User talk:Invertzoo/Archive 25

ARCHIVE PAGE 25: January 2010

Holidays template
Hi! Noticed an edit you made over a year ago. Though I'm sure you've grown older and wiser, I just thought I should tell you that about half the world does not experience the summer solstice in March but in December, and that Christmas scenes where I live are not so much this, but more this and this. :) Happy New Year! — what a crazy random happenstance 04:15, 1 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Heh, I'll try, but it's pouring rain here. Thirty degree plus days and thunderstorms for most of December, a very uncomfortable summer. No, people don't celebrate the solstice. Much of Australia is located between the Tropic of Capricorn and the equator, so the solstice wouldn't have been directly observable to the Aboriginal people and is thus not an indigenous part of the culture. The Europeans didn't bring it with them, did they bring it to America? Hmm, maybe the delay between the superstitious religious-conflict prone age in which America was settled and the Enlightenment age in which Australia was settled, or something along those lines. Or maybe the culture, Australians are far too laid back to get their knickers in a knot over something as alcohol-free as the sun. :) All the best in the new decade to you too. — what a crazy random happenstance 04:39, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Happy New Year
Dear Zoo,

Thanks for your Christmas & New Year's greetings. It's much appreciated.

I hope to drive down south to photograph a rare tree, and put that on my recent article. A tree this rare is hard to find without expert advice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illawarra_Socketwood

Lately I'm putting my old photos on Flickr, they are gaining some popular appeal. Such as this, http://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/4220082115/

On the internet, I've seldom come across anyone as virtuous and talented as you. You deserve all the awards you have received, and so much more.

best wishes, Peter Woodard

Stub Work at WikiProject Gastropods
Thanks for the warm welcome to WikiProject Gastropods. I'm interested in helping out in article assessments. Any particular alphabet letter I should work on? Looking at how the articles are assessed for importance, I assume that species are of low importance and genus are of mid importance, correct? Anything else I should be aware of? I'll try my best on taxonomy and look at Euglandina singleyana as an example. Thanks, ~Super Hamster  Talk Contribs 16:39, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Happy new Year!
Happy New Year, Susan! My very best wishes, today and always.

I've had a lot to deal with recently. I'll try and resume my editing asap. --Daniel Cavallari (talk) 16:56, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks
And thank you very much for the nice New Years greeting, I wish the same to you. ~Super Hamster  Talk Contribs 23:15, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Happy New Year
Hi Susan, a new year has begun and I certainly wish you and Ed the best for this new year. I've been working on Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. I guess some more facts remain to be discovered somewhere in a scientific paper, but these articles at least have already some content. Could you look at it and change whatever text is necessary ? And if you can lay your hand on the book "Lorenz, F.; D.Fehse (2009). The living Ovulidae - A manual of the families of allied cowries Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. pp. 650 pp." (perhaps in the library of MNH of New York), that would be a great help for these articles, as this book has become the new basis for the Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. The book itself is just too expensive for me (about 120 dollars). It would ruin me if I had to pay from my own pocket for every article or book I want to consult. Anyway, see what you can do. JoJan (talk) 22:33, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

just for fun


Thanks so much for your beautiful swan image and new year wishes -- here's an image I took and then started to scan into my computer... the scanner was having an off day and it produced this strange mixture, which though not particularly similar to the image I was scanning, is nevertheless a thing (I think) of beauty.

I hope serendipity will be a part of 2010!

with best wishes Seascapeza (talk) 05:24, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

list articles
Hi Invertzoo,

yes, Peter Southwood and I have been working on the marine molluscs list for some time now... our current problem, as you may have seen from the discussion page, is the sheer size of the thing. I am still in the beginning stages of adding species to the list from my references -- Peter started with the more general references he had and now I am involved with my more specialised ones, and the list is already up to 97kb, which is making it very difficult to edit. Do you have any thoughts on how best to split it?

best wishes Seascapeza (talk) 04:05, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

hi & thanks
Hi Zoo,

Thanks for updating my status on Wikipedia.

My article on the Illawarra Socketwood received 746 hits in the past two days. It's not been publicized by me, so I'm unsure why it's been such a popular site. As you would know, these arcane subjects in the natural world are usually ignored. On Monday I drove 90 minutes down to the Illawarra to photograph this plant. It's either endangered or critically endangered. My audacious outdoor self confidence was rewarded in finding a 3 metre tall Socketwood. Growing by a track but unmarked. How I found it in less than an hour is a miracle of observation!

