User talk:Froggydame

The Signpost: 1 March 2020

• From the editor: The ball is in your court
  How to stop abusive commercial editing.

• News and notes: Alexa ranking down to 13th worldwide
  Falling behind Chinese websites.

• Special report: More participation, more conversation, more pageviews
  A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.

• In the media: Mapping IP editors, Smithsonian open-access, and coronavirus disinformation
  We're all over the map this month.

• Discussion report: Do you prefer M or P?
  Wikimedia or Wikipedia?

• Arbitration report: Two prominent administrators removed
  Arbitration Committee and the "blue wall of silence".

• By the numbers: How many actions by administrators does it take to clean up spam?
  Numbers for vandalism and sockpuppeting included at no additional charge!

• Community view: The Incredible Invisible Woman
  No more "Hidden Figures", let's work to make women visible on Wikipedia!

• In focus: History of The Signpost, 2015–2019
  Covering Wikipedia for another five years!

• Recent research: Wikipedia generates $50 billion/year consumer surplus in the US alone
  And other new research results

• From the archives: Is Wikipedia for sale?
  How long has Wikipedia been for sale? When will it stop?

• Traffic report: February articles, floating in the dark
  Kobe sets another record.

• Gallery: Feel the love
  Renewing our vows.

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
  A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

• Op-Ed: What I learned as Wikimedia UK Communications Coordinator
  Getting across the Wikipedia experience to the press.

• Opinion: Wikipedia is another country
  Or: how to best bite a newbie.

• Humour: The Wilhelm scream
  WikiWorld is back.

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February 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

February 2020—Issue 011

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Segnosaurus by FunkMonk The Goldfinch (painting) by Jimfbleak Gharial by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Steller's sea ape by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm Poinsettia by Enwebb, reviewed by Starsandwhales Honeynut squash by Ɱ, reviewed by Ealdgyth

Newly nominated content

Danuvius guggenmosi by Dunkleosteus77 Denisovan by Dunkleosteus77 Homo luzonensis by Dunkleosteus77 Homo naledi by Dunkleosteus77 Horseshoe bat by Enwebb Cimicidae by Cwmhiraeth and Chiswick Chap

News at a Glance

• The Great Britain and Ireland Destubathon began on 1 March and runs for the entire month. Expansion of any stubs related to Great Britain and Ireland is welcome, inclusive of taxa. There are also monetary prizes for winners of specific categories in the form of Amazon gift cards. PetScan could be useful here to find the intersection of Stub-class articles and other categories: Biota of Ireland; Biota of Great Britain; Biota of the Isle of Man
• The WP:WikiCup just completed its first round. Dunkleosteus77 had the most points of any Tree of Life editor, with 5 GAs and 6 GARs. Other Tree of Life editors moving on to round two include Enwebb, Sainsf, starsandwhales, Guettarda, and Casliber.
• Some winners of the 2019 Wiki Science Competition have been announced. For the finalists and winners, see here.

• 
  Daphnia giving birth (Poland)
• 
  Immunofluorescence staining of a mouse intestine, "Microscopy" (Australia)
• 
  Bat scientist Lauri Lutsar determining the age of a bat, "People In Science" (Estonia)
• 
  Close-up view of a bioluminescent beetle Elateroidea, "Wildlife and Nature" (France)
• 
  Coral fluorescence, "General Category" (Russia)
• 
  Paleoanthropologist at work, "People in Science" (Italy)
• 
  Ammonite fossil from Morocco, "General Category" (Spain)
• 
  Yellow orange-tip male (Ixias pyrene), "Wildlife and Nature" (India)

The spread of coronavirus across Wikipedia

With the outbreak of a novel coronavirus dominating news coverage, Wikipedia content related to the virus has seen much higher interest. Tree of Life content of particular interest to readers has included viruses, bats, pangolins, and masked palm civets. Viruses saw the most dramatic growth in readership: Coronavirus, which was the 105th most popular virus article in December 2019 with about 400 views per day, averaged over a quarter million views each day of January 2020. Total monthly viewership of the top-10 virus articles ballooned from about 1.5 million to nearly 20 million.

Top 10 WikiProject Virus articles in December 2019 vs. January 2020

	December 2019	January 2020	Rank change
1	Gastroenteritis	Coronavirus	+104
2	HIV/AIDS	2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak	NA
3	Norovirus	2019 novel coronavirus	NA
4	Smallpox	Severe acute respiratory syndrome	+47
5	Shingles	Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)	NA
6	Measles	Spanish flu	+3
7	HIV	Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus	+124
8	Influenza	List of epidemics	+54
9	Spanish flu	Timeline of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak	NA
10	Dengue fever	Coronaviridae	+490
Total views	1,466,143‬	19,845,246

Viewership of the articles Bat, Bat-borne virus, Horseshoe bat, and Bat as food from 15 Jan. 2020 to 10 Feb. 2020

From October 2019 – December 2019, the top ten most popular bat articles fluctuated among 16 different articles, with the December viewership of those 10 articles at 209,280. For January 2020, three articles broke into the top-10 that were not among the 16 articles of the prior three months: Bat as food, Horseshoe bat, and Bat-borne virus. Viewership of the top-10 bat articles spiked nearly 300% to 617,067 in January.

While bats have been implicated as a possible natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, an intermediate host may be the bridge between bats and humans. Pangolins have been hypothesized as the intermediate host for the virus, causing a large spike in typical page views of 2-3k each day up to more than 60k in a day. Masked palm civets, the intermediate host of SARS, saw a modest yet noticeable spike in page views as well, from 100 to 300 views per day to as many as 5k views per day.

With an increase in viewers came an increase in editors. In an interview, longtime virus editor Awkwafaba identified the influx of editors as the biggest challenge in editing content related to the coronavirus. They noted that these newcomers include "novices who make honest mistakes and get tossed about a bit in the mad activity" as well as "experienced editors who know nothing about viruses and are good researchers, yet aren't familiar with the policies of WP:ToL or WP:Viruses." Disruption also increased, with extended confirmed protection (also known as the 30/500 rule, which prevents editors with fewer than 30 days tenure and 500 edits from making edits and is typically used on a very small subset of Wikipedia articles) temporarily applied to Coronavirus and still active on Template:2019–20 coronavirus outbreak data. New editors apparently seeking to correct misinformation continuously edited the article Bat as food to remove content related to China: Videos of Chinese people eating bat soup were misrepresented to be current or filmed in China, when at least one such video was several years old and filmed in Palau. However, reliable sources confirm that bats are eaten in China, especially Southern China, so these well-meaning edits were mostly removed.

Another level of complexity was added by the fluctuating terminology of the virus. Over a dozen moves and merges were requested within WikiProject Viruses. To give you an idea of the musical chairs happening with article titles, here are the move histories of two articles:

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

• Began as Wuhan coronavirus on 9 January
• Moved to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on 16 January
• Moved to Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on 19 January
• Moved to 2019 novel coronavirus on 9 February
• Moved to Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on 18 February (current name)

2019–20 coronavirus outbreak

• Began as 2019-2020 China pneumonia outbreak on 5 January
• Moved to 2019–20 China pneumonia outbreak on 5 January
• Moved to 2019-20 outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China on 15 January
• Moved to 2019-20 outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on 15 January
• Moved to 2019–20 outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on 15 January
• Moved to 2019–20 outbreak of novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV on 23 January
• Moved to 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak on 23 January
• Moved to 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak on 18 February (current name)

Awkwafaba noted that "the main authorities, WHO and ICTV, don't really have a process for speedily naming a virus or disease." Additionally, they have different criteria for naming. They said, "I remember in a move discussion from the article then called Wuhan coronavirus that a virus name cannot have a geographical location in it, but this is a WHO disease naming guideline, and not an ICTV virus naming rule. ICTV may have renamed Four Corners virus to Sin Nombre orthohantavirus but there are still plenty of official virus species names that don't abide by WHO guidelines."

February DYKs

Thistle broomrape

Painting of the Shelton Oak

Female A. diabolicum flowers with curled stigmas

• ... that juvenile ornate surgeonfish are quite different in colouring from the adult fish? (1 February)
• ... that Quarry Moor is one of the few locations in England where the rare parasitic plant thistle broomrape (example pictured) grows? (2 February)
• ... that the hollow Shelton Oak (pictured) near Shrewsbury was so big that a party of eight could dance a quadrille inside it? (3 February)
• ... that growth in the brown seaweed Zanardinia typus occurs at the base of the hairs that grow around the edge of the frond? (4 February)
• ... that entomologist Karim Vahed led the team that found a cricket species in which the testes accounted for 14 percent of the insect's body mass? (4 February)
• ... that the ant Acropyga exsanguis shares its nest with several species of mealybug, including Geococcus coffeae? (4 February)
• ... that no fungi or algae are listed as endangered or threatened by the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board? (5 February)
• ... that the blue pitta is a shy, secretive bird, but will respond to a recording of its call? (5 February)
• ... that Acer diabolicum, the devil maple, gets its scientific and common names from the curly stigmas of its flowers (pictured)? (6 February)
• ... that the alga Acetabularia acetabulum (pictured) resembles a green parasol? (7 February)
• ... that Bishop Monkton Ings in North Yorkshire, England, provides a habitat to the semi-parasitic marsh lousewort? (9 February)
• ... that although the bird of paradise fly was first described from an Angophora tree, it is quite likely that this is not the insect's host plant? (11 February)
• ... that Hack Fall Wood in North Yorkshire, England, hosts the rare lemon slug (example pictured)? (13 February)
• ... that the hairy sea cucumber has long tube feet on its dorsal surface, giving it a furry appearance? (14 February)
• ... that Diego (pictured) "had so much sex he saved his species"? (15 February)
• ... that common lousewort owes its name to the belief that livestock that ate it would become lousy? (16 February)
• ... that groups of social feather dusters sway in unison in the water current and retract into their tubes at the slightest disturbance (16 February)
• ... that the copepod Mesocyclops longisetus can be used in the biological control of mosquitoes? (17 February)
• ... that the specific name of Pterophorus pentadactyla, commonly known as the white plume moth, comes from the Greek for 'five fingers'? (22 February)
• ... that the laciniate conch (shell pictured) is able to flip itself off the seabed using its muscular foot? (25 February)

• 
  A. acetabulum caps
• 
  Lemon slug
• 
  Diego in 2009
• 
  Five views of a laciniate conch shell

Discuss this issue

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The Signpost: 29 March 2020

• From the editors: The bad and the good
  Getting ready for anything.

• News and notes: 2018 Wikipedian of the year blocked
  Wheel war on Tatar Wikipedia.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19: A WikiProject Report
  An interview with members of the COVID Project.

• Special report: Wikipedia on COVID-19: what we publish and why it matters
  Wikipedia presents solid widely-consulted information on COVID-19 and related topics.

• In the media: Blocked in Iran but still covering the big story
  COVID-19, Zika, edit-a-thons, and macrons.

• Discussion report: Rethinking draft space
  Plus: geonotices, reliable sources, and job titles.

• Arbitration report: Unfinished business
  A new case, a case returns from limbo, and an RfC being prepared.

• In focus: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein …"
  The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.

• Community view: Wikimedia community responds to COVID-19
  Individually and in organized groups, Wikimedians stand up and make a difference.

• Recent research: Disease outbreak uncertainties, AfD forecasting, auto-updating Wikipedia
  New research publications on "the fear of being erased" and other topics.

• From the archives: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
  Five years ago with a different crisis.

• Traffic report: The only thing that matters in the world
  Going to movies and sport stadiums is history, and readers turn to Wikipedia for crucial medical information and updates.

• Gallery: Visible Women on Wikipedia
  Images from the Whose Knowlege? campaign.

• News from the WMF: Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time
  The WMF responds.

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
  A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:42, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

March 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

March 2020—Issue 012

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Argentinosaurus by Slate Weasel and Jens Lallensack Wolf by LittleJerry Horseshoe bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Cimicidae by Cwmhiraeth and Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Enwebb Coronariae by Michael Goodyear, reviewed by Dank Ardipithecus ramidus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by starsandwhales Ooedigera by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm Bathyphysa conifera by Awkwafaba, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Calliphora vomitoria by Y.shiuan, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated content

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations by Britishfinance Bathyphysa conifera by Awkwafaba Moniliformidae by Mattximus Disease X by Britishfinance Mandarin Patinkin by Rhododendrites

News at a glance

• A year of the Tree of Life Newsletter: Thank you to all the subscribers who have been with us from the beginning or have joined along the way, and to those who have contributed their time to producing this newsletter. I've really valued your ideas, copyediting, and willingness to be interviewed. Onwards and upwards!
• April marks the start of the GAN Backlog Drive, which continues through the end of May. The goal of this backlog elimination drive is to cut the number of outstanding GANs, in particular those which have been in the queue 90 days or more. All hands welcome, new and old.
• The finalists of the US Wiki Science Competition have been announced. Illustrating Wikipedia articles can be challenging, so these new images represent a chance to find suitable media for our articles. For all images uploaded in the Wiki Science Competition, see here and click "all images" in the upper right corner.

• 
  Fly's mouth and tongue (Microscopy)
• 
  Killer whales hunting a crabeater seal (Wildlife)
• 
  Fossilized tooth of a Squalicorax shark (Microscopy)
• 
  Flourescent coral (Non-photographic media)

A new WikiProject responding to the pandemic

The newest Tree of Life WikiProject is about a taxon that is dominating the headlines, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and its many effects. We interviewed Another Believer, the founder of WikiProject COVID-19.

This interview has been edited for length. Find the full interview here.

1. Please describe how you went about creating WikiProject COVID-19. What made you think a project was needed?

   I've been following the outbreak and editing related Wikipedia articles since January. I'm not particularly interested in infectious diseases or viruses, but I've been to China a few times and wanted to monitor the outbreak's impact on society as well as the government's response. For a while, I was casually tracking updates to the first couple pages about the outbreak. Then a pattern began to emerge as February saw the creation of separate articles about outbreaks in Iran, Italy, and South Korea. New Wikipedia articles continued being created in early March, and the outbreak was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11. Knowing there would many more articles, lists, templates, illustrations, and other pages on Wikipedia, I created WikiProject COVID-19 on March 15. My goal was simply to create a temporary or permanent space for editors to collaborate, communicate, and focus specifically on content related to this ongoing pandemic. I'm a member of many WikiProjects and have created several before, but this one definitely felt more necessary and urgent. Most WikiProjects unite editors with similar interests, which is fine and serves a purpose, but I felt this project could have a much bigger real life impact. I don't think I was alone in my thinking; the project had 80 members by March 20 and 100 members by March 26.

2. Who or what was invaluable to getting off the ground?

   If I'm being honest, getting this project off the ground required little work on my part. All I did was create the space and post invitations to existing talk pages related to the outbreak. Editors joined the project very quickly; 30 members joined on the same day I started the project, and there were more than 50 participants one day later. I've been a daily Wikipedia editor for more than 12 years, and I've never seen so much interest in a project or content added to Wikipedia about a specific topic in such a short period of time. WikiProject members worked expeditiously to build a framework and hang a barnstar, tagging related pages, assessing content, and starting talk page discussions about the project's goals and scope. I'm thankful to the many editors who pitched in to get the project established, and I look forward to seeing how editors collaborate in this space as we move forward.

3. What are the short-term goals of the project?

   No specific goals have been posted to the project page yet, but I'd like to think members share a collective desire to ensure Wikipedia has accurate and reliable information about the disease and pandemic. Disinformation and misinformation seem rampant these days, so we're working to give readers around the globe access to accurate, objective, and possibly even life-saving information. Unlike some WikiProjects which may take a more historical approach to documenting certain topics, WikiProject COVID-19 members have the ability to mitigate the disease's spread in real time by arming communities with facts about outbreaks in their region as well as information about prevention, testing, vaccine research, societal impact, etc.

   

   Viewership of WikiProject Medicine, WikiProject Viruses, and WikiProject COVID-19 in the month of March 2020

4. What are the long-term goals? English Wikipedia has many of 'lumpers' who think there are too many projects already. The project has also inspired the creation of two portals, which I imagine caused some raised eyebrows in this trend of portal deletionism. What will come of the WP after the current outbreak subsides?

   After creating WikiProject COVID-19, a couple editors said I should have created a task force instead of a standalone WikiProject. I wasn't bothered. The number of 'thank you' notifications I received for creating the page vastly outweighed these critical comments. I knew the page I created was much needed, and I would be fine if editors decide to call the page by another name. I understand some editors think there are too many WikiProjects. No one's required to join WikiProject COVID-19, but the 100+ of us who have already joined invite you to help with our efforts, if you're interested. As for the project's future, I would be fine if editors decided to convert the WikiProject into a task force, or even put the project into retirement if the time comes. Given the level of interest and impact the pandemic has already had on a global scale, I have a feeling the WikiProject will be active for a long time.

