User:Kingkl/sandbox

Adding to a new to the article in Monophyly
Goal: Add 1-2 sentences and cite that statement to a reliable source, as you learned in the online training

Monophyly - Expanding the definition section of that paper to be more informative of what a Monophyly is. Using an article that defines how a monophyly fails to relate all organisms. Adding this information helped with clarifying the originals authors definition section of the article. It explains more into how the loose concept of monophyly can misconstrue the use of monophyly.

My edit: The loose definition also fails to recognize the relations of all organisms.

Dissection Specimen Proposals
Of the nine specimens available, they three I would be most interested are
 * 1) Amphiuma, I am fascinated by the reasoning behind their very small vestigial arms. Three possible pages/topics I could edit could be: Amphiuma, the information could be added into the exact species, and more general findings could also be added to the other, links for there three are: Amphiuma tridactylum, Two-toed amphiuma, and Amphiuma pholeter.
 * 2) Stingray, I am interested in how the jaw of the Stingray got it's shape and the use of it to eat prey. Topics/pages I could edit are: Stingray, Skate (fish) the comparison information, and depending on the species also edit in that Common stingray.
 * 3) Moray eel, the use of their jaw intrigues me with the large spread that it can make. Possible pages/topics I could edit include: Moray eel, Pharyngeal jaw, and specific species article

brainstorming for Amphiuma group individual
Topic: the vestigial arm of the Amphiuma and whether it has a purpose and function for the Amphiuma. Looking into the possible at possible benefits or disadvantage of having the arms. Why, in the process of evolution, they did not grow out or whether they are a stepping stone to the Amphiuma moving onto terrestrial environments, but has not fully developed yet. Possible articles and books of interest to use as sources include: "Sexual Dimorphism in the Three-toed Amphiuma, Amphiuma tridactylum: Sexual Selection or Ecological Causes" by Clifford L. Fontenot Jr. and Richard A. Seige. This may contain information helpful between the three topics of our group. It gives insight into research data collected on the head size versus body size in male Amphiuma. Two books of interest, containing general information on Amphiumas are: Herpetology (Fourth Edition): An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles by Laurie J. Vitt and Janalee P. Caldwell and The Teeth of Non-Mammalian Vertebrates by Barry Berkovitz. Both of these books have a section that specifically talks about Amphiumas as well at the two and three-toed Amphiumas. Berkovitz's book focuses on the teeth and jaw structure, which may be of interest as another topic on Amphiuma and a possible connection to other traits and body parts of the Amphiuma. Vitt and Caldwell's book hs a chapter focused on Amphibians, and a section of that, that is specifically about Amphiuma, their distribution and characteristics

Group draft on: User:Kuponya/sandbox

Draft 1 for dissection group - individual
Section would edit/add: Current plans: Draft:
 * Jaw
 * There is little information provided on Wikipedia on these structures in Amphiuma. The information would most likely go into the Amphiuma page. Sources I have looked into discuss the jaw more generally from Amphiuma and tie it to sexual dimorphism, which another group member is working on.
 * Possible imagery would be of the jaw musculature and skeletal characteristics. This would give the ability to show/explain important features and functions in the jaw of our animal.

Amphiuma are primarily carnivorous amphibians that consume crayfish, insects, and other small vertebrates. Similar to many salamanders, the Amphiuma has two distinct forms of suction feeding procedures: stationary and strike. This gives them the ability to feed on living or dead food sources. Amphiuma's ability to displace its jaw to feed means they can consume a large variety of organisms. But Amphiuma's narrow jaw makes it harder for them to fully consume large prey such as crayfish or mice. In these cases, they will use one of the forms of suction feeding and then rip the prey into pieces until fully consumed. Small prey will be pulled completely into the mouth before being eaten. Structure of the teeth within the jaw tend to be arched caudal on the head.
 * Jaw in males tend to be larger than in females, which applies to sexual dimorphism and may be brought up in either or both sections.

All draft sections located: User:Kuponya/sandbox

Peer Reviewing
Groups: User:Anāhitā/sandbox for Moray Eel, and User:Bazinga2018/sandbox pigeon
 * 1) Neutral content
 * 2) Reliable sources
 * 3) Clear structure:
 * 4) Integration: Does anything link up with something you or your team is working on? How can you help each other?
 * 5) As you review,copy edit the material and make spelling, grammar, and other suggestions.

Review 1: Moray Eel
Evolutionary History section: Good information and references, the two paragraphs talk about different topics and it is confusing to read. What is the purpose of Pleomerism to the evolutionary history, could use a bit of and introduction into that rather than just a definition. Add any images to connect/differentiate the two subspecies of eels?

Pharyngeal section: The section was written well, the addition of how the jaw and teeth allows for biting rather than suctioning was very informative. You don't have any sources marked in your draft, did you use any in this section? Could add image of the jaw structure from dissection?