These photos subsequently put on the Wikipedia article. I'm waiting for advice from the foremost expert on this subject as to where I can photograph a mature specimen. Of the 41 sites this plant occurs, only two are in National Parks or government reserves. He offered to send me photos, but I complained of the difficulty of putting other person's photos on Wikipedia.

Yesterday I (legally) collected seeds of my favourite plant, the Southern Sassafras. This time I took the train. To drive to Leura it usually takes 90 minutes, but the train was 3 hours.

Lately I've been diagnosed with a mild form of bipolar disorder. This affliction is common with gifted people, apparently. I'm not sure the diagnosis is correct. But I'm still fortunate to get outdoors and see some of the most wonderful places in the outdoor world.

kind wishes, Peter Woodard

AP bio Project
Even failures can be a learning experience. In this case we can only hope they learned: 1)Perform a thorough review of all available sources to ascertain whether the topic is one within your grasp. 2) Assimilate this knowledge internally BEFORE attempting to edit the article. 3)Work with the community, being very attentive to commentaries by providing quick and appropriate responses. 4)Procrastination is a very poor strategy on a project of this scope. 5)Communicate with your team so that the credit (blame) can be fairly distributed among the group. Of course these points will be summarized in class. I have exhausted my energies in encouraging / berating all of the groups to stay on top of this during our class sessions - even occasionally editing their selections. This one was problematic because it "appeared" almost instantly in a last minute effort to meet a deadline. The random copy/paste approach from a limited number of marginally related sources in hopes the information applied to this species created an article that was overwhelming inaccurate. My mistake was hoping they would edit that into something presentable. In hind sight - a complete revert to the stub and starting over would have been a more effective strategy. If a revert is in order - please inform - my knowledge on this specific shell is too limited to make the call. The class ends Monday. I have a printed copy on which I will base the grade. On the up side; there has been some very positive outcomes; even on some very challenging medical topics; hopefully overall Wikipedia is a better place for our brief foray. Cheers. --JimmyButler (talk) 02:39, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

GA nomination for Semicassis_granulata
'''EDIT: just realized that I slipped into a GA:review section without noting. The article was not listed as 'in review' [], thus the confusion. Just now it is shown to be in review. Please ignore the below comment /edit. HMallison (talk) 12:47, 15 January 2010 (UTC)'''

Let me first of all start with a huge thank you for all your work! I have used wiki a lot on invertebrates, and much of what has improved has cleary to do with your work. Please keep it up! I know the frustrations you feel from other work, too.

About the Semicassis_granulata, I must express my utter astonishment. Nice educational goal, but why oh why is the article listed as GA nominated when its state is... uhm...... you know? You've been fighting hard to get it on track, but this is certainly NOT a stage of development that warrants a nomination. It is possible for you to effect a withdrawal? I was tempted to review it, started reading the talk page and basically was even more tempted to quick fail it ASAP. HMallison (talk) 12:44, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I've completed the GA review. Problem solved.--JimmyButler (talk) 13:43, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Semicassis granulata
What will happen to the article when the experiment is over? Will you roll it back? Do you need my help? Sorry about the comment I put on Project Gastropod. I really was just trying to be encouraging. I didn't want to put it on the article's talk page. I wouldn't touch that thing with a ten-foot pole.

I think that the experience has been frustrating for you at times. You have been very brave. I am sorry to say, and please don't be mad at me, but the talk page had me laughing so hard tears were running down my face. I must say that I am a bit uncomfortable seeing the article in the public space as it is. Please let me know if I can help. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 16:20, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Day NYC
You are invited to celebrate Wikipedia Day and the 9th anniversary (!) of the founding of the site at Wikipedia Day NYC on Sunday January 24, 2010 at New York University; sign up for Wikipedia Day NYC here. Newcomers are very welcome! Bring your friends! This has been an automated delivery by BrownBot (talk) 00:50, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Cowry ID
Hi there. Can you confirm that is Dentiovula dosruosa? The caption reads: An ovulid species from Metinaro, East Timor. IDENTIFICATION: Dentiovula dosruosa by User:Nhobgood. here It can be next up for Micro. And thanks for working on that last one, by the way. Cheers. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 00:15, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

endangered? Mount Imlay Boronia
Hi Zoo,

In November I walked up Mount Imlay, to try to find my favourite plant at the southern gully falling from the Mount Imlay summit. There was a published report of it being there. To get to this remote rainforest was a long time goal of mine. I never thought I'd make it. As it happened the walk was fine. No Southern Sassafras found as I expected.

Curiously, two plants that grow near the summit are incredibly rare. The Mount Imlay Mallee is listed as critically endangered. But I was so exhausted after the climb, and descent into the rainforest, that I had no further energy to search for it.