5. Another criticism of the project is its narrow focus. It is focused on only one strain of virus, and the disease it causes. Even WikiProject AIDS is about two species of virus. Is the scope of the project too small? What would an expanded scope look like? Why would including another virus strain in the same species, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus which causes SARS, not be wanted? or is it wanted?

   Narrow focus? I disagree. The project may focus on a single virus and disease, but the pandemic has resulted in the creation of hundreds of Wikipedia articles documenting outbreaks in most countries and territories. There are pages covering the pandemic's impact on aviation, cinema, education, politics, religion, sports, and television, not to mention others related to the resulting economic turmoil. Additionally, there are hundreds of templates, charts, and other graphics. Who knows how many thousands of images and other media will be uploaded at Wikimedia Commons by the time this pandemic subsides? There's also COVID-19 WikiProject COVID-19 at Wikidata, and I wouldn't be surprised if similar spaces are created for other Wikimedia projects soon. Even if the focus is narrow, there's plenty of content for Wikimedians to improve and protect.

6. In your opinion, what should be the guidelines for creating a new project, as opposed to creating a task force or working under an existing WikiProject?

   I don't feel strongly about new project creation guidelines, or the differences between WikiProjects and task forces. Project members should decide what structure works for them and call themselves whatever name they prefer. I understand project construction requires maintenance and can come at an administrative cost, but we should be careful about discouraging editors from proposing new projects.

   Ideally, editors would only create a new WikiProject if at least a few others were committed to joining. I created WikiProject COVID-19 without conferring with others because I assumed the interest would be there. I encourage people to be bold and create project pages, but maybe ask a few other editors for feedback first. I'll let other editors worry about the guidelines.

7. What tools (templates, bots, etc.) are essential, or even just really helpful, for organizing and maintaining a successful project? What is something every WP should do, that maybe isn't doing now?

   I appreciate the standard WikiProject assessment framework. AlexNewArtBot and Article alerts have also been very helpful.

8. What have you learned about Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or COVID-19 during this process that surprised you?

   I don't have any sort of medical background, and I'm more interested in the pandemic's impact than details about the disease or virus. Most surprising to me has been the lack of preparedness for combating outbreaks by governments around the world, including here in the United States. I don't know how COVID-19's spread compares to other infectious diseases, but as I've watched the outbreak develop I've continually wondered why governments did not start preparing earlier. What was happening in China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea should have prompted action sooner.

9. What important things about 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic do you think folks should know and maybe have missed in the deluge of information coming at people?

   1. Know the most common symptoms: cough, fever, and difficulty breathing.

   2. Learn what behavioral adjustments you should make to protect yourself and reduce transmission, and remember to wash your hands.

   3. Get your information from reputable sources. I'd like to think Wikipedia editors are pretty good at this last bit of advice.

Thank you to Another Believer for your time, both in this interview and in this project. Interested readers can join WikiProject COVID-19. And please stay safe and healthy out there. --Awkwafaba

March DYKs

• ... that Calamagrostis intermedia is the dominant plant of the grassy páramo in Ecuador's El Cajas National Park? (March 1)
• ... that the blood-sucking bug Primicimex cavernis survives in a cave in Texas while the bats on which it feeds overwinter elsewhere? (March 2)
• ... that the worm Phyllodoce lineata is a predator and scavenger, feeding mostly on other polychaetes? (March 4)
• ... that the crested oyster has been eaten by humans for at least 6,000 years? (March 5)
• ... that larvae of the tube worm Hydroides ezoensis prefer to settle on a substrate already inhabited by other worms of their own species? (March 14)
• ... that the sea slug Berthella ocellata hides during the day and feeds on sponges such as Corticium candelabrum at night? (March 18)
• ... that the sea cucumber Actinopyga agassizii has five teeth surrounding its anus? (March 19)
• ... that unlike most soft scale insects, the adult female pyriform scale is able to move around? (March 20)
• ... that in Florida, winged termites are sometimes found stuck to wet foliage, buildings, or vehicles after rain? (March 23)
• ... that despite being known as the Kerry lily, the perennial plant has a much wider distribution outside Ireland? (March 24)
• ... that in 1725 Hans Sloane described a plant he called Prickly-Pole as the Jamaican tree species that was "the most fit to make Rods and Scowrers for Guns"? (March 25)
• ... that a deep-sea fish known as a black ruff was caught in a salmon net in the Firth of Forth and donated to the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art in 1901? (March 29)
• ... that the flowering plant Gentianella anglica is found only in Great Britain? (March 30)

Discuss this issue

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The Signpost: 26 April 2020

• News and notes: Unbiased information from Ukraine's government?
  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pitches in.

• In the media: Coronavirus, again and again
  Plus the importance of language.

• Discussion report: Redesigning Wikipedia, bit by bit
  The Wikimedia community discusses modifying or hiding the sidebar on the left of every page.

• Featured content: Featured content returns
  Movies, roads, awards and more.

• Arbitration report: Two difficult cases
  Even our best editors sometimes disagree.

• Traffic report: Disease the Rhythm of the Night
  Coronavirus, coronavirus, and Joe Exotic.

• Gallery: Roy is doing fine and sending more photos
  A coronavirus cruise can't stop Roy!

• Recent research: Trending topics across languages; auto-detecting bias
  And other new research results.

• Essay: Wikipedia:An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing
  And it could get worse!

• By the numbers: Open data and COVID-19: Wikipedia as an informational resource during the pandemic
  What COVID-19 data are available from the WMF?

• Opinion: Trusting Everybody to Work Together
  In an increasingly factious world, Wikipedia's approach to collaboration and trust-building point to a brighter future.

• On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
  A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

• Interview: Health and RfA's: An interview with Guy Macon
  A Wikipedia editor reflects on his recent RfA and the health issues that became part of it.

• In focus: Multilingual Wikipedia
  How to better integrate articles across language editions.

• WikiProject report: The Guild of Copy Editors
  An interview with members of the WP:GOCE

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:17, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

April 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

April 2020—Issue 013

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Danuvius guggenmosi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by J Milburn Neanderthal by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Homo luzonensis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Lythronax by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Ichthyovenator by PaleoGeekSquared, reviewed by FunkMonk Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber, reviewed by The Rambling Man James John Joicey by RLO1729, reviewed by The Rambling Man Homo naledi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek, reviewed by HickoryOughtShirt?4 Canada lynx by Sainsf, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Alice Gray by Rhododendrites, reviewed by The Rambling Man Caryodendron orinocense by CPC273, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Jaguarundi by Sainsf, reviewed by Usernameunique Gigantopithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Starsandwhales Denisovan by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Starsandwhales Disease X by Britishfinance, reviewed by DannyS712

Newly nominated content

Lythronax by FunkMonk, Lythronaxargestes and IJReid Ichthyovenator by PaleoGeekSquared Neanderthal by Dunkleosteus77 Alpine newt by Tylototriton Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber List of ursids by PresN Borchgrevinkium by Super Dromaeosaurus Caryodendron orinocense by CPC273 Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared Canada lynx by Sainsf Vietnam mouse-deer by Sainsf Jaguarundi by Sainsf Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek Alice Gray by Rhododendrites Gigantopithecus by Dunkleosteus77 Paleobiota of the Posidonia Shale by Yewtharaptor Meerkat by Sainsf

News at a glance

• WikiProject Birds gained a new task force. A discussion determined that WikiProject Poultry might be more successful as a task force, with the move completed 15 April.
• Round 2 of the WikiCup wrapped up this month. Several editors moved on to Round 3 by scoring points in biodiversity-related areas, including Sainsf, Casliber, Dunkleosteus77, CaptainEek, Guettarda, and Enwebb. Dunkleosteus77 finished at the top of the Tree of Life pack with 608 points, finishing 9th overall in the round.
• After a relatively quiet February and March, with only 11 total articles nominated for GA and none for FAC, April brought a shower of nominations. In total, 5 articles were nominated for FAC, 1 for FLC, and 11 for GA.

Tree of Life's growing featured content

Inspired by a March 2020 post at WikiProject Medicine detailing the growth of Featured Articles over time, we decided to reproduce that table here, adding a second table showing the growth of Good Articles. Tree of Life articles are placed in the "Biology" category for FAs, which has seen a growth of 381% since 2008. Only two other subjects had a greater growth than Biology: Business, economics, and finance; and Warfare.

Percentage Growth in FA Categories, 2008–2019, Legend:

Considerably above average, Above average, Average

Below average , Considerably below average, Poor

Featured Article Category as of	Feb 23, 2008	Sep 16, 2008	Sep 16, 2010	Dec 1, 2011	Jan 1, 2015	Jan 1, 2020	Pct chg Feb 2008 to 2011	Pct chg Feb 2008 to 2020
Art, architecture and archaeology	65	72	117	128	175	271	97%	317%
Awards, decorations and vexillology	24	26	28	27	26	24	1.3%	0%
Biology	130	155	261	326	456	625	151%	381%
Business, economics and finance	16	19	22	44	73	116	175%	625%
Chemistry and mineralogy	29	31	34	37	40	46	28%	59%
Computing	17	17	17	18	16	14	5.9%	−18%
Culture and society	40	48	61	65	77	104B	63%	160%
Education	30	34	36	38	40	40	27%	33%
Engineering and technology	35	37	38	40	43	49	14%	40%
Food and drink	11	11	9	13	17	21B	18%	91%
Geography and places	148	158	181	185	213	232	25%	57%
Geology and geophysics	9	12	18	20	23	29	122%	222%
Health and medicine	31	36	42	43	51	52	39%	68%
History	146	154	189	201	239	308	38%	111%
Language and linguistics	17	15	13	13	12	15	−24%	−12%
Law	29	34	41	49	65	72	69%	148%
Literature and theatre	108	134	161	191	258	316B	77%	193%
Mathematics	13	14	19	17	18	18	31%	38%
Media	159	171	221	231	324	424	45%	167%
Meteorology	61	78	111	126	147	168	107%	175%
Music	153	182	232	254	331	398	66%	160%
Philosophy and psychology	12	13	12	12	12	14	0%	17%
Physics and astronomy	67	82	98	101	127	153	51%	128%
Politics and government	62	67	98	117	166	217	89%	250%
Religion, mysticism and mythology	36	44	73	84	105	121	133%	236%
Royalty, nobility and heraldry	75	90	94	108	124	173	44%	131%
Sport and recreation	119	162	268	298	365	449	150%	277%
Transport	47	74	107	128	171	213	172%	353%
Video gaming	72	96	127	137	180	222	90%	208%
Warfare	145	173	318	366	537	729	152%	403%
Total	1,906	2,239	3,046	3,417	4,431	5,695 A	79.3%	198.8%

• Note A: Total is off by one; not worth looking for the error.
• Note B Three food biographies moved per discussion at WT:FAC
• Note: The very odd dates used in earlier years result from pulling old data from the talk page at WP:FAS.

Good Article Category as of	Feb 23, 2008	Sep 16, 2008	Sep 16, 2010	Dec 1, 2011	Jan 1, 2015	Jan 1, 2020	Pct chg Feb 2008 to 2011	Pct chg Feb 2008 to 2020
Agriculture, food and drink	27	34	37	55	113	226	104%	737%
Art and architecture	134	188	321	450	683	1022	236%	663%
Engineering and technology	256	396	882	1198	1828	2407	368%	840%
Geography and places	191	248	424	523	716	1052	174%	451%
History	261	312	651	825	1219	1894	216%	626%
Language and literature	173	215	377	462	686	982	167%	468%
Mathematics	19	22	27	30	36	67	58%	253%
Media and drama	403	658	1352	1300	3070	3961	223%	883%
Music	357	527	997	1437	2532	3892	303%	990%
Natural sciences	544	686	1275	1717	2404	3426	216%	530%
Philosophy and religion	134	174	244	294	365	557	119%	316%
Social sciences and society	468	549	790	998	1430	1854	113%	296%
Sports and recreation	384	546	1074	1402	2350	3802	265%	890%
Video games	168	220	373	443	684	1349	164%	703%
Warfare	155	241	989	1654	2544	3996	967%	2478%
Total	3674	5016	9813	12788	20660	30487	248%	730%
Organisms*	119	130	402	528	685	1017	344%	755%

*subset of natural sciences

Unsurprisingly, the number of GAs has increased more rapidly than the number of FAs. Organisms, which is a subcategory of Natural sciences, has seen a GA growth of 755% since 2008, besting the Natural sciences overall growth of 530%. While Warfare had far and away the most significant growth of GAs, it's a clear outlier relative to other categories.

April DYKs

Jenny

White-throated round-eared bat

Formica fusca ants tending mealybugs

• ... that the human-like behaviour of Jenny (depicted), a resident of London Zoo, reinforced Charles Darwin's view that humans were "created from animals"? (3 April)
• ... that white-throated round-eared bats (example pictured) roost in cavities in active termite mounds excavated by the males? (4 April)
• ... that flatter mires in montane regions of Europe are often dominated by deergrass and cottongrass? (5 April)
• ... that the white-browed tit-warbler has been found to practice cooperative breeding? (6 April)
• ... that most species in the palm genus Desmoncus climb using grappling hook–like structures called acanthopylls? (7 April)
• ... that some ants herd scale insects (example pictured)? (10 April)
• ... that birds, bats and humans are the main hosts of members of the bed bug family? (12 April)
• ... that the sponge Aplysina cavernicola (pictured) has been used as a model organism to monitor the presence of isotopes such as americium-241 in seawater? (16 April)
• ... that although the alpine bartsia has a wide range in Europe and North America, it is known in the British Isles only from a few locations in northern England and the central Scottish Highlands? (19 April)
• ... that the orange-band surgeonfish (pictured) can change colour from dark to light almost instantaneously? (21 April)
• ... that the parasitic greater broomrape usually grows on the roots of the common broom or the European gorse? (24 April)
• ... that the tree Macaranga triloba encourages the ants that defend it by providing them with food bodies? (25 April)
• ... that amateur entomologist James John Joicey had a collection of 1.5 million butterflies? (28 April)
• ... that the globe chamomile (pictured), a member of the daisy family native to South Africa, infests parts of Arizona and California? (28 April)
• ... that the bicoloured sedge (pictured) was part of an attempted botanical fraud? (30 April)

• 
  A. cavernicola
• 
  Orange-band surgeonfish
• 
  Bicoloured sedge
• 
  Globe chamomile blooms

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The Signpost: 31 May 2020

• From the editor: Meltdown May?
  Or will it be meltdown June?

• News and notes: 2019 Picture of the Year, 200 French paid editing accounts blocked, 10 years of Guild Copyediting
  Many of these accounts now blocked on the English-language Wikipedia.

• In the media: CBS on COVID-19, Sanger on bias, false noses, and five prolific editors
  Worth Every Goddamn Second!

• Discussion report: WMF's Universal Code of Conduct
  It's no April Fool's joke, but we discuss those, too.

• Special report: The sum of human knowledge? Not in one Wikipedia language edition
  Cultural context, diversity, and the future of languages.

• Featured content: Weathering the storm
  Battles, bombs, wars, and more storms.

• Arbitration report: Board member likely to receive editing restriction
  Sanctions of multiple flavors, and a non-decision on the breadth of discretionary sanctions.

• Traffic report: Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam
  Time to bring on the Bulls.

• Op-Ed: Where Is Political Bias Taking Us?
  Straight down the tubes.

• Gallery: Wildlife photos by the book
  Birds, insects, elephants, a macaque and more.

• News from the WMF: WMF Board announces Community Culture Statement
  Enacting new standards to address harassment and promote inclusivity across projects.

• Recent research: Automatic detection of covert paid editing; Wiki Workshop 2020
  New results from academic research

• Community view: Transit routes and mapping during stay-at-home order downtime
  Hello Columbus.

• On video: COVID-19 spurs innovations in Wikimedia video and virtual programming
  Community harnesses new technologies for remote participation in events and gatherings

• WikiProject report: Revitalizing good articles
  Can our energy be turned into long-term change?

• On the bright side: 500,000 articles in the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia
  A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

• Obituaries: Dmitrismirnov, Kattenkruid, Muidlatif, Ronhjones, Tsirel
  Rest in peace.

