJReid, reviewed by JurassicClassic767
Edvard August Vainio by Esculenta, reviewed by ChiswickCahp
Hammer-headed bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Homo rudolfensis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by JurassicClassic767
Nina Demme by SusunW, reviewed by Enwebb
Northern crested newt by Tylototriton, reviewed by Enwebb
Pterodactylus by JurassicClassic767, reviewed by ChiswickCahp
Zebra by LittleJerry, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77

Newly nominated content

Horseshoe bat by Enwebb
Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared
Zebra by LittleJerry
Australopithecus afarensis by Dunkleosteus77
Australopithecus africanus by Dunkleosteus77
Australopithecus bahrelghazali by Dunkleosteus77
Australopithecus deyiremeda by Dunkleosteus77
Australopithecus sediba by Dunkleosteus77
Bonelli's eagle by Sandhillcrane
Great flying fox by Enwebb
Homo habilis by Dunkleosteus77
Markham's storm petrel by Therapyisgood
Ornithocheiridae by JurassicClassic767
Paranthropus aethiopicus by Dunkleosteus77
Paranthropus boisei by Dunkleosteus77
Paranthropus robustus by Dunkleosteus77
Tatenectes by Slate Weasel

Discuss this issue

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Delivered on behalf of Enwebb (talk) 16:33, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

August 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

September 2021—Issue 016


Tree of Life


Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Newly recognized content

Horseshoe bat by Enwebb
Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared
Australopithecus sediba by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack
Homo habilis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Enwebb
Tatenectes by Slate Weasel, reviewed by FunkMonk

Newly nominated content

Black-and-red broadbill by AryKun
Turtle by LittleJerry
Symphyotrichum lateriflorum by Eewilson
Dracophyllum fiordense by Dracophyllum
Scarlet-and-white tanager by AryKun Viatkogorgon by FunkMonk Punctelia borreri by Esculenta Chivi vireo by AryKun Mountain kingfisher by AryKun Kererū by Ambrosia10

Discuss this issue

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Delivered on behalf of Enwebb (talk) 17:10, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

2020 WikiCup

Welcome to the 2020 WikiCup!

Happy New Year, Happy New Decade and Happy New WikiCup! The competition has begun and all article creators, expanders and improvers are welcome to take part. If you have already signed up, your submissions page can be found here. If you have not yet signed up, you can add your name here and the judges will set up your submissions page. We are relaxing the rule that only content on which you have completed significant work during 2020 will count; now to be eligible for points in the competition, you must have completed significant work on the content at some time! Any questions on the rules or on anything else connected to the Cup should be directed to one of the judges, or posted to the WikiCup talk page. Signups will close at the end of January, and the first round will end on 26 February; the 64 highest scorers at that time will move on to round 2. Good luck! The judges for the WikiCup are Sturmvogel 66 (talk · contribs · email), Godot13 (talk · contribs · email), Vanamonde93 (talk · contribs · email) and Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:20, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup 2020 March newsletter

And so ends the first round of the competition. Everyone with a positive score moves on to Round 2, with 57 contestants qualifying. We have abolished the groups this year, so to qualify for Round 3 you will need to finish Round 2 among the top thirty-two contestants.

Our top scorers in Round 1 were:

These contestants, like all the others, now have to start scoring points again from scratch. In Round 1 there were four featured articles, one featured list and two featured pictures, as well as around two hundred DYKs and twenty-seven ITNs. Between them, contestants completed 127 good article reviews, nearly a hundred more than the 43 good articles they claimed for, thus making a substantial dent in the review backlog. Contestants also claimed for 40 featured article / featured list reviews, and most even remembered to mention their WikiCup participation in their reviews (a requirement).

Remember that any content promoted after the end of Round 1 but before the start of Round 2 can be claimed in Round 2. Some contestants made claims before the new submissions pages were set up, and they will need to resubmit them. Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. Remember, if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews.

If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Godot13 (talk), Sturmvogel 66 (talk), Vanamonde (talk) and Cwmhiraeth (talk). MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:47, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup newsletter correction

There was an error in the WikiCup 2020 March newsletter; L293D should not have been included in the list of top ten scorers in Round 1 (they led the list last year), instead, Dunkleosteus77 should have been included, having garnered 334 points from five good articles on animals, living or extinct, and various reviews. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:30, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup 2020 May newsletter

The second round of the 2020 WikiCup has now finished. It was a high-scoring round and contestants needed 75 points to advance to round 3. There were some very impressive efforts in round 2, with the top ten contestants all scoring more than 500 points. A large number of the points came from the 12 featured articles and the 186 good articles achieved in total by contestants, and the 355 good article reviews they performed; the GAN backlog drive and the stay-at-home imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic may have been partially responsible for these impressive figures.

Our top scorers in round 2 were:

The rules for featured article reviews have been adjusted; reviews may cover three aspects of the article, content, images and sources, and contestants may receive points for each of these three types of review. Please also remember the requirement to mention the WikiCup when undertaking an FAR for which you intend to claim points. Remember also that DYKs cannot be claimed until they have appeared on the main page. As we enter the third round, any content promoted after the end of round 2 but before the start of round 3 can be claimed now, and anything you forgot to claim in round 2 cannot! Remember too, that you must claim your points within 14 days of "earning" them. When doing GARs, please make sure that you check that all the GA criteria are fully met.