Another rare plant was the Mount Imlay Boronia. A little shrub on the sandstone ridge. The mountain top was purple in the thousands and thousands of flowers. So I took a photo. Then wrote this article. Boronia imlayensis. There is no doubt in my mind that I photographed this rare plant. Previously I read about this boronia, and was prepared to search for it.

According to the government website, this plant is not listed as endangered. But it is apparently only found on this narrow strip on top of the mountain.

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Boronia~imlayensis

In my understanding, if a plant only occurs in one site. Then it ought to be listed as "endangered" or "critically endangered". I can't see any other listing on the internet to say it is rare. So, I took the liberty to state on my new Wiki article that it is "endangered". This is a presumption on my behalf.

My 20 year interest in this place was to find the rare rainforest at Mount Imlay, and to search for the Southern Sassafras. All went wonderfully well. But on the way I passed the Imlay Mallee and Imlay Boronia.

At the time I didn't particularly care about Eucalyptus and Boronia, as my first love is rainforest. Well, actually I do care and love them all. But my best love is the rainforests of New South Wales. Being near the Imlay Boronia and Imlay Mallee was a lucky extra.

When in outdoor mode, and I'm scrambling up mountains or sliding down ridges to get to seldom seen rainforest, it's hard to think as a scientist or a photographer. You just think of the physical goal, and try to find a way out. "Self preservation" is utmost in one's thinking.

If I ever get silly enough and fit enough to climb Mount Imlay again, I'll have a much better look at the rainforest. And also will photograph the nearly extinct Imlay Mallee.

So today, I put the Imlay Boronia as "endangered" on the Wikipedia article, despite having no official evidence to do so. So, if you think this is unwise, please let me know.

PETE xxx

Poyt448 (talk) 07:39, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Wanna help?
I'm here to let you know that I'm building new articles in my sandboxes. Just look at my User Page and go under current projects. Cheers!-- Microsoft 1000  Defender and Ruler of Cyberspace!  13:41, 17 January 2010 (UTC)
 * She has been helping. Look at the history of your sandbox. She is like the eye in the sky. We can handle the article construction, and if she sees something amiss, I'm sure she'll jump in and fix it. She knows the field very well. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 14:13, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Duplicate articles
I am curious about species with synonyms becoming duplicate articles. I started Nephrotoma appendiculata, then a month later Nephrotoma quadrifaria was started.

Very few species articles that I started have synonyms. The first one I checked that did, turned out to be a duplicate. Is this a big problem on Wikipedia? Thanks. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 19:15, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Various matters
Hello. I guess that Wiki probably has about 6,000 gastropod articles with about 100,000 gastropod species in existence. (I'm probably way off.) Lots of people add to articles. Fewer create articles. It seems sensible to provide an article to which people can add information. So, what I am looking for is genera with a maximum amount of species below. Then, using primitive tools, I can make stubs. Is this the right idea? Is this useful? Can bots do this? Please advise.

I stumbled upon another pic of you from the convention last year:

What happened to Snek? I've been waiting for a photo from him. Maybe he's a superhero and currently on another planet fighting evil.

I am currently in standy-by mode regarding Micro101. I am happy to collaborate, but s/he hasn't added much to the sandboxes, so I'm just observing for the time being.

Hope you are well, and that NYC is not too cold.Anna Frodesiak (talk) 14:37, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Conus
I'm going to make a few stubs for Conus species. The taxobox says "Cretaceous–Recent" while the lead says Eocene. Which is right? Are they the same? I've asked Snek the same question. Thanks. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 05:00, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi. I found a horrifyingly big list of species and subspecies and put them here. I think I'll just make the stubs for what is currently in the Conus article. Then I will do the alpha headings on that article. Then I will worry about expanding the list. Also, I replied to your comments on my talk page. Thanks.Anna Frodesiak (talk) 22:35, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


 * For matters about the big Conus list, maybe we could centralize the discussion here, as it is currently spread among 3 talk pages. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 07:01, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello and Thanks
Hi there! Thanks for the warm welcome to Wikipedia. I appreciate all your help getting started on Wikipedia. Land snails, and specifically P. minutissimum have recently captured my interest. So little is known about that tiny snail! I got involved with snails by volunteering at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the mollusk department. Now I'm hooked. I look forward to contributing to Wikipedia's body of snail knowledge even more now that I know that there are more people than me looking at it. All the best, Mikeydanger (talk) 06:08, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Re: Nice photo from the WP Conference
Brilliant! Thanks! – ClockworkSoul 18:43, 29 January 2010 (UTC)