Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Newsletter/006

File:Tree of life by Haeckel.jpg

;{{big|September 2019—Issue 006}}

;{{huge|Tree of Life}}

;Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

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|+Newly recognized content

{{icon|FA}} Kosmoceratops by {{noping|FunkMonk}}

{{icon|FA}} Onychopterella by {{noping|Super Dromaeosaurus}}

{{icon|FA}} Western yellow robin by {{noping|Casliber}}

{{icon|GA}} Western yellow robin by {{noping|Casliber}}, reviewed by {{noping|Josh Milburn}}

{{icon|GA}} Apororhynchus by {{noping|Mattximus}}, reviewed by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}}

{{icon|GA}} Pekarangan by {{noping|Dhio-270599}}, reviewed by {{noping|Cerebellum}}

{{icon|GA}} Fritillaria by {{noping|Michael Goodyear}}, reviewed by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}}

{{icon|GA}} Embioptera by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}} and {{noping|Cwmhiraeth}}, reviewed by {{noping|Vanamonde93}}

{{icon|GA}} Durio graveolens by {{noping|NessieVL}}, reviewed by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}

{{icon|GA}} Big brown bat by {{noping|Enwebb}} and {{noping|Gen. Quon}}, reviewed by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}

{{icon|GA}} King brown snake by {{noping|Casliber}}, reviewed by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}

{{icon|GA}} Staffordshire Bull Terrier by {{noping|Atsme}}, reviewed by {{noping|FunkMonk}}

{{icon|GA}} Ambush predator by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}}, reviewed by {{noping|Enwebb}}

{{icon|GA}} Belemnitida by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}, reviewed by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}}

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|+Newly nominated content

{{icon|FAC}} Apororhynchus by {{noping|Mattximus}}

{{icon|FAC}} Meinhard Michael Moser by {{noping|J Milburn}}

{{icon|FAC}} St. Croix macaw by {{noping|FunkMonk}}

{{icon|GAN}} Paleocene by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}

{{icon|GAN}} Orcinus meyeri by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}}

{{icon|GAN}} Snakefly by {{noping|Chiswick Chap}} and {{noping|Cwmhiraeth}}

{{icon|GAN}} Tricolored bat by {{noping|Enwebb}}

{{icon|GAN}} Halloween darter by {{noping|Enwebb}}

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| style="text-align:center;" | 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 {{noping|Casliber}} is in first place as of 1 October, and {{noping|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.

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| style="text-align:center;" | Welcoming WikiProject Diptera and Project Creation Trends

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

|content = {{ #invoke:Chart | bar chart

| height = 300

| width = 500

| stack = 1

| group 1 = 2 : 1 : 6 : 3 : 14 : 2 : 4 : 2 : 2 : 0 : 1 : 0 : 1 : 0 : 1 : 1 : 1 : 1

| group 2 = 0 : 1 : 1 : 0 : 6 : 4 : 3 : 0 : 1 : 3 : 0 : 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : 0 : 0 : 0

| colors = green : blue

| group names = Active : Others

| x legends = '02 : :'04 : :'06 : :'08 : :'10 : :'12 : :'14 : :'16 : :'18 :

}}

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 [https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/courses/Washington_University_in_St_Louis/Behavioral_Ecology_(Fall_2019) 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 {{noredirect|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".

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| style="text-align:center;" | September DYKs

{{main page image|image=Enischnomyia with Vetufebrus 1.jpg|caption=Enischnomyia fossil in {{nowrap|Dominican amber}}|width=120}}

{{main page image|image=Newtonia hildebrandtii00.jpg|caption=Lebombo wattle in the sand forest|width=x120}}

{{main page image|image=Betula leopoldae SRIC SR02-22-19.jpg|caption=Betula leopoldae {{nowrap|leaf fossil}}|width=120}}

{{main page image|image=Pholiota squarrosoides (4501590245).jpg|caption=Pholiota squarrosoides|width=180}}

{{main page image|image=SciurusIsabellaWolf.jpg|caption=Lady Burton's rope squirrel|width=133x150}}

{{main page image|image=Picking chili peppers from home garden, Indonesia (perspective-cropped).jpg|caption=A child picks chili peppers in an Indonesian home garden.|width=160|border=yes}}

... 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 {{convert|2.5|m/s|0|abbr=on}} 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)

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