User:FloppingFish/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
(Provide a link to the article here.) Article - Siphonophorae

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I chose this article because I am quite interested in siphonophores and may be researching one in my semester project. Siphonophorae matters because it is a very unique order in marine life since the species in it (over 170) are colonies of zooids (polyps and medusoids) which often coalesce into beautiful, long tendril-looking shapes. My preliminary impression of the article was that it was very well put together and the picture on the heading (which showed several siphonophores) was very beautiful and made me want to read more about siphonophores.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Lead Section - The first sentence clearly defines the taxonomic definition of Siphonophorae and the subsequent paragraph gives accurate insight on what they actually are. It is concise and gets to the point while also piquing interest.

Content - The content was well-organized and all relevant to the topic. Also the content is up-to-date as most of the articles cited are in the last decade or so.

Tone and Balance - The article is written in neutral form and there is no issue with under/over-representation of views since it is a relatively straightforward topic.

Sources and References - The links do work well and show that the sources are current and represent a diverse spectrum of authors. As mentioned above the sources are current and up-to-date and I don't think any additional sources are needed.

Organization and writing quality - The article is grammatically correct and easy to read.

Images and Media - The images are very well-placed, follow copyright laws, and are relevant to the topic. The pictures help the reader visualize a very complicated organism.

Talk Page Discussion - It was interesting to see the Talk page as this specific article was involved with two course assignments (potentially former BC students) and showed the dialogue between certain authors in regards to what they wanted to see added to the article and also criticisms of certain aspects of the article. This article talks more about new sources and species sightings than how we would probably discuss this topic in class. This article is part of two Wiki Projects (Wiki Animals and Wiki Marine Life).

Overall impressions - The status of the article is level 5-vital in Biology, Animals. It calls for improvement if possible. Personally, I think the article is very strong in every aspect. It mentions the discovery history of Siphonophores, describes their bioluminescence, reproduction, feeding patterns, etc. So much information is on the article but the sub-headings make it easier to navigate so that if you only came for a certain thing you can easily find it. I genuinely don't know what else could improve this article, perhaps a couple more pictures (although they are rare and perhaps some are copyrighted) but that's not really necessary. In conclusion, this is a very well-developed article.