Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Newsletter/008
File:Tree of life by Haeckel.jpg
{{shortcut|WP:TOLN}}
;{{big|November 2019—Issue 008}}
;{{huge|Tree of Life}}
;Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
{{clear}}
class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table; width: 56%;"
|+Newly recognized content |
{{icon|FA}} King brown snake by {{noping|Casliber}} {{icon|FL}} List of canids by {{noping|PresN}} {{icon|GA}} Tricolored bat by {{noping|Enwebb}}, reviewed by {{noping|Cwmhiraeth}} {{icon|GA}} Alopias palatasi by {{noping|Macrophyseter}}, reviewed by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} {{icon|GA}} Deep biosphere by {{noping|RockMagnetist (DCO visiting scholar)}}, reviewed by {{noping|Jens Lallensack}} |
class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table; width: 42%;"
|+Newly nominated content |
{{icon|FAC}} Eastern green mamba by {{noping|Casliber}} {{icon|FAC}} A History of the Birds of Europe by {{noping|Jimfbleak}} {{icon|GAN}} Anastrepha ludens by {{noping|OstapKukhar}} {{icon|GAN}} Castorocauda by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} {{icon|GAN}} Aedes taeniorhynchus by {{noping|XuLily}} {{icon|GAN}} Drosophila silvestris by {{noping|Mmhua}} {{icon|GAN}} Dryopithecus by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} {{icon|GAN}} Christmas Island flying fox by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} {{icon|GAN}} Christmas imperial pigeon by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} {{icon|GAN}} Drosophila subobscura by {{noping|Andrewoh29}} {{icon|GAN}} Ceratitis capitata by {{noping|Nikhilaggarwal123}} {{icon|GAN}} Woolly rhinoceros by {{noping|Thylacinus cynocephalus}} {{icon|GAN}} Ooedigera by {{noping|Dunkleosteus77}} |
role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%; background:#b6ecd0;"
| style="text-align:center;" | News at a Glance |
*The [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Science_Competition_2019 Wiki Science Competition] has begun on Wikimedia Commons. Several flora and fauna images have already been uploaded (the image at left is my current favorite).
{{gallery |align=center |width=160 |File:Веслоногие ракообразные разных видов.jpg|Several copepod species |File:Jeleń szlachetny (Cervus elaphus) 3.jpg|Red deer |File:Teucrium polium kz05.jpg|Teucrium polium |File:AntBridge Crossing 10.jpg|Ants cross chasm via body bridge |File:Sarus Crane Duet.jpg|Sarus crane duet }}
|
role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%; background:#b6ecd0;"
| style="text-align:center;" | Class is in Session in the Tree of Life |
In an interesting turn of events, this month's guest column is by my alter-ego, {{noping|Elysia (Wiki Ed)}}:
{{div col}}
{{div col end}} What is the impact of student editors in Tree of Life? File:Editing Wikipedia articles on Species (Wiki Ed).pdf Altogether, these 16 courses have 347 student participants. As the end of the semester hasn't come yet, these numbers are still growing, but these students have:
Some of our best student work this semester (of any kind, not just biodiversity) has come from {{noping|Agelaia}}'s Behavioural Ecology course—you may remember this as the course that created WikiProject Diptera. The students have several Good Article nominations, including Dryomyza anilis, Anastrepha ludens, Aedes taeniorhynchus, Drosophila silvestris, Drosophila subobscura, and Ceratitis capitata. And while long-term participation from students is low, there's always the chance that we'll discover a Wikipedian. I had never edited before my Wikipedia assignment in 2017 and I'm still here nearly 20,000 edits later! After I poked around in the beginning of the semester, I had the realization that not many people write Wikipedia, and very few of those have a special interest in bats. If I didn't stick around to write the content, there was no guarantee that it would ever get done. Why are species articles suitable for students? Writing about taxonomic groups is a great fit for students, as it keeps them away from areas where new editors traditionally struggle. The notability policy is generous towards taxa, and there is little danger of a student's work getting removed for lack of notability; this is to be expected when students write biographies. Students may struggle with encyclopedic tone for biographies and stray towards promotional writing, but this is much less common when writing about a shrew or algae! Additionally, we're never going to run out of species to write about. Students have a bounty of stubs and redlinks to pick from. Creating a new article or expanding an existing one also takes a fairly predictable structure, with plenty of articles that students can model after. Don't students just create messes for volunteers to clean up? Our sincere hope is that, no, they don't, and we take several steps to try to minimize the burden on volunteer labor. With automatic plagiarism detection, alerts when students edit a Good or Featured Article, and notifications when students edit an article subject to discretionary sanctions, we try to stay ahead of problems as much as possible. We also review all student work at the end of each term. Ian, Shalor, and I are always happy to receive pings alerting us to student issues that need to be addressed. |
role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%; background:#b6ecd0"
| style="text-align:center;" | November DYKs |
{{main page image|image=Parotomys Brantsii 1849cr.jpg|caption=Brants's whistling rat|width=140}} {{main page image|image=Black-capped Tanager (f) JCB (cropped and mirrored).jpg|caption=Female black-capped tanager|width=x120}}
|
{{icon|Project}} 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.