User:Maddiet37/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Striped bark scorpion

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because it appeared interesting and is a similar species to the invertebrate that I would like to focus on for the class project. It matters because it's related to this course and fits the required topic (of being about an invertebrate species). My preliminary impression was that the article had some of the general information of striped bark scorpions, including their appearance, habitat/range, behavior, and human significance.

Evaluate the article
The lead section of the article is very short and to the point. It focuses on the fact that the striped bark scorpion is widespread throughout a portion of the U.S. and Mexico, claiming to potentially be the most common scorpion in the U.S. It does not mention any of the other sections included in the article. The range of the striped bark scorpion is mentioned in the article further down, causing the lead section to not include anything that isn't spoken about later on.

The content itself appears to be adequate for an invertebrate species. It includes the distribution, habitat, appearance, behavior, and human significance in relation the the scorpion. It also includes photos and the scientific classification of the species. The content seems to be up to date, with the most recent edit being at the beginning of this year. There is no content that is outright missing and no content that doesn't belong.

The tone of the article is neutral and there is no bias in the writing. Even in the human interaction section, the scorpions are not negatively written about and instead it keeps a neutral tone.

The facts in the article are backed up by the cited sources. The links to these sources do work, but they appear to be literature written in the 1990s and early 2000s, making it a bit outdated. The most recent article cited was written in 2011, which is not exactly current. However, the information from these journal articles is still relevant. After doing a quick search for journal articles, it appears there are recent additions to the topic on the internet in an assortment of topics regarding the striped bark scorpion.

The article is organized and easy to read. It is concise, clear, and lacks grammatical errors.

There are two images of the appearance of the striped bark scorpion included in this article. The images are well captioned, enhance the article by showing the reader what their appearance is rather than just stating it, and adhere to the websites copyright regulations.

There is no existing talk page for this article. It is part of the Arthropods WikiProject. The article has been rated as a Start-class on the content assessment scale and of Low-importance on the sites importance scale.

The articles overall status is that it supplies the basic knowledge about the species but does not delve much into too much detail. It allows for anyone interested in the striped bark scorpion to get a general idea of the species, where it can be found, and the effect it may have on humans. It may be useful for those who believe they may have been stung by one to be able to identify the species, to ensure they receive the proper medical care. For example, the Hentz Striped Scorpion does not have a Wikipedia page, so I personally had to resort to this article when looking for information after I had been stung. The article could be improved by including more recent citations and information that has been discovered by studies in the past 10 years. This includes studies on their venom, foraging habits, differences in sexual dimorphisms, etc. Having a range map as well may also be useful in this article. I'd say this article is decently developed, with some improvements that can be made to update it to the most recent information about the species. It is a good base article and gives a basic understanding of the striped bark scorpion to a reader with no prior knowledge.