User:JoeLoc/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Etmopteridae

This is an article on the order of sharks that my group and I will be doing our project on, Squaliformes.

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
More specifically, my group and I are evaluating the family Etmopteridae (lanternsharks). I have chosen to evaluate the order page because it contains more information than this more specific family name. Also, since our project will focus largely on the family Etmopteridae, I thought it might be important to obtain a solid background on the broader order.

Evaluate the article
Everything included in the article is relevant to the order Squaliformes, or more specifically, to family and genera of this order. There is no information included in the article that I found distracting or unnecessary. If anything, more information could definitely be added. For instance, there is only a brief discussion of evolutionary history in what appears to be the introduction to the article. However, evolutionary history could very well be a section of its own. Also, the article mentions the importance of bioluminescence in this order but fails to mention the chemical processes by which these organisms glow. In relation again to bioluminescence, there is only a very brief discussion of why it is so important within this order. The article appears to equally represent each family within this order. It also provides links to every genera for each family. The information seems to be relatively up to date, as the page was last edited on January 2nd, 2023. The primary issue with this Wiki page is its overall lack of information on evolution and bioluminescence in this order of sharks.

The article does not appear biased in any way and does not overrepresent or underrepresent particular viewpoints. In fact, the article focuses on a very niche and naturally neutral topic - a very rare order of deep-sea sharks. The links to all of the sources appear to work excellently. From what I can tell, all of the sources linked at the bottom of the article are utilized within the text. Five of the 18 sources are from FishBase - a very simplistic website that contains basic information on each genera and family of the order Squaliformes. However, the other 13 sources appear to be diverse and rich with information. The "talk" page for Squaliformes was last edited on September 15th, 2021. It seems very bare, with little activity. However, the article is part of WikiProject Fishes and WikiProject Sharks - collaborative efforts to improve the coverage of fishes and sharks, respectively.

Something that the article does very well is its use of images. The article includes general images of every genera of shark in the order Squaliformes. This allows the reader to get a feel for the differences amongst these very similar sharks. All of the images included in the article are properly linked and cited. Overall, the article is written very well. The writing is concise, understandable, and advanced. However, as stated above, it could use a significant boost in evolutionary information. I would say that in its current state, the article is underdeveloped and much more information can be added. It is not, however, poorly developed.