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GA Review

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Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: Philcha (talk) 15:38, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'll mark Green tickY comments when I think they're resolved, highlight Red XN any that are unresolved when most others are done, and strike out any of comments that I later decide are mistaken. I'll sign each of my comments, so we can see who said what - please do the same.

I'll mark the review {{inuse}} when I'm working on it, as edit conflicts are frustrating. If you think I've forgotten to remove {{inuse}}, please leave a message at my Talk page. Please free to use {{inuse}} with your own signature when you're working.

I'll read the article through first, then give comments. --Philcha (talk) 15:38, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In lead but not in main article

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See WP:LEAD

Coverage

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  • Green tickY Any fossils of this or other catsharks? Bottom-dwelling sharks may be vulnerable to mudslides, which have been treasure troves in other places and times, e.g. Fossils of the Burgess Shale. --Philcha (talk) 17:21, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Green tickY Should give a bit about the "family tree", e.g. other swellsharks (species in genus Cephaloscyllium), other genera in family Scyliorhinidae - with shared and distinctive characteristics. I note that Cephaloscyllium#Taxonomy gives a list of swellsharks, with citations. If appropriate, you could show the (part of the) tree as a diagram - see example at Nemertea#Within_Nemertea, but perhaps you'd not need so many levels for this shark's family tree. --Philcha (talk) 17:21, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • There have been no studies of the intrageneric phylogeny of Cephaloscyllium. I believe that phylogenetic information higher than that (i.e. between catshark genera) doesn't belong in a species-level article and would distract from the article focus. -- Yzx (talk) 03:09, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
      • Fair enough. But meantime I read around and WP seems to have a taxonomic mess of its own - it has an article Swellshark with scientific name Cephaloscyllium ventriosum. Since the genus Cephaloscyllium is defined by swelling, article Swellshark seems mis-titled. If someone links blotchy swell shark to Swellshark, there's confusion. Ideally Swellshark should be re-titled - if there is a more distinctive common name. For now, I suggest you make a DAB page that "Swellshark" can refer to genus Cephaloscyllium or species Cephaloscyllium ventriosum. And as your sources vary over calling the genus "swell shark" or "swellshark", so it might be safest to create Swell shark to redirect to the DAB page. --Philcha (talk) 12:48, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
        • Hmm...I'd rather rely on hatnotes than creating a DAB page for only two articles. Perhaps "swellshark"/"swell shark" should go to Cephaloscyllium and C. ventriosum should be under the scientific name since it has no other other common name. That'll take a move request though. In the meantime I've made sure this article doesn't make any generic references to "swellshark". -- Yzx (talk) 02:07, 5 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Structure

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  • In zoology articles I've found a standard structure useful: body structure (size, proportions, other important features); feeding; reproduction and lifecycle; behaviour (incl senses); ecology. How well do you think that would here? --Philcha (talk) 18:39, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • This is the standard format I've long used for species articles; I like it because I think it's simple and easy to follow. I only split out subsections like "feeding" or "life history" if they're long enough that the whole section needs further structure. -- Yzx (talk) 03:09, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Taxonomy

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Distribution and habitat

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Green tickY Looks OK. --18:40, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Description

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  • The structure of this section is confused:
    • Each of the 2 paras contains disparate topics: body shape; "face"; teeth; fins; skin; colouration. I know many Wikipedians dislike short paras, but IMO clarity for readers is a higher priority. --Philcha (talk) 09:52, 5 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • I can't see the reason for the topics. How about working from most visible (especially colouration, which gives this shark's its name) to least visible? After that, it may be good to combine some of the re-structured paras? --Philcha (talk) 09:52, 5 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
      • I don't understand why it's confused? Overall body shape-head traits-fins (going from front to back)-integument-coloration is more or less the standard format used by all the fish books/taxonomic descriptions I've read. Color goes last because it's the most superficial. -- Yzx (talk) 19:31, 5 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am responding to the request for second opinions. I do not find the current order confusing. Head-to-tail seems just as valid an order for presenting the information as outside-to-inside. I might—just my writing style, mind, and not a GA criteria requirement—have split the coloration information into a separate paragraph, but that's just me, and there's nothing wrong with the existing approach. I see no possible justification for failing this article over the order of the sentences in this section. WhatamIdoing (talk) 22:26, 12 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • Third opinion: I see nothing wrong with the description section. A clear concise summary in my opinion, I get a clear picture of the size, structure and colouration of the fish. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:23, 14 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Biology and ecology

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Human interactions

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Green tickY Looks OK. --Philcha (talk) 21:11, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Images

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Green tickY Relevant to the content and seem to have appropriate licences. --Philcha (talk) 21:11, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not yet done

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I'll check with User:Dispenser/Checklinks and the DAB checker when the content is stable.

Lead

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  • WP:LEAD allows up to 4 paras without argument, and you should them to make clear different aspects of the subject. --Philcha (talk) 10:37, 6 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'd order the sub-topics for this article like this: identification (name, colouration, body shape and size, taxonomic confusion); how it makes a living (rocky sea-bottoms, depth, geographic, prey; predators if any, defence); reproduction and lifecycle; human interactions. --Philcha (talk) 10:37, 6 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • I don't think it reads poorly now; I've seen plenty of featured articles with the intro structure [paragraph 1] name-distribution-description [paragraph 2+] biology/ecology-human interactions. Habitat I could arguably see being moved close to prey/feeding. I remain opposed to putting coloration before morphology. -- Yzx (talk) 01:33, 7 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • I can see ways to make the lead a little clearer and more concise for general readers, but will look at that when we've agree on the structure. --Philcha (talk) 10:37, 6 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Second opinion

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I've requested additional opinions at WP:GAN regarding our disagreement here. -- Yzx (talk) 22:59, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. --Philcha (talk) 18:36, 9 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I really find the criticism to verge on nit-picking. as far as I can see the article meets the WP:WIAGA criteria adequately. WP:GAN is an intentionally lightweight process, this is not WP:FAC. Jezhotwells (talk) 23:31, 24 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Further, there are no dead links and no dab pages. This article should be promoted now. Jezhotwells (talk) 23:33, 24 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Jezhotwells, the outstanding point is the need to clarify rows and series of teeth. I've fair knowledge of zoology and I was confused - in fact I didn't know this use of "series" until I asked. In Rathbone, a source already cited in the article, there's a simple explanation and the nom should work it into the article. --Philcha (talk) 00:22, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It currently says "There are around 59 tooth rows in the upper jaw and 62 tooth rows in the lower jaw." I don't know anything about this, but I guessed the right meaning—and the explanation is wikilinked. I don't see anything about the seven series in the current version of the article, although I think it a reasonable detail to include (FAC would require it), and a reasonable situation for sticking with (and linking) the standard terminology of series.
On the bigger issue, I'm with Jezhotwells: This isn't FAC. We're not looking for perfection. We're looking for a non-embarrassing ("decent") article. IMO the article significantly exceeds the actual GA criteria, and should probably be considered for FAC. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:46, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Result

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This article meets the Good Article criteria: it provides good coverage, is neutral and well-referenced, is clearly-written, complies with the parts of WP:MOS required for a GA and uses appropriate images that have good captions and comply with WP's policies on images.

If you've got 2 or more articles through GA reviewers, please try to review as many articles as you have nominated for GA review. --Philcha (talk) 08:15, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review, and to everyone else for their input. -- Yzx (talk) 16:45, 25 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]