User:Pixels3587/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Caudal luring

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
After reviewing several articles related to animal behaviour, caudal luring was one of few that was an interesting concept, yet little information was readily available on Wikipedia. Caudal luring is a form of aggressive mimicry performed by predators to attract prey. It is primarily performed by snakes or other species with long, flexible appendages to the torso which can mimic small prey. Caudal luring opens insight into predator-prey interactions and aggressive mimicry; a form of mimicry whereby the predator obscures its identity to lure the prey. Caudal luring is a form of animal behaviour and is reported as a C-class article on Wikipedia, and as for has potential to be developed further.

Evaluate the article
A topic of interest in animal behaviour, that further analyzes predator-prey interactions and the use of aggressive mimicry. The article provides an adequate introduction in the act of caudal luring and primary information that follows, such as how it is performed and animals that use said technique. The second paragraph in the lead relating to the history of such behaviour is not relevant to the introduction of caudal luring, it would fit better into the section of "Evolution". I would suggest dividing the "Snake" section into specie sub-sections after briefly introducing the base information as there are several species of snakes which use such technique, some of which have distinctive methods or ambush techniques. Possible inclusions to this section could include: spider-tailed horned viper, southern death-adder, and green tree python. Another suggestion is to include a sub-section in "Evolution" proposing the controversial theory behind caudal luring. There is continuous debate between distinguishing the difference between luring of prey and other explanations such as defence or communication with mates. In addition to this, information referring to the dusky pygmy rattlesnake could be added; a species which uses its tail for both luring and defence. The section relating to "Mimicry" could be more developed, this will be evaluated in the following paragraph.

A neutral tone is maintained throughout the article and no apparent position is implied. However, there is an overrepresentation of information relating to snakes in comparison to the other species that use the method of caudal luring. Although snakes are the primary species which present such behaviour, it is apparent in other species and more information could be provided in this section. Also, there is an imbalance between the two following sections in the article: "Mimicry" and "Species". Additional material could be added to "Mimicry", specifically regarding "aggressive mimicry". Information concerning the reasons behind mimicry (food, sex, intimidation, etc.), advantages and disadvantages to the species, and other examples of behaviours used to mimic species could further support this section.

Majority of the information present in the article is cited from reputable academic and peer-reviewed publications, however gaps in sourcing are evident in the second paragraph of the lead. The informed material found within the second paragraph is implausible as it is referring to a "study" and "researchers", although no specific study is mentioned and there is no citation supporting said claim. The article includes a well-developed reference section which correlates to the citations provided in the article. Additionally, it would be beneficial to obtain newer research related to caudal luring as majority of the sources used were published before the 21st century, and no articles used were published in the last six years.

Discussion among Wikipedia editors is limited in Caudal luring. An interesting idea regarding the different snake species which use caudal luring was mentioned in the Talk page, they suggested creating a separate page including all 50 species that use caudal luring. As this idea held potential, I recommended creating sub-sections within the "Species" section of the article including snake species that use distinctive methods in caudal luring. This was previously mentioned above. The article is rated C-class at a low importance and is involved in three WikiProjects; WikiProject Animals, WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles, and WikiProject Ecology.

The article has solely one visual representation of caudal luring that does not demonstrate this aggressive mimicry technique accurately. Since this act is somewhat difficult to depict in an image, I propose the addition of a video to improve the understanding of the concept.