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May 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

May 2020—Issue 014

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Lythronax by FunkMonk, Lythronaxargestes and IJReid Meerkat by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Borchgrevinkium by Super Dromaeosaurus, reviewed by Amitchell125 Nakalipithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Gog the Mild Scanisaurus by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Gog the Mild Sand cat by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Aven13 Pigs in culture by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Sainsf Sun bear by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Megacephalosaurus by Macrophyseter, reviewed by Aven13 Cinnamon red bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Banteng by Sainsf, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Cartorhynchus by Lythronaxargestes, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Black-footed cat by BhagyaMani, reviewed by Amitchell125 Homo ergaster by Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Black coral by Aven13, reviewed by Sainsf Heuglin's gazelle by Sainsf, reviewed by The Rambling Man Australopithecus garhi by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm Chororapithecus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by IJReid Ornithocheiromorpha by JurassicClassic767, reviewed by IJReid

Newly nominated content

Gigantorhynchus by Mattximus Leech by LittleJerry, Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth List of mephitids by PesN Sand cat by BhagyaMani Cinnamon red bat by Enwebb Kristianstad Basin by Ichthyovenator Nakalipithecus by Dunkleosteus77 Scanisaurus by Ichthyovenator Sun bear by Sainsf Heuglin's gazelle by Sainsf Black coral by Aven13 Australopithecus garhi by Dunkleosteus77 Chororapithecus by Dunkleosteus77 Northern crested newt by Tylototriton Megacephalosaurus by Macrophyseter Banteng by Sainsf Cartorhynchus by Lythronaxargestes Ornithocheiromorpha by JurassicClassic767 Black-footed cat by BhagyaMani Bat virome by Enwebb Echinodon by IJReid Homo ergaster by Ichthyovenator Dwarf dog-faced bat by Enwebb Doedicurus by Dunkleosteus77 Zebra by LittleJerry

News at a glance

• This month saw two Tree of Life editors gain the mop: CaptainEek (WikiProjects Birds and Plants) and Cwmhiraeth (familiar name at DYK, WikiProjects Plants, Animals, and Insects)
• The April – May GAN backlog drive finished up, clearing the queue from nearly 700 outstanding nominations to about 350.

Interview with Jts1882

This month we're joined by Jts1882, who is active in depicting evolutionary relationship of taxa via cladograms. Part of this includes responding to cladogram requests, where interested editors can have cladograms made without using the templates themselves.

How did you come to be interested in systematics? Are you interested in systematics broadly, or is there a particular group you're most fond of?

As long as I can remember I’ve been interested in nature, starting with the animals and plants in the garden, school grounds, and local wood, and then more general wildlife worldwide. An interest in how things are classified grew from this. I like things to be organised and understanding the relationships between things and systems (not just living things) is a big part of that. Biology was always my favourite subject in school and took up a disproportionate part of my time. My interest in systematics is broad as I’d like to comprehend the whole tree of life, but the cat family is my favourite group.

What's the background behind cladogram requests? I see that it isn't a very old part of the Tree of Life

Well I can’t take any credit for the cladogram requests page, although I help out there sometimes. It was created by IJReid and there are several people who have helped there more than me. I think the motivation is that creating cladograms requires a knowledge of the templates that is daunting for many editors. It was one way of helping people who want to focus on content creation.

My main contribution to the cladograms is converting the {{clade}} template to use a Lua module. The template code was extremely difficult to follow and had to be repetitive (I can only admire the efforts of those who got the thing to work in the first place). The conversion to Lua made it more efficient, allowed larger and deeper cladograms, plus facilitating the introduction of new features. The cladogram request page was recently the venue for discussion on making time calibrated cladograms, which is now possible, if not particularly user friendly.

What advice do you have for an editor who wants to learn how to make cladograms?

The same advice I would give to someone facing any computer problem, just try it out. Start by taking existing code for a cladogram and make changes yourself. The main advice would be to format it properly so indents match the brackets vertically. Of course, not everyone wants to learn and if someone prefers to focus on article content there is the cladogram request page.

Examples of cladograms Jts1882 has created, showing different proposed clades for Neoaves

Jarvis et al (2014)	Prum et al (2015)	Suh (2016) — a hard polytomy
Columbea Mirandornithes (flamingos, grebes) Columbimorphae (pigeons, mesites, sandgrouse) Passerea Otidae Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos) Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds) Gruae Opisthocomiformes (hoatzin) Gruimorphae Gruiformes (cranes, rails) Charadriiformes (shorebirds) Ardeae Aequornithes (core waterbirds) Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds) Telluraves Afroaves Australaves (core landbirds)	Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds) Columbaves Columbimorphae (pigeons, mesites, sandgrouse) Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos) Gruiformes (cranes, rails) Aequorlitornithes Charadriiformes (shorebirds) Mirandornithes(flamingoes, grebes) Ardeae Aequornithes (core waterbirds) Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds) (waterbirds) Inopinaves Opisthocomiformes (hoatzin) Telluraves Afroaves Australaves (core landbirds)	Columbimorphae (pigeons, mesites, sandgrouse) Otidimorphae (cuckoos, bustards, turacos) Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightbirds) Opisthocomiformes (hoatzin) Gruiformes (cranes, rails) Charadriiformes (shorebirds) Mirandornithes (flamingoes, grebes) Ardeae Aequornithes (core waterbirds) Eurypgimorphae (sunbittern, kagu, tropicbirds) Telluraves Afroaves Australaves (core landbirds)

Do you have any personal projects or goals you're working towards on Wikipedia?

As I said I like organisation and systems. So I find efforts like the automated taxobox system and {{taxonbar}} appealing. I would like to see more reuse of the major phylogenetic trees on Wikipedia with more use of consensus trees on the higher taxa. Too often they get edited based on one recent report and/or without proper citation. Animals and bilateria are examples where this is a problem.

Towards this I have been working on a system of phylogeny templates that can be reused flexibly. The {{Clade transclude}} template allows selective transclusion, so the phylogenetic trees on one page can be reused with modifications, i.e. can be pruned and grafted, used with or without images, with or without collapsible elements, etc. I have an example for the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification (see {{Phylogeny/APG IV}}) and one for squamates that also includes collapsible elements (see {{Phylogeny/Squamata}}).

A second project is to have a modular reference system for taxonomic resources. I have made some progress along this lines with the {{BioRef}} template. This started off simply as a way of hardlinking to Catalog of Fishes pages and I’ve gradually expanded it to cover other groups (e..g. FishBase, AmphibiaWeb and Amphibian Species of the World, Reptile Database, the Mammalian Diversity Database). The modular nature is still rudimentary and needs a rewrite before it is ready for wider use.

What would surprise your fellow editors to learn about your life off-Wikipedia?

I don’t think there is anything particularly surprising or interesting about my life. I’ve had an academic career as a research scientist but I don't think anyone could guess the area from my Wikipedia edits. I prefer to work on areas where I am learning at the same time. This why I spend more time with neglected topics (e.g. mosses at the moment). I start reading and then find that I’m not getting the information I want.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

My interest in the classification of things goes beyond biology. I am fascinated by mediaeval attempts to classify knowledge, such as Bacon in his The Advancement of Learning and Diderot and d’Alembert in their Encyclopédie. They were trying to come up with a universal scheme of knowledge just as the printing press was allowing greater dissemination of knowledge.

With the internet we are seeing a new revolution in knowledge dissemination. Just look at how we could read research papers on the COVID virus within weeks of its discovery. With an open internet, everyone has access, not just those with the luxury of books at home or good libraries. Sites like the Biodiversity Heritage Library allow you to read old scientific works without having to visit dusty university library stack rooms, while the taxonomic and checklist databases provide instant information on millions of living species. In principle, the whole world can now find out about anything, even if Douglas Adams warned we might be disinclined to do so.

This is why I like Wikipedia, with all its warts, it’s a means of organising the knowledge on the internet. In just two decades it’s become a first stop for knowledge and hopefully a gateway to more specialised sources. Perhaps developing this latter aspect, beyond providing good sources for what we say, is the next challenge for Wikipedia.

May DYKs

Slender Scotch burnet moth on a flower

Northern plains gray langur

Male vermilion flycatcher

Canada lynx

Meerkats

Hilarimorphites burmanica

Sun bear

• ... that coconut mites can be dispersed by wind, or perhaps by hitching a lift? (1 May)
• ... that Neanderthals went fishing? (1 May)
• ... that the Rowridge Valley in the Isle of Wight is the only known location for the wood calamint in Britain? (1 May)
• ... that Tetraponera penzigi is one of several species of ant that protect whistling thorn trees in East Africa from grazing giraffes and rhinoceroses? (3 May)
• ... that the Vietnam mouse-deer, which had been feared to have gone extinct nearly 30 years ago, was sighted again in 2019? (4 May)
• ... that most branchiobdellids use crayfish as hosts, living on their heads, carapaces, or claws, but in some instances inside their gill cavities? (5 May)
• ... that the song of the Madagascan hoopoe differs markedly from that of the African hoopoe? (5 May)
• ... that populations of the slender Scotch burnet (pictured), a European moth that lives in dry, lime-rich areas, have been declining? (6 May)
• ... that the spinosaurid dinosaur Ichthyovenator had two sails on its back? (9 May)
• ... that the scale insect Saissetia coffeae attacks many other plants besides coffee? (9 May)
• ... that entomologist Frederick Vincent Theobald wrote a five-volume monograph and sixty scientific papers on mosquitoes? (12 May)
• ... that the northern plains gray langur monkey (example pictured) is killed in India for food and to prevent crop raiding, despite being considered sacred by Hindus? (12 May)
• ... that the leech Limnatis nilotica can affect humans and livestock, entering hosts through the mouth, nose, or other orifices? (12 May)
• ... that while the termite Pterotermes occidentis inhabits dead blue palo verde in the Sonoran Desert, Marginitermes hubbardi prefers dead saguaro? (14 May)
• ... that the tree Barteria fistulosa is associated with Tetraponera aethiops, an aggressive species of ant that lives in its hollow branches and twigs? (15 May)
• ... that Miller's langur, one of the rarest primates in Borneo, was feared to be extinct until a 2012 study rediscovered it in an area where it was previously unknown? (16 May)
• ... that most of the known Gigantopithecus fossils are of teeth because the other bones are likely to have been eaten by porcupines? (17 May)
• ... that Tetraponera tessmanni, a very aggressive ant, is able to establish dominance over the whole of the liana in which it lives, which may be 50 m (164 ft) long? (17 May)
• ... that mesophyletid weevils have only been found in Burmese amber? (18 May)
• ... that Pyrocephalus, the genus name of the vermilion flycatcher (example pictured), literally means 'fire head'? (19 May)
• ... that the male bigtooth cardinalfish broods a ball of eggs in his mouth? (20 May)
• ... that in the Australian Journal of Herpetology, a first-year student and a high school teacher reassessed the taxonomy of Australia's entire reptile class, naming 33 novel genera and 214 new species? (20 May)
• ... that the Arizona dampwood termite exclusively colonizes dead parts of standing trees? (22 May)
• ... that Megaceroides algericus is one of only two deer species known to have been native to Africa, alongside the Barbary stag? (23 May)
• ... that besides eating ants and termites, the waved woodpecker feeds on fruits, berries, and seeds? (24 May)
• ... that populations of the Canada lynx (pictured) undergo cyclic rises and falls in line with those of the snowshoe hare? (25 May)
• ... that despite being known as the Mexican hydrangea, Clerodendrum bungei is neither from Mexico nor a species of hydrangea? (25 May)
• ... that meerkats (examples pictured) use alarm calls that can identify the type of predator posing the risk, the level of danger, and the caller itself? (27 May)
• ... that the frog Boophis fayi can be identified by its unusual green-and-turquoise eyes? (30 May)
• ... that members of the fly family Apystomyiidae (example depicted) have been found in Late Jurassic sediments in Kazakhstan? (30 May)
• ... that the sun bear (pictured) is the smallest of all bear species? (31 May)

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The Signpost: 28 June 2020

• News and notes: Progress at Wikipedia Library and Wikijournal of Medicine
  Plus Swedish biographies and the big oops!

• Community view: Community open letter on renaming
  Reacting to the WMF's rebranding proposal.

• Gallery: After the killing of George Floyd
  Protests and photos from around the world...

• In the media: Part collaboration and part combat
  Racial justice, Facebook, LGBTQ+, Ryan Merkley, and a woman.

• Discussion report: Community reacts to WMF rebranding proposals
  Many Wikimedia community members are upset about the WMF's plan to rebrand. Plus, a discussion of Fox News's reliability.

• Featured content: Sports are returning, with a rainbow
  Battles, music, and animals feature prominently in this month's best content.

• Arbitration report: Anti-harassment RfC and a checkuser revocation
  The RfC should keep everybody busy.

• Traffic report: The pandemic, alleged murder, a massacre, and other deaths
  Plus Rajput, Musk, Epstein, Maxwell, Owens and Anonymous

• News from the WMF: We stand for racial justice
  On these issues, there is no neutral stance.

• Recent research: Wikipedia and COVID-19; automated Wikipedia-based fact-checking
  And other new research publications

• Interview: What is wrong with rebranding to "Wikipedia Foundation"?
  Four signers of the open letter explain.

• Humour: Cherchez une femme
  It's amazing what one can do.

• Opinion: Trying to find COI or paid editors? Just read the news
  A scientific scandal and the Ronaldo of investment banking.

• On the bright side: For what are you grateful this month?
  A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

• In focus: Edit Loud, Edit Proud: LGBTIQ+ Wikimedians and Global Information Activism
  The history and impact of LGBTIQ+ contributions to Wikimedia projects.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Black Lives Matter
  How Wikipedia is covering racial injustice, both in the outer world and on-site

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June/July 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

June and July 2020—Issue 015

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Canada lynx by Sainsf Gigantorhynchus by Mattximus Leech by LittleJerry, Chiswick Chap and Cwmhiraeth Orangutan by LittleJerry Secretarybird by LittleJerry, Aa77zz and Casliber Vermilion flycatcher by CaptainEek Bat virome by Enwebb, reviewed by Chidgk1 Doedicurus by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Hog Farm Dwarf dog-faced bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77 Echinodon by IJReid, reviewed by JurassicClassic767 Edvard August Vainio by Esculenta, reviewed by ChiswickCahp Hammer-headed bat by Enwebb, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Homo rudolfensis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by JurassicClassic767 Nina Demme by SusunW, reviewed by Enwebb Northern crested newt by Tylototriton, reviewed by Enwebb Pterodactylus by JurassicClassic767, reviewed by ChiswickCahp Zebra by LittleJerry, reviewed by Dunkleosteus77

Newly nominated content

Horseshoe bat by Enwebb Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared Zebra by LittleJerry Australopithecus afarensis by Dunkleosteus77 Australopithecus africanus by Dunkleosteus77 Australopithecus bahrelghazali by Dunkleosteus77 Australopithecus deyiremeda by Dunkleosteus77 Australopithecus sediba by Dunkleosteus77 Bonelli's eagle by Sandhillcrane Great flying fox by Enwebb Homo habilis by Dunkleosteus77 Markham's storm petrel by Therapyisgood Ornithocheiridae by JurassicClassic767 Paranthropus aethiopicus by Dunkleosteus77 Paranthropus boisei by Dunkleosteus77 Paranthropus robustus by Dunkleosteus77 Tatenectes by Slate Weasel

News at a glance

• This issue is a double issue, but the plan is to return to monthly henceforth.
• A discussion at WikiProject Palaeontology about internal peer review processes led to the creation of a peer review space. In contrast to the more formal Peer Review, PalaeoPR focuses on short "fact checks", emphasizing content over style. Reviews are meant to be low commitment, with "drive-by reviews" encouraged. Since its inception on 8 July, seven articles have been submitted to PalaeoPR.
• After a highly competitive third round, two Tree of Life editors advanced to the fourth round of the WikiCup: Dunkleosteus77 and Sainsf
• A February 2020 paper published in PLOS noted that Mammalian Species is one of the most over-cited journals on Wikipedia relative to how frequently it is cited in other academic works.

Categorizing life with DexDor

DexDor is a WikiGnome with a particular interest in article categorization, including how organisms are categorized.

How did you become interested in editing biodiversity topics on Wikipedia?

I'm a wikignome who tries to remove unnecessary complexity and confusion in Wikipedia.  I specialise in categorization. I've worked on categorization of several topic areas (e.g. military equipment) - anywhere where I see things like category tags on articles that the category text doesn't support.  Categorization of organisms is one area I'm currently looking at (my essay on this).

You seem to be particularly interested in geographic categorization of organisms. What are some issues in this area?

One issue is that there are several possible relationships between an organism and a region (i.e. what the "of" in a "Xs of Y" means) - the organism may be found throughout the region, somewhere in the region, only in the region (i.e. endemic to that region) - there are categories for each of these (and others) and some categories have been unclear about their exact meaning. Then there's introductions by man, locally extinct species, occasional visitors...

Another issue is that some editors have thought it's appropriate to create categories for very small areas ("Spiders of Vatican City" is only a slight exaggeration) and put a few articles in them, thus creating a category that is both massively incomplete and non-defining for the articles in it.

There have been several (now blocked) editors who have been disruptive in this area, but a confusing and sprawling categorization scheme is also partly due to editors from a particular background categorizing a particular article in a way that appears to make sense, but doesn't really make sense in the wider categorization scheme - for example, if an article mentions the countries at the extremes of an animal's distribution, the animal is categorized just for those countries.

What potential solutions do you see for categorizing organisms by geography? How can other editors help address this issue, or at least, not make it worse?