If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article nominations, a featured process, or anything else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews Needed (remember to remove your listing when no longer required). Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove your name from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Godot13 (talk), Sturmvogel 66 (talk), Vanamonde (talk) and Cwmhiraeth. - MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:44, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup 2020 July newsletter

The third round of the 2020 WikiCup has now come to an end. The 16 users who made it into the fourth round each had at least 353 points (compared to 68 in 2019). It was a highly competitive round, and a number of contestants were eliminated who would have moved on in earlier years. Our top scorers in round 3 were:

Between them, contestants managed 14 featured articles, 9 featured lists, 3 featured pictures, 152 good articles, 136 DYK entries, 55 ITN entries, 65 featured article candidate reviews and 221 good article reviews. Additionally, MPJ-DK added 3 items to featured topics and 44 to good topics. Over the course of the competition, contestants have completed 710 good article reviews, in comparison to 387 good articles submitted for review and promoted. These large numbers are probably linked to a GAN backlog drive in April and May, and the changed patterns of editing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter the fourth round, remember that any content promoted after the end of round 3 but before the start of round 4 can be claimed in round 4. Please also remember that you must claim your points within 14 days of "earning" them. When doing GARs, please make sure that you check that all the GA criteria are fully met. Please also remember that all submissions must meet core Wikipedia policies, regardless of the review process.

If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article nominations, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews Needed (remember to remove your listing when no longer required). Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove your name from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Godot13 (talk), Sturmvogel 66 (talk), Vanamonde (talk), Cwmhiraeth (talk) MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:34, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup 2020 September newsletter

The fourth round of the competition has finished, with 865 points being required to qualify for the final round, nearly twice as many points as last year. It was a hotly competitive round with two contestants with 598 and 605 points being eliminated, and all but two of the contestants who reached the final round having achieved an FA during the round. The highest scorers were

Between them, contestants achieved 14 featured articles, 14 featured lists, 2 featured pictures, 87 good articles, 90 DYK entries, 75 ITN entries, 95 featured article candidate reviews and 81 good article reviews. Congratulations to all who participated! It was a generally high-scoring and productive round and I think we can expect a highly competitive finish to the competition.

Remember that any content promoted after the end of round 4 but before the start of round 5 can be claimed in round 5. Remember too that you must claim your points within 10 days of "earning" them. If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. It would be helpful if this list could be cleared of any items no longer relevant. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Godot13 (talk), Sturmvogel 66 (talk), Vanamonde (talk), Cwmhiraeth (talk) MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:53, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

WikiCup 2020 November newsletter

The 2020 WikiCup has come to an end, with the final round going down to the wire. Our new Champion is Lee Vilenski (submissions), the runner-up last year, who was closely followed by Gog the Mild (submissions). In the final round, Lee achieved 4 FAs and 30 GAs, mostly on cue sport topics, while Gog achieved 3 FAs and 15 GAs, mostly on important battles and wars, which earned him a high number of bonus points. The Rambling Man (submissions) was in third place with 4 FAs and 8 GAs on football topics, with Epicgenius (submissions) close behind with 19 GAs and 16 DYK's, his interest being the buildings of New York.

The other finalists were Hog Farm (submissions), HaEr48 (submissions), Harrias (submissions) and Bloom6132 (submissions). The final round was very productive, and besides 15 FAs, contestants achieved 75 FAC reviews, 88 GAs and 108 GAN reviews. Altogether, Wikipedia has benefited greatly from the activities of WikiCup competitors all through the contest. Well done everyone!

All those who reached the final will receive awards and the following special awards will be made, based on high performance in particular areas of content creation. So that the finalists do not have an undue advantage, these prizes are awarded to the competitor who scored the highest in any particular field in a single round, or in the event of a tie, to the overall leader in this field.

Next year's competition will begin on 1 January. You are invited to sign up to participate; the WikiCup is open to all Wikipedians, both novices and experienced editors, and we hope to see you all in the 2021 competition. Until then, it only remains to once again congratulate our worthy winners, and thank all participants for their involvement! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. Godot13, Sturmvogel 66, Vanamonde and Cwmhiraeth MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:38, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:The Far Meridian

Hello, Starsandwhales. It has been over six months since you last edited the Articles for Creation submission or Draft page you started, "The Far Meridian".

In accordance with our policy that Wikipedia is not for the indefinite hosting of material deemed unsuitable for the encyclopedia mainspace, the draft has been deleted. If you plan on working on it further and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion by following the instructions at this link. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thanks for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing. kingboyk (talk) 10:24, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

April–May 2020 GAN Backlog Drive

Harrias talk 06:53, 31 March 2020 (UTC)


April 2020

There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved.

This is just a courtesy message to let you know that you have been mentioned at ANI. This has nothing to do with your conduct. CassiantoTalk 17:00, 28 April 2020 (UTC)


April–May 2020 GAN Backlog drive

The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
Thank you for completing 5 reviews in the April–May 2020 GAN Backlog drive. Your work helped us to reduce the backlog by over 60%. Regards, Harrias talk 08:37, 11 July 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Night Vale Presents

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Night Vale Presents you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Babegriev -- Babegriev (talk) 14:42, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Night Vale Presents

The article Night Vale Presents you nominated as a good article has failed ; see Talk:Night Vale Presents for reasons why the nomination failed. If or when these points have been taken care of, you may apply for a new nomination of the article. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Babegriev -- Babegriev (talk) 15:42, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:Glossary of herpetology

Hello, Starsandwhales. It has been over six months since you last edited the Articles for Creation submission or Draft page you started, "Glossary of herpetology".

In accordance with our policy that Wikipedia is not for the indefinite hosting of material deemed unsuitable for the encyclopedia mainspace, the draft has been deleted. If you plan on working on it further and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion by following the instructions at this link. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thanks for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing. Liz Read! Talk! 23:11, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

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