Habitat: Very interesting information provided in this section, it is well written and explains the important points in the Moray Eel habitats. Suggestions to add, you gave an example of the freshwater eel, could add an example or two of the saltwater (temperate and tropical) eels? Will the images only be of the habitat, or with eels in them?

Overall, you addition to the Moray Eel page is looking good so far. Possible ideas moving forward I saw include images for the first two sections in your draft, and some clarification on the definition and introduction into them.

Review 2: Pigeon
Neck section: The direction is good, you have a great draft and well organized process of what you want to add. I would recommend adding more into your draft that explains the importance in the function of the vertebrates.

Wing/flight section: This was a good start, laying out the framework of what you wanted to talk about. You have a lot of information to talk about for the mechanisms of flight. How do you plan on talking about all of them? will it be evenly spread out? I liked the idea of using dissection to show the details, I think it will be very helpful for individuals who look at the page.

Vertebral column section: I do not see a section for the draft of the third member of the group, for vertebral column. Not everyone had contributed to the draft section.

Overall, your section additions look good and will be helpful in the Pigeon page(s). I would recommend that just solidifying some of the sections you want to talk about and add in why the mechanism and function is of importance to the organism.

Peer Review Responses
Through the peer reviews from fellow students, there are a few changes/additions I am going to think about adding and discuss with my group mates.


 * Defining the difference between strike and stationary mechanisms of feeding.
 * Work on contributing what I can to sexual dimorphism with the information on the jaw. I won't be able to get my hands on a male and female, so I will look into research about the jaw sizes in male and female Amphiuma and if there are images available with the jaws of both males and females.
 * There was a mention on the evolutionary relatedness of the features, I don't know if this will be able to be applied to what my group is thinking about doing with our information. Also, there isn't too much information on this, therefore I may not add more into this currently.

In summary, I will be researching and looking into more information about differences in jaws between males and females and finding pictures or diagrams that I could possibly use. I will also be adding a bit more information that defines the difference between the two feeding mechanisms of Amphiuma. Finally, I may try to look into the evolutionary relatedness, but it will be the last part I will be looking at.

Draft 2
Amphiuma are primarily carnivorous amphibians that consume crayfish, insects, and other small vertebrates. Similar to many salamanders, the Amphiuma has two distinct forms of suction feeding procedures: stationary and strike. Stationary being when the Amphiuma stays in one place and opens its jaw and sucks in prey and strike being when the Amphiuma attacks by lunging and grabbing its prey. This gives them the ability to feed on living or dead food sources. Amphiuma's ability to displace its jaw to feed means they can consume a large variety of organisms. But Amphiuma's narrow jaw makes it harder for them to fully consume large prey such as crayfish or mice. In these cases, they will use one of the forms of suction feeding and then rip the prey into pieces until fully consumed. Small prey will be pulled completely into the mouth before being eaten. Structure of the teeth within the jaw tend to be arched caudal on the head.


 * Still working on pictures and more information that may add from peer review

Illustrated Image (rough draft)
I have started labeling the muscles of the Amphiuma jaw using the musculature of the Mudpuppy as a basis. I will be editing and adding to this as we continue dissecting our animal. I am currently using an anatomy book for the Necturus (Mudpuppy).

Draft 3
Amphiuma are primarily carnivorous amphibians that consume crayfish, insects, and other small vertebrates. Similar to many salamanders, the Amphiuma has two distinct forms of suction feeding procedures: stationary and strike. Stationary suction feeding involve little to no movement where it opens it the mouth with buccal expansion but no forward movement of the body. strike suction is rapid motion where the mouth opens and buccal expansion occurs synchronously leading to a quick attack. These two feeding habits give the Amphiuma the ability to have a larger variety of food (live or dead). Amphiuma's ability to displace its jaw to feed means they can consume a large variety of organisms as well. But Amphiuma's narrow jaw makes it harder for them to fully consume large prey such as crayfish or mice. In these cases, they will use one of the forms of suction feeding and then rip the prey into pieces until fully consumed. Small prey will be pulled completely into the mouth before being eaten. Structure of the teeth within the jaw tend to be arched caudal on the head. The muscles of the jaw give them the ability to grab and hold on to prey as well as create a negative pressure to suck in the prey and displace the jaw. Muscles of note in the Amphiuma are the Levator Mandibulae anterior and Levator Mandibulae Externus which elevate the lower jaw of the Amphiuma while the depressor Mandibulae depresses the lower jaw. The intermandubularis works by tensing the mouth floor and finally the branchiohyoideus draws the hyoid arch which causes the suction and dissplacement.

Final Image for Amphiuma
Relabeled image of Amphiuma muscles for the jaw from dissection. Will be my final image for this project with the corrections and additions professor gave me.

Continued improvement of article
Group is beginning to move sentences into Amphiuma page. We are going sentence by sentence to make sure the links do not get affected as they have by working on each other pages.