We should have some guidelines that tell editors how to categorize any article about an organism (including any geographical categorization). I've started drafting guidelines at User:DexDor/BioCat. The guidelines are also a good way to ensure that the categorization of articles about organisms is aligned with categorization of other articles and may help us to identify where there are problems, inconsistencies etc in the categorization. I welcome suggestions for improvement of the guidelines (which should at some point be moved into WP:TOL).

Regarding geographical categorization of animals the main advice for editors would be to not create categories for any new areas and to only create a new category if you intend to populate it.

What have you learned from being a Wikipedia editor?

That lots of people (from varied backgrounds) each making (mostly) small improvements (like ants in an ants nest?) and only understanding some parts of Wikipedia can produce such a wonderful resource. But also, how that tends to result in ever-increasing complexity which negatively affects editors and readers.

Is there anything about your life outside Wikipedia that would surprise us?

Not sure - I'm a member of a band.

June DYKs

Blue calamintha bee

Culture of S. aureus

Ambay pumpwood

Heuglin's gazelle

Gold-striped frog

• ... that despite being a member of the cat family, the jaguarundi has several features in common with mustelids such as otters and weasels? (2 June)
• ... that scientists were unsure whether the blue calamintha bee (pictured) still existed until it was observed again in March 2020? (2 June)
• ... that many of the animals regarded as pests have co-evolved with humans, adapting to the warm, sheltered conditions that a building provides? (3 June)
• ... that the banteng is the second endangered species to be successfully cloned, and the first clone to survive beyond infancy? (5 June)
• ... that the colonial morphology of Staphylococcus species (culture pictured) is described as "creamy"? (5 June)
• ... that ant gardens are cultivated by several species of ant, including Crematogaster carinata? (6 June)
• ... that the presence of the beetle Coelomera ruficornis on its host tree (pictured) is tolerated by the ant Azteca alfari, but not by the ant Azteca muelleri? (8 June)
• ... that cattle and deer sometimes stand under trees where southern plains gray langurs are feeding in order to consume the edible pieces that the monkeys drop? (10 June)
• ... that Singaporean authorities hope that the Mandai Wildlife Bridge will reduce the risk of animals such as Sunda pangolins and leopard cats becoming roadkill? (13 June)
• ... that the gold-striped frog (pictured) sometimes breeds inside an active nest of leafcutter ants? (13 June)
• ... that Heuglin's gazelle (illustrated), reportedly last seen in Eritrea over a century earlier during Italian colonial rule, was sighted again in the country last year? (12 June)
• ... that Siamosaurus, a large bipedal carnivore from the Early Cretaceous of Thailand, is the first crocodilian-like dinosaur named from Asia? (14 June)
• ... that Homo ergaster may have been the first species of archaic humans to control fire? (14 June)
• ... that the small frog Cochranella nola has yellow intestines, a green tongue, and dark green bones? (16 June)
• ... that Nigel, nicknamed "the world's loneliest gannet" (species pictured), attempted to mate with a concrete decoy bird on Mana Island, New Zealand? (17 June)
• ... that the male giant glass frog has a hooked spur on his upper arm which is used when fighting rivals? (19 June)
• ... that vestigial organs in the Brazilian Callichirus major population (example species pictured) suggest Callichirus may be the only crustacean genus with basal, yet not universal, hermaphroditism? (20 June)
• ... that Megacephalosaurus was one of the last known pliosaurs and coexisted with some of the earliest mosasaurs? (21 June)
• ... that when boiled in milk, black coral (example pictured) emits a faint scent of myrrh? (21 June)
• ... that one of the factors affecting the future of the Huanchaca mouse is the increased cultivation of biofuels? (22 June)
• ... that the Strawberries and Cream Tree (pictured) is noted for producing pink blossoms on one side of the tree and white on the other, when it blooms every spring? (23 June)
• ... that the Chilean seaside cinclodes bobs its tail while it walks and flares its wings while it sings? (24 June)
• ... that Boie's frog (pictured) and the Banhado frog both resemble dead leaves on the floor of the forest? (25 June)
• ... that the extinct sumac species Rhus republicensis is named for Republic, Washington? (30 June)

• 
  Australasian gannet
• 
  C. brasiliensis, a species
  in the C. major complex
• 
  Deep-sea Antipathes dendrochristos
• 
  Strawberries and Cream Tree
  in full bloom in April 2020
• 
  Boie's frog

July DYKs

Amazon parrot

Life reconstruction of Pterodactylus antiquus

• ... that the Newland Oak in Gloucestershire took "200 years to grow, 200 years to exist, and 200 to die"? (2 July)
• ... that the hollow trunk of Queen Elizabeth's Oak was used as a prison? (4 July)
• ... that Markham's storm petrel, which nests in Peru and northern Chile, has been described as "one of the least known seabirds in the world"? (7 July)
• ... that the Asian freshwater leech Barbronia weberi has invaded North Carolina? (11 July)
• ... that a large, elderly, "decently behaved" Russian brown bear once lived in the Leeds suburb of Headingley? (12 July)
• ... that the female Andes marsupial frog carries her developing young in a pouch on her back? (14 July)
• ... that the Amazon parrot (depicted) was implicated as a source of the great parrot fever pandemic of 1929–30, in which more than 100 people died? (17 July)
• ... that the frog Corythomantis greeningi retreats into a hole, blocks the entrance with its spiny head, and injects venom into anything that tries to dislodge it? (18 July)
• ... that the reef box crab uses its powerful pincers to break open the shells of snails? (21 July)
• ... that carnivorous wildlife of North Macedonia as small as the Balkan lynx have been reported to attack not just livestock, but humans too? (22 July)
• ... that the sea slug Discodoris boholiensis exhibits photokinesis? (22 July)
• ... that the genus Pterodactylus (species depicted), the scientific name for a pterodactyl, had been considered a "wastebasket taxon" as many species were assigned to it and later reassigned? (23 July)
• ... that the sea urchin Abatus cordatus broods its young for nine months in pockets on its upper surface? (24 July)
• ... that Harold Clyde Bingham trailed a troop of gorillas for 100 hours in 1929? (25 July)
• ... that the sea urchin Goniocidaris umbraculum moves its eggs with its tube feet, assisted by cilia, to an area near its mouth where they can be brooded? (27 July)

Discuss this issue

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Delivered on behalf of Enwebb (talk) 16:33, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 August 2020

• Special report: Wikipedia and the End of Open Collaboration?
  Comparing Wikipedia to similar projects.

• COI and paid editing: Some strange people edit Wikipedia for money
  And thanks for the photo, Ghislaine!

• News and notes: Abstract Wikipedia, a hoax, sex symbols, and a new admin
  Plus lots of affiliations!

• In the media: Dog days gone bad
  Pandemic, politics, and possibly paid editing.

• Discussion report: Fox News, a flight of RfAs, and banning policy
  Plus a proposed massive invasion of privacy!

• Featured content: Remembering Art, Valor, and Freedom
  soldiers, sports, and actors feature heavily this month.

• Traffic report: Now for something completely different
  Death and Alexander Hamilton.

• Gallery: Photos of threatened species from iNaturalist
  Sometimes you just have to ask.

• News from the WMF: New Chinese national security law in Hong Kong could limit the privacy of Wikipedia users
  Privacy is critical to sustaining freedom of expression and association, enabling knowledge and ideas to thrive.

• Recent research: Receiving thanks increases retention, but not the time contributed to Wikipedia
  And other new research publications

• Essay: Not compatible with a collaborative project
  Some editors aren't.

• Obituaries: Hasteur and Brian McNeil
  Rest in peace.

• In focus: WikiLoop DoubleCheck, reviewing edits made easy
  Making Wikipedia the encyclopedia that anyone can review.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:25, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 August 2020

• News and notes: The high road and the low road
  Will the Scots language Wikipedia survive?

• In the media: Storytelling large and small
  COVID, Fox, Kamala, Scots, cryptocurrency, and more.

• Featured content: Going for the goal
  Sports, music, military and more

• Special report: Wikipedia's not so little sister is finding its own way
  Wikidata's profound impact on Wikipedia

• Op-Ed: The longest-running hoax
  Watch out for those Mustelodons!

• Traffic report: Heart, soul, umbrellas, and politics
  More politics than usual.

• News from the WMF: Fourteen things we’ve learned by moving Polish Wikimedia conference online
  Celebrating of our community in a different format.

• Recent research: Detecting spam, and pages to protect; non-anonymous editors signal their intelligence with high-quality articles
  And other new research results

• Arbitration report: A slow couple of months
  Everybody deserves a vacation!

• From the archives: Wikipedia for promotional purposes?
  A question from 2005 that we still haven't answered.

• Obituaries: Marcus Sherman, Jerome West, and Pauline van Till
  Rest in Peace.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:32, 30 August 2020 (UTC)

August 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

September 2021—Issue 016

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Horseshoe bat by Enwebb Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared Australopithecus sediba by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Homo habilis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Enwebb Tatenectes by Slate Weasel, reviewed by FunkMonk

Newly nominated content

Black-and-red broadbill by AryKun Turtle by LittleJerry Symphyotrichum lateriflorum by Eewilson Dracophyllum fiordense by Dracophyllum Scarlet-and-white tanager by AryKun Viatkogorgon by FunkMonk Punctelia borreri by Esculenta Chivi vireo by AryKun Mountain kingfisher by AryKun Kererū by Ambrosia10

Hoax taxon sniffed out after nearly fifteen years

Cross posted from the Signpost

The jackalope, a close relative of Mustelodon

On August 7, WikiProject Palaeontology member Rextron discovered a suspicious taxon article, Mustelodon, which was created in November 2005. The article lacked references and the subsequent discussion on WikiProject Palaeontology found that the alleged type locality (where the fossil was first discovered) of Lago Nandarajo "near the northern border of Panama" was nonexistent. In fact, Panama does not even really have a northern border, as it is bounded along the north by the Caribbean Sea. No other publications or databases mentioned Mustelodon, save a fleeting mention in a 2019 book that presumably followed Wikipedia, Felines of the World.

The article also appeared in four other languages, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch, and Serbian. In Serbian Wikipedia, a note at the bottom of the page warned: "It is important to note here that there is no data on this genus in the official scientific literature, and all attached data on the genus Mustelodon on this page are taken from the English Wikipedia and are the only known data on this genus of mammals, so the validity of this genus is questionable."

Editors took action to alert our counterparts on other projects, and these versions were removed also. As the editor who reached out to Spanish and Catalan Wikipedia, it was somewhat challenging to navigate these mostly foreign languages (I have a limited grasp of Spanish). I doubted that the article had very many watchers, so I knew I had to find some WikiProjects where I could post a machine translation advising of the hoax, and asking that users follow local protocols to remove the article. I was surprised to find, however, that Catalan Wikipedia does not tag articles for WikiProjects on talk pages, meaning I had to fumble around to find what I needed (turns out that WikiProjects are Viquiprojectes in Catalan!) Mustelodon remains on Wikidata, where its "instance of" property was swapped from "taxon" to "fictional taxon".

How did this article have such a long lifespan? Early intervention is critical for removing hoaxes. A 2016 report found that a hoax article that survives its first day has an 18% chance of lasting a year. Additionally, hoax articles tend to have longer lifespans if they are in inconspicuous parts of Wikipedia, where they do not receive many views. Mustelodon was only viewed a couple times a day, on average.

Mustelodon survived a brush with death three years into its lifespan. The article was proposed for deletion in September 2008, with a deletion rationale of "No references given; cannot find any evidence in peer-reviewed journals that this alleged genus actually exists". Unfortunately, the proposed deletion was contested and the template removed, though the declining editor did not give a rationale. Upon its rediscovery in August 2020, Mustelodon was tagged for speedy deletion under CSD G3 as a "blatant hoax". This was challenged, and an Articles for Deletion discussion followed. On 12 August, the AfD was closed as a SNOW delete. WikiProject Palaeontology members ensured that any trace of it was scrubbed from legitimate articles. The fictional mammal was finally, truly extinct.

At the ripe old age of 14 years, 9 months, this is the longest-lived documented hoax on Wikipedia, topping the previous documented record of 14 years, 5 months, set by The Gates of Saturn, a fictitious television show, which was incidentally also discovered in August 2020. How do we discover other hoax taxa? Could we use Wikidata to discover taxa are not linked to databases like ITIS, Fossilworks, and others?

Spotlight with Mattximus

Apororhynchus hemignathi, a spiny-headed worm with the distinction of being one of the first named animal taxa when organized alphabetically

This month's spotlight is with Mattximus, author of two Featured Articles and 29 Featured Lists at current count.

How did you become involved with editing biodiversity articles?

I think I have a compulsion to make lists, it doesn't show up in my real life, but online I secretly get a lot of satisfaction making orderly lists and tables. It's a bit of a secret of mine, because it doesn't manifest in any other part of my life. My background is in biology, so this was a natural (haha) fit.

You have an impressive number of FAs under your belt. Two of your more recent ones, Apororhynchus and Gigantorhynchus, are part of what you referred to as an "experiment". How did you choose these articles, and what's next for you in this experiment?

This experiment was just to see if I could get any random article to FA status, so I picked the very first alphabetical animal species according to the taxonomy and made that attempt. Technically, there isn't enough information for a species page so I just merged the species into a genus and went from there. It was a fun exercise, but doing it alone is not the most fun so it's probably on pause for the foreseeable future.

Note: Aporhynchus is the first alphabetical taxon as follows: Animalia, Acanthocephala, Archiacanthocephala, Apororhynchida, Apororhynchidae, Apororhynchus

What advice would you give to someone who wants to nominate their first FAC?

I would recommend getting a good article nominated, then a featured list up before tackling the FA. Lists are a bit more forgiving but give you a taste of what standards to expect from FA. The most time consuming thing is proper citations so make sure that is in order before starting either.

Is there anything that would surprise us to learn about your life off-Wikipedia?

My personality in real life does not match my wikipedia persona. I'm not a very organized, or orderly in real life, but the wikipedia pages I brought to FL or FA are all very organized. Maybe it's my outlet for a more free-flowing life as a scientist/teacher.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

The fact that wikipedia exists free of profit motive and free for everyone really is something special and I encourage everyone to donate a few dollars to the cause.

August DYKs

Woolly thistle

Life reconstruction of Ankylorhiza tiedemani

Female cicada laying eggs

Acampe rigida

• ... that in the Brazilian state of Bahia, cerrado mice are often caught by barn owls, but seldom by researchers? (1 August)
• ... that ornithologist Corina Newsome and herpetologist Earyn McGee held events as part of the inaugural Black Birders Week, an effort to highlight the challenges faced by Black nature enthusiasts? (5 August)
• ... that the flower buds of the woolly thistle (pictured) can be eaten in a similar way to artichokes? (8 August)
• ... that the French peanut is native to Brazil? (10 August)
• ... that the 800-year-old Minchenden Oak is one of the oldest trees in London? (14 August)
• ... that the forward-facing incisors of the extinct dolphin Ankylorhiza (restoration pictured) may have been used for ramming their prey, similar to a hunting method used by modern orcas? (16 August)
• ... that scientists accidentally created a hybrid of two endangered fish species, called the sturddlefish? (17 August)
• ... that despite having the widest distribution in the United States, the arid-land subterranean termite causes less structural damage than other members of its genus? (19 August)
• ... that the Eocene leaf species Tetracentron hopkinsii was not confirmed from Washington state until 2018? (19 August)
• ... that Helen Ballard was a hellebore horticulturist? (22 August)
• ... that in 2021, the dwarf periodical cicada (pictured) is due to emerge in parts of eastern North America, not having been seen for 17 years? (24 August)
• ... that the fossil sumac Rhus boothillensis is named for a public fossil digging site in Republic, Washington? (25 August)
• ... that the orchid Acampe rigida (pictured) is pollinated by raindrops? (28 August)
• ... that fossils identified as Pentacentron sternhartae may actually be the fruits of another fossil species? (29 August)
• ... that American naturalist William Harvey Brown, who went to Africa to collect specimens, ended up fighting in two wars there? (30 August)
• ... that the rosy spindle cowry, a species of sea snail, lives exclusively on gorgonians? (30 August)

Discuss this issue

You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.

