User:JWilgs/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Hydra (genus)

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
As a marine bio. student, these guys kind of stood out on the possible topics page to me as they are something I'm a fair more familiar with. Hydras are a large and iconic genus to the hydrozoan class. Additionally, hydras do not seem to suffer from any aging effects, and may yield life extending techniques for future medical practices. Upon my first read through the article seems well written.

Evaluate the article
The lead section is nice, short, and easy to follow. It adequately introduces readers to hydras. While it doesn't forecast every segment to come in the article, it does draw attention to one of the more peculiar facts of the genus and why many studies are done on them (their non-senescence). One issue that I have though with the lead in is that it states they are "a genus of small, fresh-water organisms". There is no immediate citation after this statement to support this claim. Looking into it I found that while most species are found in freshwater, Cordylophora lacustris has been found in brackish water (http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=151742).

Other than that slight hiccup, I must say this page checks all the boxes fairly well. This page has been updated fairly recently, having its content kept up to date. All of the posted material is relevant. A neutral tone was maintained throughout, with no biased information present. Each section seems to be fairly equal in length to one another or in proportion to their importance. The organization made sense, starting with the morphology and characteristics of hydras shared with many other animals, building up to the more unique traits of the genus. Images were used in adequate amounts to effectively illustrate some of the processes/traits described.