Delivered on behalf of Enwebb (talk) 17:10, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

August 2020 Tree of Life Newsletter

September 2021—Issue 016

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Horseshoe bat by Enwebb Siamosaurus by PaleoGeekSquared Australopithecus sediba by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Homo habilis by Dunkleosteus77, reviewed by Enwebb Tatenectes by Slate Weasel, reviewed by FunkMonk

Newly nominated content

Black-and-red broadbill by AryKun Turtle by LittleJerry Symphyotrichum lateriflorum by Eewilson Dracophyllum fiordense by Dracophyllum Scarlet-and-white tanager by AryKun Viatkogorgon by FunkMonk Punctelia borreri by Esculenta Chivi vireo by AryKun Mountain kingfisher by AryKun Kererū by Ambrosia10

Hoax taxon sniffed out after nearly fifteen years

Cross posted from the Signpost

The jackalope, a close relative of Mustelodon

On August 7, WikiProject Palaeontology member Rextron discovered a suspicious taxon article, Mustelodon, which was created in November 2005. The article lacked references and the subsequent discussion on WikiProject Palaeontology found that the alleged type locality (where the fossil was first discovered) of Lago Nandarajo "near the northern border of Panama" was nonexistent. In fact, Panama does not even really have a northern border, as it is bounded along the north by the Caribbean Sea. No other publications or databases mentioned Mustelodon, save a fleeting mention in a 2019 book that presumably followed Wikipedia, Felines of the World.

The article also appeared in four other languages, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch, and Serbian. In Serbian Wikipedia, a note at the bottom of the page warned: "It is important to note here that there is no data on this genus in the official scientific literature, and all attached data on the genus Mustelodon on this page are taken from the English Wikipedia and are the only known data on this genus of mammals, so the validity of this genus is questionable."

Editors took action to alert our counterparts on other projects, and these versions were removed also. As the editor who reached out to Spanish and Catalan Wikipedia, it was somewhat challenging to navigate these mostly foreign languages (I have a limited grasp of Spanish). I doubted that the article had very many watchers, so I knew I had to find some WikiProjects where I could post a machine translation advising of the hoax, and asking that users follow local protocols to remove the article. I was surprised to find, however, that Catalan Wikipedia does not tag articles for WikiProjects on talk pages, meaning I had to fumble around to find what I needed (turns out that WikiProjects are Viquiprojectes in Catalan!) Mustelodon remains on Wikidata, where its "instance of" property was swapped from "taxon" to "fictional taxon".

How did this article have such a long lifespan? Early intervention is critical for removing hoaxes. A 2016 report found that a hoax article that survives its first day has an 18% chance of lasting a year. Additionally, hoax articles tend to have longer lifespans if they are in inconspicuous parts of Wikipedia, where they do not receive many views. Mustelodon was only viewed a couple times a day, on average.

Mustelodon survived a brush with death three years into its lifespan. The article was proposed for deletion in September 2008, with a deletion rationale of "No references given; cannot find any evidence in peer-reviewed journals that this alleged genus actually exists". Unfortunately, the proposed deletion was contested and the template removed, though the declining editor did not give a rationale. Upon its rediscovery in August 2020, Mustelodon was tagged for speedy deletion under CSD G3 as a "blatant hoax". This was challenged, and an Articles for Deletion discussion followed. On 12 August, the AfD was closed as a SNOW delete. WikiProject Palaeontology members ensured that any trace of it was scrubbed from legitimate articles. The fictional mammal was finally, truly extinct.

At the ripe old age of 14 years, 9 months, this is the longest-lived documented hoax on Wikipedia, topping the previous documented record of 14 years, 5 months, set by The Gates of Saturn, a fictitious television show, which was incidentally also discovered in August 2020. How do we discover other hoax taxa? Could we use Wikidata to discover taxa are not linked to databases like ITIS, Fossilworks, and others?

Spotlight with Mattximus

Apororhynchus hemignathi, a spiny-headed worm with the distinction of being one of the first named animal taxa when organized alphabetically

This month's spotlight is with Mattximus, author of two Featured Articles and 29 Featured Lists at current count.

How did you become involved with editing biodiversity articles?

I think I have a compulsion to make lists, it doesn't show up in my real life, but online I secretly get a lot of satisfaction making orderly lists and tables. It's a bit of a secret of mine, because it doesn't manifest in any other part of my life. My background is in biology, so this was a natural (haha) fit.

You have an impressive number of FAs under your belt. Two of your more recent ones, Apororhynchus and Gigantorhynchus, are part of what you referred to as an "experiment". How did you choose these articles, and what's next for you in this experiment?

This experiment was just to see if I could get any random article to FA status, so I picked the very first alphabetical animal species according to the taxonomy and made that attempt. Technically, there isn't enough information for a species page so I just merged the species into a genus and went from there. It was a fun exercise, but doing it alone is not the most fun so it's probably on pause for the foreseeable future.

Note: Aporhynchus is the first alphabetical taxon as follows: Animalia, Acanthocephala, Archiacanthocephala, Apororhynchida, Apororhynchidae, Apororhynchus

What advice would you give to someone who wants to nominate their first FAC?

I would recommend getting a good article nominated, then a featured list up before tackling the FA. Lists are a bit more forgiving but give you a taste of what standards to expect from FA. The most time consuming thing is proper citations so make sure that is in order before starting either.

Is there anything that would surprise us to learn about your life off-Wikipedia?

My personality in real life does not match my wikipedia persona. I'm not a very organized, or orderly in real life, but the wikipedia pages I brought to FL or FA are all very organized. Maybe it's my outlet for a more free-flowing life as a scientist/teacher.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

The fact that wikipedia exists free of profit motive and free for everyone really is something special and I encourage everyone to donate a few dollars to the cause.

August DYKs

Woolly thistle

Life reconstruction of Ankylorhiza tiedemani

Female cicada laying eggs

Acampe rigida

• ... that in the Brazilian state of Bahia, cerrado mice are often caught by barn owls, but seldom by researchers? (1 August)
• ... that ornithologist Corina Newsome and herpetologist Earyn McGee held events as part of the inaugural Black Birders Week, an effort to highlight the challenges faced by Black nature enthusiasts? (5 August)
• ... that the flower buds of the woolly thistle (pictured) can be eaten in a similar way to artichokes? (8 August)
• ... that the French peanut is native to Brazil? (10 August)
• ... that the 800-year-old Minchenden Oak is one of the oldest trees in London? (14 August)
• ... that the forward-facing incisors of the extinct dolphin Ankylorhiza (restoration pictured) may have been used for ramming their prey, similar to a hunting method used by modern orcas? (16 August)
• ... that scientists accidentally created a hybrid of two endangered fish species, called the sturddlefish? (17 August)
• ... that despite having the widest distribution in the United States, the arid-land subterranean termite causes less structural damage than other members of its genus? (19 August)
• ... that the Eocene leaf species Tetracentron hopkinsii was not confirmed from Washington state until 2018? (19 August)
• ... that Helen Ballard was a hellebore horticulturist? (22 August)
• ... that in 2021, the dwarf periodical cicada (pictured) is due to emerge in parts of eastern North America, not having been seen for 17 years? (24 August)
• ... that the fossil sumac Rhus boothillensis is named for a public fossil digging site in Republic, Washington? (25 August)
• ... that the orchid Acampe rigida (pictured) is pollinated by raindrops? (28 August)
• ... that fossils identified as Pentacentron sternhartae may actually be the fruits of another fossil species? (29 August)
• ... that American naturalist William Harvey Brown, who went to Africa to collect specimens, ended up fighting in two wars there? (30 August)
• ... that the rosy spindle cowry, a species of sea snail, lives exclusively on gorgonians? (30 August)

Discuss this issue

You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.

Delivered on behalf of Enwebb (talk) 22:52, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 September 2020

• Special report: Paid editing with political connections
  WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.

• News and notes: More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki
  With inline parenthetical citations!

• In the media: WIPO, Seigenthaler incident 15 years later
  A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor

• Featured content: Life finds a Way
  Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.

• Arbitration report: Clarifications and requests
  Who is that guy JzG?

• Traffic report: Is there no justice?
  Perhaps on the tennis court.

• Recent research: Wikipedia's flood biases
  And other new research publications.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:47, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 September 2020

• Special report: Paid editing with political connections
  WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.

• News and notes: More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki
  With inline parenthetical citations!

• In the media: WIPO, Seigenthaler incident 15 years later
  A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor

• Featured content: Life finds a Way
  Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.

• Arbitration report: Clarifications and requests
  Who is that guy JzG?

• Traffic report: Is there no justice?
  Perhaps on the tennis court.

• Recent research: Wikipedia's flood biases
  And other new research publications.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:53, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 November 2020

• News and notes: Ban on IPs on ptwiki, paid editing for Tatarstan, IP masking
  Branding pause, birthday.

• In the media: Murder, politics, religion, health and books
  A possible conspiracy and 2 infodemics!

• Book review: Review of Wikipedia @ 20
  We made it this far, but where do we go from here?

• Op-Ed: Anti-vandalism with masked IPs: the steps forward
  Getting input from editors.

• Discussion report: Proposal to change board composition, In The News dumps Trump story
  Will editors be affected?

• Featured content: The "Green Terror" is neither green nor sufficiently terrifying. Worst Hallowe'en ever.
  A hairy starfish flower might help!

• Traffic report: Jump back, what's that sound?
  Here comes the judge.

• Interview: Joseph Reagle and Jackie Koerner
  The co-editors of Wikipedia @ 20.

• News from the WMF: Meet the 2020 Wikimedian of the Year
  Sandister Tei.

• Recent research: OpenSym 2020: Deletions and gender, masses vs. elites, edit filters
  Ortega's hypothesis was right! (If you start with the right definitions and assumptions.)

• In focus: The many (reported) deaths of Wikipedia
  The grove continues to grow – despite periods of dismal predictions.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:50, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 November 2020

• News and notes: Jimmy Wales "shouldn't be kicked out before he's ready"
  Arbitration Committee elections begin.

• Op-Ed: Re-righting Wikipedia
  Wikipedia deprecates more right-wing sources than left-wing sources ... but is it a problem?

• Opinion: How billionaires re-write Wikipedia
  Billionaires are different from you and me.

• In the media: Relying on Wikipedia: voters, scientists, and a Canadian border guard
  And yes, it does!

• Featured content: Frontonia sp. is thankful for delicious cyanobacteria
  The Réunion swamphen is a lot less thankful.

• Traffic report: 007 with Borat, the Queen, and an election
  Plus Alex Trebek and the Queen's Gambit.

• News from Wiki Education: An assignment that changed a life: Kasey Baker
  Wiki Education and changing our encyclopedia.

• GLAM plus: West Coast New Zealand's Wikipedian at Large
  Succeeding one step at a time.

• Wikicup report: Lee Vilenski wins the 2020 WikiCup
  Gog the Mild and The Rambling Man in second and third!

• Recent research: Wikipedia's Shoah coverage succeeds where libraries fail
  And other new research publications.

• Essay: Writing about women
  Male is not the default.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:45, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 December 2020

• News and notes: Year-end legal surprises cause concern, but Public Domain Day is imminent
  New laws in the US and Europe might enable trolls; sad admin milestone for English Wikipedia, or not?

• In the media: Concealment, data journalism, a non-pig farmer, and some Bluetick Hounds
  As 2020 draws to a close, this website has been splattered all over the headlines.

• Arbitration report: 2020 election results
  Congratulations to the new Arbs!

• Opinion: How to make your factory's safety and labor issues disappear
  Edit wars fought on the back of workers.

• Featured content: Very nearly ringing in the New Year with "Blank Space" – but we got there in time.
  Texas amphibia, mongeese, and Normandy invasion plans grateful.

• Traffic report: 2020 wraps up
  Punks and heroes, losers and winners, the bereaved and the deceased – they're all here.

• News from the WMF: What Wikipedia saw during election week in the U.S., and what we’re doing next
  No evidence of large-scale state-sponsored disinformation.

• Recent research: Predicting the next move in Wikipedia discussions
  Six million talk page threads analyzed, and other research.

• Essay: Subjective importance
  Is not important to notability.

• Op-Ed: An unforgettable year we might wish to forget
  The year that was 2020.

• Gallery: Angels in the architecture
  Spinning in infinity.

• Humour: 'Twas the Night Before Wikimas
  And to all a good night!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:25, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 January 2021

• News and notes: 1,000,000,000 edits, board elections, virtual Wikimania 2021
  Who else but Ser Amantio di Nicolao?

• Special report: Wiki reporting on the United States insurrection
  From the Hill to the news to Wikipedia in minutes!

• In focus: From Anarchy to Wikiality, Glaring Bias to Good Cop: Press Coverage of Wikipedia's First Two Decades
  A new "wiki journalism" is needed.

• Opinion: Wikipedia's war against scientific disinformation
  Are we getting lead by the nose?

• In the media: The world's press says "Happy Birthday!" with a few twists
  Even the world's richest man is happy we exist!

• Technology report: The people who built Wikipedia, technically
  Starting with trust, expanding, controversy, and opportunities.

• Videos and podcasts: Celebrating 20 years
  Multimedia in many styles!

• News from the WMF: Wikipedia celebrates 20 years of free, trusted information for the world
  Happy birthday!

• Recent research: Students still have a better opinion of Wikipedia than teachers
  And other new research results

• Humour: Dr. Seuss's Guide to Wikipedia
  With a special appearance by Senator Ted Cruz!

• Featured content: New Year, same Featured Content report!
  ...Well, except we did change the articles and pictures out. ...Mostly.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2020
  The end of the world as we know it?

• Obituary: Flyer22 Frozen
  RIP.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:10, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 February 2021

• News and notes: Maher stepping down
  UCC launch.

• Disinformation report: A "billionaire battle" on Wikipedia: Sex, lies, and video
  Edits of the rich and famous.

• Opinion: The call for feedback on community seats is a distraction
  Free as in Liberty.

• In the media: Corporate influence at OSM, Fox watching the hen house
  Wikidata, Turkey, Valentine's Day and all sorts of bias!

• News from the WMF: Who tells your story on Wikipedia
  You can!

• Recent research: Take an AI-generated flashcard quiz about Wikipedia; Wikipedia's anti-feudalism
  And other new research publications

• Featured content: A Love of Knowledge, for Valentine's Day
  Stealing your heart, and Charles Darwin's notebooks.

• Traffic report: Does it almost feel like you've been here before?
  Watching the Super Bowl at the Cecil?

• Gallery: What is Black history and culture?
  In paintings, photos, and recordings.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:28, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 March 2021

• News and notes: A future with a for-profit subsidiary?
  Or becoming more business-like?

• Gallery: Wiki Loves Monuments
  2020 international winners

• In the media: Wikimedia LLC and disinformation in Japan
  Plus CPAC misinformation

• News from the WMF: Project Rewrite: Tell the missing stories of women on Wikipedia and beyond
  Telling women’s stories is a radical act.

• Recent research: 10%-30% of Wikipedia’s contributors have subject-matter expertise
  And other recent research results

• From the archives: Google isn't responsible for Wikipedia's mistakes
  Huge profits sustained by unpaid labor.

• Essay: Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia
  As in "free software" and "free culture".

• Obituary: Yoninah
  Barukh dayan ha-emet ("Blessed is the true judge.")

• From the editor: What else can we say?
  What can we link to?

• Arbitration report: Open letter to the Board of Trustees
  Let's do the UCoC right!

• Traffic report: Wanda, Meghan, Liz, Phil and Zack
  Another royal bash!

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The Signpost: 25 April 2021

• From the editor: A change is gonna come
  But not soon enough.

• Disinformation report: Paid editing by a former head of state's business enterprise
  The Trump Organization's paid editors

• In the media: Fernando, governance, and rugby
  Jimmy does OK too!

• Opinion: The (Universal) Code of Conduct
  Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms

• Op-Ed: A Little Fun Goes A Long Way
  Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?

• Changing the world: The reach of protest images on Wikipedia
  Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons

• Recent research: Quality of aquatic and anatomical articles
  And other research publications

• Traffic report: The verdict is guilty, guilty, guilty
  Plus Godzilla and Kong

• News from Wiki Education: Encouraging professional physicists to engage in outreach on Wikipedia
  Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:31, 25 April 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 April 2021

• From the editor: A change is gonna come
  But not soon enough.

• Disinformation report: Paid editing by a former head of state's business enterprise
  The Trump Organization's paid editors

• In the media: Fernando, governance, and rugby
  Jimmy does OK too!

• Opinion: The (Universal) Code of Conduct
  Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms

• Op-Ed: A Little Fun Goes A Long Way
  Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?

• Changing the world: The reach of protest images on Wikipedia
  Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons

• Recent research: Quality of aquatic and anatomical articles
  And other research publications

• Traffic report: The verdict is guilty, guilty, guilty
  Plus Godzilla and Kong

• News from Wiki Education: Encouraging professional physicists to engage in outreach on Wikipedia
  Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!

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The Signpost: 27 June 2021

• News and notes: Elections, Wikimania, masking and more
  Submit your candidacy today!

• In the media: Boris and Joe, reliability, love, and money
  Will he hang it in the Oval Office?

• Disinformation report: Croatian Wikipedia: capture and release
  Curious and curiouser!

• Recent research: Feminist critique of Wikipedia's epistemology, Black Americans vastly underrepresented among editors, Wiki Workshop report
  Summaries of 26 new research publications

• Traffic report: So no one told you life was gonna be this way
  We'll be there for you!

• News from the WMF: Searching for Wikipedia
  How do our readers find us?

• Humour: Wikipedia's best articles on the world's strangest things
  It's the wheel thing.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject on open proxies interview
  Interview with volunteers at WikiProject on open proxies

• Forum: Is WMF fundraising abusive?
  A calm discussion.

• Discussion report: Reliability of WikiLeaks discussed
  WikiLeaks on multiple boards.

• Obituary: SarahSV
  Requiescat in pace.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:14, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 July 2021

• News and notes: Wikimania and a million other news stories
  And one new admin!

• Special report: Hardball in Hong Kong
  Three strikes and you're out?

• In the media: Larry is at it again
  Bias, propaganda and more murderous mistakes!

• Board of Trustees candidates: See the candidates
  Watch the video!

• Recent research: Gender bias and statistical fallacies, disinformation and mutual intelligibility
  And other recent research publications

• Traffic report: Football, tennis and marveling at Loki
  But you can call it soccer if you'd like.

• News from the WMF: Uncapping our growth potential – interview with James Baldwin, Finance and Administration Department
  Money, money, money.

• Humour: A little verse
  Two poems of Wikipedia.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:10, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 August 2021

• News and notes: Enough time left to vote! IP ban
  Just do it!

• In the media: Vive la différence!
  May Father Will forgive us!

• Wikimedians of the year: Seven Wikimedians of the year
  With two musical celebrations!

• Gallery: Our community in 20 graphs
  We just look at the pictures!

• News from Wiki Education: Changing the face of Wikipedia
  Moving forward.

• Recent research: IP editors, inclusiveness and empathy, cyclones, and world heritage
  A monthly overview of new research results.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Days of the Year Interview
  You can start with your birthday article!

• Traffic report: Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan
  Winners and losers.

• Community view: Making Olympic history on Wikipedia
  Higher, faster, stronger and more informative!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:42, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 September 2021

• News and notes: New CEO, new board members, China bans
  And one new admin!

• In the media: The future of Wikipedia
  And a bit about the past.

• Opinion: Wikimedians of Mainland China were warned
  But just disregarded the warnings.

• Op-Ed: I've been desysopped
  But not banned!

• Disinformation report: Paid promotional paragraphs in German parliamentary pages
  Did German Wikipedia love parliaments a little too much? Plus fake-bacon and a ponzi scheme.

• Discussion report: Editors discuss Wikipedia's vetting process for administrators
  Emotional injury and rising standards against a backdrop of a dwindling sysop cadre: the 2021 Requests for adminship review grapples with tough issues.

• Recent research: Wikipedia images for machine learning; Experiment justifies Wikipedia's high search rankings
  And other new research publications

• Community view: Is writing Wikipedia like making a quilt?
  Help us piece together WikiProject Craft!

• Traffic report: Kanye, Emma Raducanu and 9/11
  Or is it Donda, Leylah Fernandez, and Flight 93?

• News from Diff: Welcome to the first grantees of the Knowledge Equity Fund
  $4.5 million for equity.

• WikiProject report: The Random and the Beautiful
  An interview with members of the Random Page Patrol.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:55, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2021

• From the editor: Different stories, same place
  What Wikipedians can and cannot do.

• News and notes: The sockpuppet who ran for adminship and almost succeeded
  And will the last person to leave the C-Suite please turn off the lights?

• In the media: China bans, and is there intelligent life on this planet?
  Beam me up, Scotty – Matt Amodio for sure, and maybe just a few VIPs, billionaires, and Tucker Carlson.

• Opinion: A photo on Wikipedia can ruin your life
  Section 230 in practice – this Black life should matter to us.

• Discussion report: Editors brainstorm and propose changes to the Requests for adminship process
  Proposals to solve eight core problems – what many describe as a broken process – identified in the 2021 RfA review.

• Recent research: Welcome messages fail to improve newbie retention
  And other new research results

• Community view: Reflections on the Chinese Wikipedia
  Were the bans justified?

• Traffic report: James Bond and the Giant Squid Game
  Plus German elections and movies galore.

• Technology report: Wikimedia Toolhub, winners of the Coolest Tool Award, and more
  Now discovering and accessing Wikimedia tools will be easier.

• Serendipity: How Wikipedia helped create a Serbian stamp
  Details can make all the difference!

• Book review: Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality
  Or you could watch the video!

• WikiProject report: Redirection
  An interview with participants at WikiProject Redirect.

• Humour: A very Wiki crossword
  24 clues to chew on.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:13, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 November 2021

• In the media: Denial: climate change, mass killings and pornography
  Will they deny non-fungible tokens next?

• WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2021
  15th annual event closes with hundreds of articles improved

• Deletion report: What we lost, what we gained
  1,767 nominations in November... AN/Is... DRVs... The largest AfD in history, possibly ever!

• From a Wikipedia reader: What's Matt Amodio?
  Wikipedia democratizes knowledge, but is it in Jeopardy?

• Arbitration report: ArbCom in 2021
  We should have at least one of these every year!

• Discussion report: On the brink of change – RFA reforms appear imminent
  Editors propose modifications to Wikipedia's admin-making process.

• Technology report: What does it take to upload a file?
  How MediaWiki works with media files.

• WikiProject report: Interview with contributors to WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers
  From the silver screen to your computer screen

• Serendipity: "Did You Know ..." featured a photo of the wrong female WWII pilot
  A worthy pilot but the photo didn't match the article!

• News from Diff: Content translation tool helps create one million Wikipedia articles
  Sharing the wealth of information!

• Traffic report: Reporting ticket sales on the edge of the Wiki, if Eternals should fail
  Conjuring up the jesters again!

• Recent research: Vandalizing Wikipedia as rational behavior
  And other recent research publications

• Humour: A very new very Wiki crossword
  Answers to last month's puzzle included.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:46, 29 November 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 December 2021

• From the editor: Here is the news
  And wishing our readers a healthy, fortunate and bountiful 2022.

• News and notes: Jimbo's NFT, new arbs, fixing RfA, and financial statements
  Wrapping up 2021 with a pair of auctions, activity surrounding administrators, and an audit.

• Serendipity: Born three months before her brother?
  Wikipedia and the Oxford Dictionary of Music have different opinions.

• In the media: The past is not even past
  Even for Wikipedia critics in nappies!

• Recent research: STEM articles judged unsuitable for undergraduates below the first paragraph
  And other new research results.

• Arbitration report: A new crew for '22
  Elections certified, bans unlifted, mailing lists restricted, but no new cases.

• By the numbers: Four billion words and a few numbers
  Commemorating a milestone: word count comparisons with other Wikipedias.

• Deletion report: We laughed, we cried, we closed as "no consensus"
  More hats than a rodeo: the best, worst, and gnarliest AfDs of 2021.

• Gallery: Wikicommons presents: 2021
  Some of 2021's most dramatic moments through Wikicommons images.

• Traffic report: Spider-Man, football and the departed
  We'll always remember the Greek alphabet!

• Crossword: Another Wiki crossword for one and all
  Answers to last month's puzzle included.

• Humour: Buying Wikipedia
  Helpful how-to for the prospective buyer. Why settle for a measly single edit, when you can buy the whole thing?

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The Signpost: 30 January 2022

• Special report: WikiEd course leads to Twitter harassment
  Education, deletion and social media can be a volatile mix.

• News and notes: Feedback for Board of Trustees election
  Plus, the incredible shrinking admin cadre.

• Interview: CEO Maryana Iskander "four weeks in"
  "Impossible ideas can be created, not just imagined."

• Black History Month: What are you doing for Black History Month?
  Over 1,700 U.S. congressmen owned slaves. You can help document this.

• Deletion report: Ringing in the new year: Subject notability guideline under discussion
  More than you wanted to know about the massive NSPORTS RfC.

• WikiProject report: The Forgotten Featured
  Interview with volunteers at the Unreviewed featured articles 2020 working group.

• Arbitration report: New arbitrators look at new case and antediluvian sanctions
  The spirit of 2006 is going strong.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2021
  Royals, Freddy and movies.

• Gallery: No Spanish municipality without a photograph
  How many more photos are needed?

• Obituary: Twofingered Typist
  Rest in peace.

• Op-Ed: Identifying and rooting out climate change denial
  Will this method apply to other sensitive topics?

• Essay: The prime directive
  Just imagine!

• Opinion: Should the Wikimedia Foundation continue to accept cryptocurrency donations?
  One editor doesn't think so.

• In the media: Fuzzy-headed government editing
  Get down and party! But no COI editing!

• Recent research: Articles with higher quality ratings have fewer "knowledge gaps"
  And other research results.

• Serendipity: Pooh entered the Public Domain – but Tigger has to wait two more years
  Copyright is almost always complicated, but we break it down for you.

• Crossword: Cross swords with a crossword
  Featuring an experimental on-wiki entry box.

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The Signpost: 27 February 2022

• From the team: Selection of a new Signpost Editor-in-Chief
  Bye-bye 'bones!

• News and notes: Impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine
  Plus, the Steward Elections, Leadership Development Task Force and a contest.

• Opinion: Why student editors are good for Wikipedia
  Who are the students and how do we assure quality?

• Special report: A presidential candidate's team takes on Wikipedia
  Vive l'encyclopédie libre!

• In the media: Wiki-drama in the UK House of Commons
  Plus, Wiki Unseen, the "Sports Wars", and much more.

• Serendipity: War photographers: from Crimea (1850s) to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)
  "The first casualty when war comes is truth".

• Technology report: Community Wishlist Survey results
  Plus, DiscussionTools and dark mode.

• WikiProject report: 10 years of tea
  Coffee in Teahouse and other secrets revealed in this interview with volunteers.

• Featured content: Featured Content returns
  A fantastic diverse mix of a record-breaking amount of content.

• Deletion report: The 10 most SHOCKING deletion discussions of February
  You WON'T believe #8!

• Recent research: How editors and readers may be emotionally affected by disasters and terrorist attacks
  And other recent research publications.

• Arbitration report: Parties remonstrate, arbs contemplate, skeptics coordinate
  The report on lengthy litigation.

• By the numbers: Does birthplace affect the frequency of Wikipedia biography articles?
  Some evidence from people born in France.

• Gallery: The vintage exhibit
  Some good-ol' posters, restored to its former glory.

• Traffic report: Euphoria, Pamela Anderson, lies and Netflix
  Plus quarterbacks, half-timers, Olympians, and Hulu!

• News from Diff: The Wikimania 2022 Core Organizing Team
  Meet the folks in charge!

• Crossword: A Crossword, featuring Featured Articles
  Can you fill in the boxes with Wikipedia's best content?

• Humour: Notability of mailboxes
  Does yours pass?

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter – 018

February 2022—Issue 018

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Black-and-yellow broadbill by AryKun Papuan mountain pigeon by AryKun List of leporids by PresN Algerian nuthatch by 2001:4455:364:A800:C13C:8A64:1CEF:F186, reviewed by AryKun Jungle bush quail by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Lycorma imperialis by Etriusus, reviewed by Ealdgyth Harry Allan by Dracophyllum, reviewed by Esculenta Banded bullfrog by DanCherek, reviewed by GhostRiver

Newly nominated content

Queen angelfish by LittleJerry Red panda by LittleJerry and BhagyaMani List of lagomorphs by PresN Corsican nuthatch by 2001:4455:364:A800:39A6:A5D8:C903:5E1D Firefly by Chiswick Chap Mountain pigeon by AryKun Bonacynodon by Trilletrollet Golden eagle by Vaco98

News at a glance

• A competitive first round of the Wikicup ends, with eight TOL editors moving into the second round: AryKun, GhostRiver, Ealdgyth, Wretchskull, Charlesjsharp, Dracophyllum, Guettarda, and Casliber.

February DYKs

Dudleya cymosa subsp. pumila

A Golden Retriever retrieving a shot game bird

Rhododendrons at Sheringham Park

Seagrass in La Ciotat, France

• ... that Ozzie was the first gorilla to take his own blood pressure voluntarily? (February 1)
• ... that the Sonoran blue butterfly uses Dudleya cymosa subsp. pumila (pictured) as a larval foodplant and hummingbirds feed on its nectar? (February 2)
• ... that the spotted lanternfly has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat swelling since the 1100s? (February 2)
• ... that all Golden Retrievers (example pictured) descend from a golden-coloured Flat-coated Retriever named Nous and a Tweed Water Spaniel named Belle? (February 4)
• ... that Fagus langevinii is considered to be the oldest extinct species of beech tree? (February 5)
• ... that the white-headed fruit dove (Ptilinopus eugeniae) was named after Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French? (February 5)
• ... that Coleman's melibe is said to look like a "string of snot in the water"? (February 6)
• ... that Mini ature is the largest frog in its genus? (February 7)
• ... that the New Zealand stonefly Stenoperla prasina was the five millionth specimen digitised by the Natural History Museum in London? (February 8)
• ... that Wallace's fruit dove has been described as being one of the most beautiful fruit doves? (February 9)
• ... that the woodland garden (example pictured), "colourfully planted with exotic shrubs and herbaceous plants, dominated English horticulture from 1910 to 1960"? (February 17)
• ... that seas are being rewilded with seagrass (example pictured)? (February 17)
• ... that Potamophylax coronavirus's range has been described as a battlefield between scientists and hydropower plant management? (February 23)
• ... that the genus Xochiquetzallia was named after the Aztec goddess of flowers? (February 26)
• ... that despite being nicknamed a "lanternbug", Lycorma imperialis does not actually emit any light? (February 28)
• ... that although it is a bird of prey, the white-fronted falconet is only 14 to 17 cm (5.5 to 6.7 in) long and mainly feeds on insects? (February 28)

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 March 2022

• From the Signpost team: How The Signpost is documenting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  We stand in solidarity with free knowledge.

• News and notes: Of safety and anonymity
  The diff that resulted in arrest and jail time in Belarus.

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Kharkiv, Ukraine: Countering Russian aggression with a camera
  A Ukrainian Wikipedian volunteers to document the war.

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary
  Reporting from on the ground in Ukraine.

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Western Ukraine: Working with Wikipedia helps
  Holding up the elephants!

• Disinformation report: The oligarchs' socks
  For whom do the Bells toil?

• In the media: Ukraine, Russia, and even some other stuff
  Lenin did not say "Wow, check out those yachts"!

• Recent research: Top scholarly citers, lack of open access references, predicting editor departures
  And other research publications.

• Wikimedian perspective: My heroes from Russia, Ukraine & beyond
  The thought of cities being destroyed is unbearable.

• Discussion report: Athletes are less notable now
  The Discussion Report returns with a diverse mix of community proposals.

• Technology report: 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon
  Plus, Desktop Improvements and a new uploading tool for Commons.

• Arbitration report: Skeptics given heavenly judgement, whirlwind of Discord drama begins to spin for tropical cyclone editors
  Unclear whether storm will make landfall.

• Traffic report: War, what is it good for?
  Ukraine, Russia and Anna Sorokin.

• Deletion report: Ukraine, werewolves, Ukraine, YouTube pundits, and Ukraine
  Things that go "boom" in the night.

• Gallery: "All we are saying is, give peace a chance..."
  The once-seen beauty of Ukraine, in high quality.

• From the archives: Burn, baby burn
  A look at when early backups of Wikipedia were recovered.

• Essay: Yes, the sky is blue
  There is such thing as over-citing.

• Tips and tricks: Become a keyboard ninja
  And other useful Tips of the Day.

• On the bright side: The bright side of news
  Happy-er current events.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:49, 27 March 2022 (UTC)

WikiProject Tree of Life/Newsletter/019

March 2022—Issue 019

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Queen angelfish by LittleJerry Alaska marmot by An anonymous username, not my real name, reviewed by Ealdgyth Firefly by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Ealdgyth Afrolychas braueri by OnlyFixingProse, reviewed by An anonymous username, not my real name Mountain pigeon by AryKun, reviewed by Ealdgyth Dracopristis by Fossiladder13, reviewed by Ealdgyth Bonacynodon by Trilletrollet, reviewed by AryKun Lichexanthone by Esculenta, reviewed by Szmenderowiecki Yellowtail flounder by Eviolite, reviewed by RecycledPixels Sexual selection by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by AryKun

Newly nominated content

White-headed fruit dove by AryKun Mountain pigeon by AryKun Florence Merriam Bailey by GhostRiver Agelenopsis pennsylvanica by Kline Hypericum aegypticum by Fritzmann Guadeloupe woodpecker by OnlyFixingProse

News at a glance

• A discussion is ongoing over whether the pencil icon for editing taxonomy templates should be changed.

March DYKs

Elysia timida

Humbertium covidum

Door Tree

• ... that although it is a bird of prey, the white-fronted falconet is only 14 to 17 cm (5.5 to 6.7 in) long and mainly feeds on insects? (March 1)
• ... that Squatina mapama was named after Spain's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment? (March 3)
• ... that the sea slug Elysia timida (example pictured) absorbs its colouration from its algae-based diet? (March 3)
• ... that Seal Rescue Ireland comforts orphaned seal pups with fake mothers made of wetsuits? (March 4)
• ... that the flatworm Hum­ber­tium covidum (pictured), named after the COVID-19 pandemic, was classified in a study written mostly during the initial lockdown? (March 6)
• ... that the Door Tree (pictured), which stood for nearly 200 years, was cut down because of a brother's hatred? (March 8)
• ... that the nature documentary The Green Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, has been compared to both horror films and a "plant porno"? (March 10)
• ... that the colour of the markings on Nesticus cellulanus can vary depending on the light level of the habitat, with darker habitats causing lighter markings? (March 15)
• ... that the gonads of the banded bullfrog remain ripe during dry periods so that it can mate soon after rainfall? (March 17)
• ... that Gea eff has the shortest scientific name of any spider species? (March 18)
• ... that the discovery of Bianchengichthys may shed new light on the evolution of all jawed vertebrates? (18 March)
• ... that Alaska marmots take turns acting as sentries to protect their colonies? (March 20)
• ... that some of the calls of the bare-headed laughingthrush have been described as "comical"? (March 25)
• ... that the Bornean stubtail forages more like a mouse than a bird? (March 29)
• ... that the rare Somali pigeon urgently needs a population survey? (March 31)

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The Signpost: 24 April 2022

• News and notes: Double trouble
  The second case of Wikipedian persecution.

• In the media: The battlegrounds outside and inside Wikipedia
  What's hot in the media this month.

• Special report: Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war
  Writing Wikipedia, joining the armed forces, and volunteering.

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary (Part 2)
  "Our proud Sparta bleeds too."

• Technology report: 8-year-old attribution issues in Media Viewer
  Plus, a new status page and Desktop Improvements.

• Featured content: Wikipedia's best content from March
  We showcase the best content that Wikipedians offered this past month.

• In focus: Editing difficulties on Russian Wikipedia
  A multi-national encyclopedia tries to move forward.

• Gallery: A voyage around the world with WLM winners
  Wiki Loves Monuments 2021 winners announced.

• Interview: On a war and a map
  How a war map predated Wikimedia's map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Serendipity: Wikipedia loves photographs, but hates photographers
  Why not just link to an article to attribute famous photographers?

• Traffic report: Justice Jackson, the Smiths, and an invasion
  Plus deaths, films, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

• Recent research: Student edits as "civic engagement"; how Wikipedia readers interact with images
  And other new research findings

• News from the WMF: How Smart is the SMART Copyright Act?
  The deceptively simple Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies Copyright Act of 2022.

• Essay: The problem with elegant variation
  An elegant Wikipedia essay.

• Humour: Really huge message boxes
  A serious statement of Wikipedia policy.

• From the archives: Wales resigned WMF board chair in 2006 reorganization
  A look at when the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees was reorganized.

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter – 020

April 2022—Issue 020

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Red panda by LittleJerry and BhagyaMani White-headed fruit dove by AryKun List of ochotonids by PresN Guadeloupe woodpecker by OnlyFixingProse, reviewed by Ealdgyth Magnetoreception by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Mover of molehills Macauley Island by Jo-Jo Eumerus, reviewed by Ealdgyth Black-breasted buttonquail by Casliber, reviewed by Ealdgyth Florence Merriam Bailey by GhostRiver, reviewed by SquareInARoundHole

Newly nominated content

Black-breasted buttonquail by Casliber List of birds of Tuvalu by AryKun List of cingulates by PresN List of didelphimorphs by PresN Stegotherium by Larrayal Resplendent quetzal by SadAttorney613 Electroreception and electrogenesis by Chiswick Chap Muja (alligator) by Amanuensis Balkanicus Punctelia graminicola by Esculenta Siegfried Huneck by Esculenta Abiogenesis by Chiswick Chap

News at a glance

• The second round of the WikiCup ends with three TOL editors moving into the third round: AryKun, Ealdgyth, and GhostRiver.

April DYKs

Whitehead's broadbill

Anaea aidea

• ... that the rare Somali pigeon urgently needs a population survey? (April 1)
• ... that Darth Vader's anal shield has a "pronounced bell shape"? (April 2)
• ... that lichexanthone, a chemical found in some lichens, enhances human sperm motility and kills mosquito larvae? (April 3)
• ... that raptor persecution is a crime against birds of prey, and in Scotland, ravens are afforded honorary raptor status? (April 4)
• ... that the chestnut-hooded laughingthrush feeds on insects that have been hit by vehicles? (April 7)
• ... that the calls of Whitehead's broadbill (example pictured) resemble those of trogons, woodpeckers, and jays? (April 10)
• ... that the nests of Hose's broadbill have tails? (April 12)
• ... that butterflies of the genus Anaea (example pictured) are said to have "commanded the admiration of even the most gold-mad conquistadores"? (April 16)
• ... that despite being described in 1840, the chestnut-backed buttonquail was only confirmed in Queensland in 2020? (April 21)
• ... that a species in the genus of sponges Pseudoceratina produces a chemical that can help prevent migration of metastatic breast cancer cells? (April 22)
• ... that Ulmus chuchuanus had to be renamed due to another fossil already having its original name? (April 26)
• ... that a walrus was given his own pontoon to stop him damaging other boats in St Mary's Harbour? (April 27)
• ... that magnetoreception in birds works by quantum effects in their eyes? (April 28)

Discuss this issue

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:57, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 May 2022

• From the team: A changing of the guard
  Your two new Signpost Editors in Chief.

• News and notes: 2022 Wikimedia Board elections
  Plus, Form 990, fundraising, RfA and UCoC.

• Community view: Have your say in the 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board elections
  Community shortlisting in an affiliate-based process, and a poll for you to speak your mind.

• Opinion: The Wikimedia Endowment – a lack of transparency
  A little more information, please.

• In the media: Putin, Jimbo, Musk and more
  A varied collection of "special operations", and interviews.

• Special report: Three stories of Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war
  Tales of hope, perseverance and even a little humor.

• In focus: Measuring gender diversity in Wikipedia articles
  A new approach at the article level.

• Discussion report: Portals, April Fools, admin activity requirements and more
  We summarize the drama for you.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19 revisited
  March 2020 WikiProject report interviewees return discussing project's evolution and future.

• Technology report: A new video player for Wikimedia wikis
  Plus, Growth Features configuration, the Hackathon, and more.

• Featured content: Featured content of April
  Showcasing the very best articles, pictures, videos, and other contributions from Wikipedians last month.

• Interview: Wikipedia's pride
  An interview with queer Wikimedians.

• Serendipity: Those thieving image farms
  Stopping them from taking your photos from Commons.

• Recent research: 35 million Twitter links analysed
  And other recent research findings.

• Tips and tricks: The reference desks of Wikipedia
  Helpful advice from Tips of the Day.

• Traffic report: Strange highs and strange lows
  Were Johnny and Amber exchanging blows?

• News from Diff: Winners of the Human rights and Environment special nomination by Wiki Loves Earth announced
  Photos raise awareness for nature protection and human impact on nature.

• News from the WMF: The EU Digital Services Act: What’s the Deal with the Deal?
  New regulations governing online censorship.

• Video: How the entire country of Qatar was blocked from editing
  A lighthearted video recalling the 2006 incident.

• Gallery: Diving under the sea for World Oceans Day
  Exploring Featured Pictures of the world's oceans.

• From the archives: The Onion and Wikipedia
  A look at when The Onion published an humorous article regarding Wikipedia.

• Essay: How not to write a Wikipedia article
  On creative works.

• Humour: A new crossword
  Test your word-puzzle skills!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:45, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 June 2022

• News and notes: WMF inks new rules on government-ordered takedowns, blasts Russian feds' censor demands, spends big bucks
  Office actions to secretly delete stuff when told to? Well, at least not if they're Putin's.

• In the media: Editor given three-year sentence, big RfA makes news, Guy Standing takes it sitting down
  Belarusian Mark Bernstein to serve 36 months of "home chemistry" for unapproved posting, Slate covers historically large adminship bid, UBI economist with goofy infobox caption thinks it's funny.

• Special report: "Wikipedia's independence" or "Wikimedia's pile of dosh"?
  A review of Wikipedia's fundraising messages and financial status.

• Discussion report: MoS rules on CCP name mulled, XRV axe plea nulled, BLPPROD drafting bid pulled
  Just three for the history books this month (or not).

• Opinion: Picture of the Day – how Adam plans to ru(i)n it
  Famed FP ace steps up to run main page outfit. Millions tremble in fear, or something.

• Featured content: Articles on Scots' clash, Yank's tux, Austrian's action flick deemed brilliant prose
  And who can forget the black-breasted buttonquail.

• Essay: RfA trend line haruspicy: fact or fancy?
  Don't be dumb, says math whiz: avoid the gambler's fallacy. Illustrated for your pleasure.

• Recent research: Wikipedia versus academia (again), tables' "immortality" probed
  Tables "like to socialize" and "share genes": ooh la la!

• Serendipity: Was she really a Swiss lesbian automobile racer?
  What's the deal with Anita Forrer, redlinked woman of mystery who saved Schwarzenbach archives?

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Enterprise signs first deals
  Google and Internet Archive sold on new product, more customers hoped to follow.

• Traffic report: Top view counts for shows, movies, and celeb lawsuit that keeps on giving
  Plus editing stampedes for cheery subjects: shootings, deaths, and virus.

• Gallery: Celebration of summer, winter
  Lest Southern Hemisphere be forgotten.

• Humour: Shortcuts, screwballers, Simon & Garfunkel
  Can we offer you a nice crossword in this trying time?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:30, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 August 2022

• From the editors: Rise of the machines, or something
  The future of stuff? Who knows, but two articles were written by a computer this month.

• News and notes: Information considered harmful
  Wikipedia and human rights, publishers and the Internet Archive, Russia and Wikipedia.

• In the media: Censorship, medieval hoaxes, "pathetic supervillains", FB-WMF AI TL bid, dirty duchess deeds done dirt cheap
  Real news or silly season?

• Op-Ed: The "recession" affair
  IGNORANCE IS NOT STRENGTH.

• Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary (part 3)
  "This year's victory was sad and dull."

• Election guide: The chosen six: 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections
  Candidate op-eds, open question spaces, and more.

• Community view: Youth culture and notability
  Was Minecraft YouTuber a GNG pass in life, or only in death?

• Opinion: Criminals among us
  Mass murderers, sex criminals, Ponzi schemers, insider traders, and business people.

• Arbitration report: Winds of change blow for cyclone editors, deletion dustup draws toward denouement
  The last three months of arbitration through the eyes of a GPT-3

• Deletion report: This is Gonzo Country
  GPT-3 whips it out.

• Discussion report: Notability for train stations, notices for mobile editors, noticeboards for the rest of us
  And when is 'today'?

• Traffic report: US TV, JP ex-PM, outer space, and politics of IN, US, UK top charts for July
  The world shows its messy complexity.

• Featured content: A little list with surprisingly few lists
  More lists expected next month.

• Tips and tricks: Cleaning up awful citations with Citation bot
  It doesn't have to be a pain in the butt!

• In focus: Wikidata insights from a handy little tool
  PAC2 explains the item documentation template.

• On the bright side: Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war — three (more) stories
  Education, climate change, and journalism.

• Essay: How to research an image
  Zoom and enhance.

• Recent research: A century of rulemaking on Wikipedia analyzed
  And other new research findings.

• Serendipity: Don't cite Wikipedia
  But Commons is a treasure trove.

• Gallery: A backstage pass
  All the things about theatre that the general public misses out on.

• From the archives: 2012 Russian Wikipedia shutdown as it happened
  Ten years ago, Russian Wikipedia went dark in protest of new Russian laws. Today...

• Humour: Why did the chicken cross the road?
  Strange mysteries of our animal world.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:38, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 August 2022

• News and notes: Admins wanted on English Wikipedia, IP editors not wanted on Farsi Wiki, donations wanted everywhere
  jimmy@wikipedia.org donate@wikimedia.org (not a typo?) wants a moment of your time.

• Special report: Wikimania 2022: no show, no show up?
  Why the 'Festival Edition' was less than perfect, and what we can do better.

• In the media: Truth or consequences? A tough month for truth
  But Annie Rauwerda is the real thing!

• Discussion report: Boarding the Trustees
  2022 elections, new page patrol, Fox News, Vector 2022, Royal Central and external links

• News from Wiki Education: 18 years a Wikipedian: what it means to me
  Change and stability.

• In focus: Thinking inside the box
  All there is to know about userboxen.

• Tips and tricks: The unexpected rabbit hole of typo fixing in citations...
  Sometimes Citation bot is not enough.

• Technology report: Vector (2022) deployment discussions happening now
  Plus, the Private Incident Reporting System, and new bots & user scripts!

• Serendipity: Two photos of every library on earth
  One exterior, one interior.

• Featured content: Our man drills are safe for work, but our Labia is Fausta.
  Also includes a campaign to "Suck for Luck".

• Recent research: The dollar value of "official" external links
  And other new research

• Traffic report: What dreams (and heavily trafficked articles) may come
  Because there really is no real theme this month you can grab onto to give a catchy title.

• Essay: Delete the junk!
  Some articles aren't worth saving

• Gallery: A Fringe Affair (but not the show by Edward W. Feery that was on this year)
  Edinburgh in August.

• Humour: CommonsComix No. 1
  Because the Signpost needs a cartoon.

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 years ago
  The Signpost looks back on The Signpost: New reports, conceived in a spirit of collaboration, and dedicated to the proposition of information and, uh, more information for all.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:58, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 September 2022

• News and notes: Board vote results, bot's big GET, crat chat gives new mop, WMF seeks "sound logo" and "organizer lab"
  Candidates sign off and peel out – Sigalov is on and Peel is in.

• In focus: NPP: Still heaven or hell for new users – and for the reviewers
  Just what is NPP? Why does it need the WMF? Why does it need YOU?

• In the media: A few complaints and mild disagreements
  Was Katherine Maher a former encyclopedia salesperson?

• Special report: Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution
  The latest from the Wikimedia Deutschland Movement Strategy & Global Relations Team.

• Discussion report: Much ado about Fox News
  Source reliability, NPP, and appearance discussions.

• Interview: ScottishFinnishRadish's Request for Adminship
  Find out firsthand what our newest admin, ScottishFinnishRadish, does with a chainsaw.

• Opinion: Are we ever going to reach consensus?
  Some Articles for Deletion just drag on.

• Serendipity: Removing watermarks, copyright signs and cigarettes from photos
  Suggestion: promote removal of visible copyright signs of images under a CC-BY license.

• Recent research: How readers assess Wikipedia's trustworthiness, and how they could in the future
  And other research news.

• Traffic report: Kings and queens and VIPs
  Repeat after me: I solemnly swear not to put "oh my!" in a headline.

• Featured content: Farm-fresh content
  This month: A FACBot upgrade, a completed list of lists.

• Gallery: A Festival Descends on the City: The Edinburgh Fringe, Pt. 2
  Lo!

• CommonsComix: CommonsComix 2: Paulus Moreelse
  When Commons gives you a blank space...

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 Years ago: September 2022
  Yes, again.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:01, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2022

• From the team: A new goose on the roost
  Or maybe the spit -- only time will tell.

• News and notes: Wikipedians question Wikimedia fundraising ethics after "somewhat-viral" tweet
  News from Twitter, Commons and the WMF C-Suite.

• News from the WMF: Governance updates from, and for, the Wikimedia Endowment
  501(c)(3) application approved, Amazon donates another million.

• In the media: Scribing, searching, soliciting, spying, and systemic bias
  Wading into several controversies.

• Disinformation report: From Russia with WikiLove
  I can has Kremlin sockfarms?

• Recent research: Disinformatsiya: Much research, but what will actually help Wikipedia editors?
  And other new research publications.

• Interview: Isabelle Belato on their Request for Adminship
  The newest sysop speaks on the process that got them there.

• Featured content: Topics, lists, submarines and Gurl.com
  Featured content from October.

• Serendipity: We all make mistakes – don’t we?
  The strength of Wikipedia is the peer review afterwards.

• Traffic report: Mama, they're in love with a criminal
  More serial killers than you can shake a stick at!

• From the archives: Paid advocacy, a lawsuit over spelling mistakes, deleting Jimbo's article, and the death of Toolserver
  What tales echo in these hallowed halls.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:42, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 November 2022

• News and notes: English Wikipedia editors: "We don't need no stinking banners"
  Joe Roe's close sows dough woes, manifestos... vetoes? overthrows?

• In the media: "The most beautiful story on the Internet"
  Ineffective altruism, return of the toaster, Jess Wade keeps wading through it, Russia censors searches, schools embrace Wikipedia.

• Interview: Lisa Seitz-Gruwell on WMF fundraising in the wake of big banner ad RfC
  An interview with Wikimedia's Chief Advancement Officer.

• Opinion: Privacy on Wikipedia in the cyberpunk future
  Oh, just one more thing... AI couldn't help but notice you use that punctuation a little bit more than most people...

• Disinformation report: Missed and Dissed
  Are government goons prowling our fair encyclopedia?

• Op-Ed: Diminishing returns for article quality
  Have we gotten past the point where better articles makes us a better encyclopedia? And what comes next?

• Book review: Writing the Revolution
  Heather Ford's new volume on Wikipedia, knowledge and power in the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

• Technology report: Galactic dreams, encyclopedic reality
  Facebook's Galactica demo provides a case study in large language models for text generation at scale: this one was silly, but we cannot ignore them forever.

• Essay: The Six Million FP Man
  Okay, six hundred, but either way, the bionic editor speaks.

• Tips and tricks: (Wiki)break stuff
  Productively doing nothing

• Recent research: Study deems COVID-19 editors smart and cool, questions of clarity and utility for WMF's proposed "Knowledge Integrity Risk Observatory"
  And other research findings.

• Featured content: A great month for featured articles
  Do consider joining FPC, though: we need you.

• Obituary: A tribute to Michael Gäbler
  They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

• Concept: The relevance of legal certainty to the English Wikipedia
  A lost article from our deep annals

• Traffic report: Musical deaths, murders, Princess Di's nominative determinism, and sports
  The weeks and weeks, as reviewed by Wikipedia's readers.

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
  Search upgrades, lawsuits, paid editing, and personal reflection.

• CommonsComix: Joker's trick
  A toast to good health, a health to good hoax, a hoax to good toast.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:40, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 January 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation ousts, bans quarter of Arabic Wikipedia admins
  Plus admin update and cool tools for the new year.

• In the media: Odd bedfellows, Elon and Jimbo, reliable sources for divorces, and more
  Sometimes you need to read more than just the headlines!

• Interview: ComplexRational's RfA debrief
  Interview of ComplexRational about their recent request for adminship.

• Technology report: Wikimedia Foundation's Abstract Wikipedia project "at substantial risk of failure"
  Wikifunctions might drag it down.

• Essay: Mobile editing
  Frustrations and successes.

• Arbitration report: Arbitration Committee Election 2022
  Congratulations.

• Recent research: Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement in talk page disputes
  And other new research findings.

• Serendipity: Wikipedia about FIFA World Cup 2022: quick, factual and critical
  How Iranian press agencies help Wikipedia to reflect football in a better way.

• Featured content: Would you like to swing on a star?
  You head into the featured content report. Amongst the features you see astronauts, both Gilbert and Sullivan, Ursula K. Le Guin's incredibly talented mother, and Billboard charts. It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue.

• Traffic report: Football, football, football! Wikipedia Football Club!
  It is mostly about football!

• CommonsComix: #4: The Course of WikiEmpire
  In which a couple sentences of text recontextualises an image.

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
  Photographers, Sandy Hook, the shocking use of Nazi symbols in articles about Nazis, and "You wouldn't recognise a fact if it bit you in the ass".

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:45, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 January 2023

• From the team: We heard zoomers liked fortnights: the biweekly Signpost rides again
  It's not just a phase! Well, maybe it is.

• Special report: Coverage of 2022 bans reveals editors serving long sentences in Saudi Arabia since 2020
  Long-time contributors imprisoned for 32 and 8 years after "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals".

• News and notes: Revised Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines up for vote, WMF counsel departs, generative models under discussion
  UCoC draws nearer, alongside the rise of the machines, in mainspace this time.

• In the media: Court orders user data in libel case, Saudi Wikipedia in the crosshairs, Larry Sanger at it again
  Wikipedia's birthday, a cute dog, and nipplefruit.

• Technology report: View it! A new tool for image discovery
  The depths of Commons, at your fingertips. Or eyetips.

• In focus: Busting into Grand Central
  Debunking widely-told myths about New York's grandest and centralest railway station.

• Serendipity: How I bought part of Wikipedia – for less than $100
  The economics of Wikipedia.

• Gallery: What is our responsibility when it comes to images?
  When notability conflicts with what it might be used for.

• Humour: New geologically speedy deletion criteria introduced
  7,000,000-year Landmasses for Subduction discussions considered "too long".

• Opinion: Good old days, in which fifth-symbol-lacking lipograms roam'd our librarious litany
  Allow us to bring you back, back, back, to days of Wikifun rampant.

• Featured content: Flip your lid
  ...and your ambigram. Also: Boring lava fields, birds of Tuvalu, and commelinid family names with etymologies.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2022
  War, sports, and all types of chaos.

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
  The editor with five million edits, the death of Aaron Swartz, and rollback.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:13, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 February 2023

• From the editor: New for the Signpost: Author pages, tag pages, and a decent article search function
  Last issue's vow for "something to show for these efforts" revisited.

• News and notes: Foundation update on fundraising, new page patrol, Tides, and Wikipedia blocked in Pakistan
  As well as the continued rise of the machines, and Amanda Keton's WMF departure.

• Section 230: Twenty-six words that created the internet, and the future of an encyclopedia
  Section 230 before the Supreme Court in two cases, with broad implications for the web.

• Disinformation report: Wikipedia on Santos
  Or Santos on Wikipedia?

• Special report: Legal status of Wikimedia projects "unclear" under potential European legislation
  WMF issues salvo in latest battles of the Posting Wars

• In the media: Furor over new Wikipedia skin, followup on Saudi bans, and legislative debate
  The good, the bad, and the ugly.

• Op-Ed: Estonian businessman and political donor brings lawsuit against head of national Wikimedia chapter
  Isamaa party sponsor Parvel Pruunsild files claim in Tartu County Court against WMEE head Ivo Kruusamägi and Reform Party politicians.

• Opinion: Study examines cultural leanings of Wikimedia projects' visual art coverage
  English Wikipedia among most "global" and Thai Wikipedia's among most "Western", but non-Western works neglected overall.

• Recent research: Wikipedia's "moderate yet systematic" liberal citation bias
  And other new research publications.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Organized Labour
  An interview with those who pitch in together

• Tips and tricks: XTools: Data analytics for your list of created articles
  Letting you find out about yourself (and others).

• Featured content: 20,000 Featureds under the Sea
  An exceptionally good period for featured articles.

• Traffic report: Films, deaths and ChatGPT
  Can we have a chat?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:44, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 February 2023

• News and notes: Terms of Use update, Steward elections, and Wikipedia back in Pakistan
  UCoC Enforcement Guidelines pass, Wikimedia Enterprise financials, GPTs gone wild, and a speedy deletion criterion removed.

• In the media: Arbitrators open case after article alleges Wikipedia "intentionally distorts" Holocaust coverage
  Also: Russ Baker's BLP, the digital commons, the NSA, and more on Pakistan.

• Disinformation report: The "largest con in corporate history"?
  Gautam Adani and his companies possibly behind scheme featuring scores of socks, infiltration of articles for creation process.

• Essay: Machine-written articles: a new challenge for Wikipedia
  GPT: friend or foe?

• Tips and tricks: All about writing at DYK
  Your one-stop hooker's handbook.

• Featured content: Eden, lost.
  But much else to be found.

• Gallery: Love is in the air
  Lovey-dovey stuff for Valentine's.

• Traffic report: Superbowl? Pfft. Give me some Bollywood! Yours sincerely, the world
  And maybe a side of AI.

• From the archives: 5, 10, and 15 years ago: Let's (not) delete the Main Page!
  Also: let's delete images of Muhammed! Let's delete portals!

• Cobwebs: Editorial: The loss of the moral high ground
  Yesterday's controversies, reported on today.

• Humour: The RfA Candidate's Song
  A musical interlude.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:01, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 March 2023

• News and notes: What's going on with the Wikimedia Endowment?
  A lack of transparency.

• Technology report: Second flight of the Soviet space bears: Testing ChatGPT's accuracy
  Using failed AI Galactica's worst mistakes to test a new AI.

• In the media: What should Wikipedia do? Publish Russian propaganda? Be less woke? Cover the Holocaust in Poland differently?
  Probable answers: No, no, maybe?

• Featured content: In which over two-thirds of the featured articles section needs to be copied over to WikiProject Military History's newsletter
  Seriously, even the chef has a major military history connection.

• Recent research: "Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the Holocaust" in Poland and "self-focus bias" in coverage of global events
  And other new research publications.

• From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
  Wikizine, Wikipedia Zero, Single User Login, and Wales allegedly editing his girlfriend's article.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:41, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 March 2023

• News and notes: Wikimania submissions deadline looms, Russian government after our lucky charms, AI woes nix CNET from RS slate
  Be part of the Wikimania 2023 program!

• Eyewitness: Three more stories from Ukrainian Wikimedians
  One year in: volunteering, science, art, and candlelight.

• In the media: Paid editing, plagiarism payouts, proponents of a ploy, and people peeved at perceived preferences
  Everything is broken, again.

• Featured content: Way too many featured articles
  Seriously, it's only a fortnight's worth!

• Interview: 228/2/1: the inside scoop on Aoidh's RfA
  An interview with Wikipedia's newest admin.

• Traffic report: Who died? Who won? Who lost?
  All the pop culture that's fit to print, with a sprinkling of cocaine (bear).

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:16, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 03 April 2023

• From the editor: Some long-overdue retractions
  Errata regretted.

• News and notes: Sounding out, a universal code of conduct, and dealing with AI
  Skynet believed to be in violation of the new Universal Code of Conduct.

• In the media: Twiddling Wikipedia during an online contest, and other news
  Taking the phrase "gaming the system" to the next level.

• Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" case is ongoing
  Desysop case request still in accept/decline phase.

• Featured content: Hail, poetry! Thou heav'n-born maid
  Thou gildest e'en the Signpost's trade.

• Recent research: Language bias: Wikipedia captures at least the "silhouette of the elephant", unlike ChatGPT
  And a dataset of article revisions to provide a corpus for promotional content.

• From the archives: April Fools' through the ages
  A retrospective of the best and worst pranks.

• Disinformation report: Sus socks support suits, seems systemic
  Do important banks sock? Maybe – but don't grab your money and run just yet!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:45, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 April 2023

• News and notes: Staff departures at Wikimedia Foundation, Jimbo hands in the bits, and graphs' zeppelin burns
  Plus: Wikipedians get own Mastodon account, and Wikiprojects move to uniform quality assessment.

• In the media: Contested truth claims in Wikipedia
  Covering Russia, Poland, the Vatican, the U.S., and the "perilously thin" boundary between real life and Wikipedia.

• Obituary: Remembering David "DGG" Goodman
  The prolific editor, former Arbitration Committee member and co-founder of Wikimedia New York City died in April.

• Arbitration report: Holocaust in Poland, Jimbo in the hot seat, and a desysopping
  No news is good news, and this isn't no news.

• Opinion: What Jimbo's question revealed about scamming
  The problem we haven't solved.

• Op-Ed: Wikipedia as an anchor of truth
  Can Wikipedia help keep AI agents honest?

• Special report: Signpost statistics between years 2005 and 2022
  In this article, we will look at The Signpost statistics. More precisely: Signpost article statistics by year, TOP 20 titles of Signpost articles, TOP 20 article authors, and the home wikis of article authors.

• News from the WMF: Collective planning with the Wikimedia Foundation
  First of a two part series summarising the priorities for the Wikimedia Foundation's next fiscal year (July 2022–June 2023) including staffing, budget and other changes, and how to provide your feedback.

• Featured content: In which we described the featured articles in rhyme again
  And somehow made it more readable than when it's not rhyming.

• From the archives: April Fools' through the ages, part two
  2011 and on.

• Humour: The law of hats
  The Selfish Hatnote, the Disambiguation Singularity, and other information-theoretic conundra of encyclopedic note.

• Traffic report: Long live machine, the future supreme
  Wrestling bumps world-changing technology from the #1 spot, imagine that.

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The Signpost: 8 May 2023

• News and notes: New legal "deVLOPments" in the EU
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• In the media: Vivek's smelly socks, online safety, and politics
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• Recent research: Gender, race and notability in deletion discussions
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• Featured content: I wrote a poem for each article, I found rhymes for all the lists; My first featured picture of this year now finally exists!
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• Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" approaches conclusion
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• News from the WMF: Planning together with the Wikimedia Foundation
  The second article in a series describing the priorities and work of the Wikimedia Foundation. The article invites Wikimedians to collaborate with the Foundation.

• Special report: There Shall Be Seasons Refreshing – Stories from WikiConference India 2023
  First national-level conference in the Indian subcontinent in seven years.

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The Signpost: 22 May 2023

• News and notes: Golden parachutes: Record severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
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• In the media: History, propaganda and censorship
  Opposing scholars on ArbCom case.

• Arbitration report: Final decision in "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland"
  Includes stronger sourcing restriction, and a nod to the UCoC.

• Recent research: Create or curate, cooperate or compete? Game theory for Wikipedia editors
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• Featured content: A very musical week for featured articles
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• Traffic report: Coronation, chatbot, celebs
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• WikiProject report: Wikipedians Convene for Queering Wikipedia 2023: The First International LGBT+ Wikipedia Conference
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The Signpost: 5 June 2023

• News and notes: WMRU director forks new 'pedia, birds flap in top '22 piccy, WMF weighs in on Indian gov's map axe plea
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• In the media: Section 230 stands tall, WP vs. UK bill, Miss Information dissed again
  Also: Goog gets delist ask for en-wp yt-dl ar-ticle, wacky football fails.

• Featured content: Poetry under pressure
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• Traffic report: Celebs, controversies and a chatbot in the public eye
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The Signpost: 19 June 2023

• News and notes: WMF Terms of Use now in force, new Creative Commons licensing
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• In the media: English WP editor glocked after BLP row on Italian 'pedia
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• Featured content: Content, featured
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The Signpost: 3 July 2023

• News and notes: Online Safety Bill: Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK launch open letter
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• Disinformation report: Imploded submersible outfit foiled trying to sing own praises on Wikipedia
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• In the media: Journo proposes mass Wiki dox, sponsored articles on Fandom, Section 230 discussed
  Are you now, or have you ever been, a Wikipedia editor?

• Featured content: Incensed
  In which featured pictures have a pleasing orange/blue colour scheme for some reason.

• Traffic report: Are you afraid of spiders? Arnold? The Idol? ChatGPT?
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• Humour: United Nations dispatches peacekeeping force to Wikipedia policy discussions
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The Signpost: 17 July 2023

• News and notes: Big bux hidden beneath wine-dark sea as we wait for the Tides to go out?
  Gitz666 unglocked, Wikimania scholarships given and a new admin anointed.

• In the media: Tentacles of Emirates plot attempt to ensnare Wikipedia
  Ruwiki on the Ruinternet, Rauwerda on TEDx, and Jimbo on Fridman.

• Obituary: David Thomsen (Dthomsen8) and Ingo Koll (Kipala)
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• Tips and tricks: What automation can do for you (and your WikiProject)
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• Recent research: Wikipedia-grounded chatbot "outperforms all baselines" on factual accuracy
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• Cobwebs: If you're reading this, you're probably on a desktop
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• Featured content: Scrollin', scrollin', scrollin', keep those readers scrollin', got to keep on scrollin', Rawhide!
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• Traffic report: The Idol becomes the Master
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The Signpost: 1 August 2023

• News and notes: City officials attempt to doxx Wikipedians, Ruwiki founder banned, WMF launches Mastodon server
  And French gov't proposes legislation to slam Wikipedia, others.

• In the media: Truth, AI, bull from politicians, and climate change
  Or just another brouhaha?

• Disinformation report: Hot climate, hot hit, hot money, hot news hot off the presses!
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• Obituary: Donald Cram, Peter McCawley, and Eagleash
  Three editors have departed.

• Tips and tricks: Citation tools for dummies!
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• Humour: Does Wikipedia present neutral perspectives?
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• In focus: Journals cited by Wikipedia
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• Opinion: Are global bans the last step?
  Possible solutions after being re-harassed.

• Featured content: Featured Content, 1 to 15 July
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• Traffic report: Come on Oppie, let's go party
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The Signpost: 15 August 2023

• News and notes: Dude, Where's My Donations? Wikimedia Foundation announces another million in grants for non-Wikimedia-related projects
  Jimbo promises more transparency, Wikimania in Singapore, move away from Tides still planned, and Wikifunctions rolls out.

• In the media: An accusation of bias from Brazil, a lawsuit from Portugal, plagiarism from Florida
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• In focus: 2023 Good Article Nomination drive is underway: get your barnstars here!
  Rigorous Review of Content for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Wikipedia.

• Special report: Thirteen years later, why are most administrators still from 2005?
  Damn kids need to get off our lawn and onto RfA.

• Tips and tricks: How to find images for your articles, check their copyright, upload them, and restore them
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• Cobwebs: Getting serious about writing
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• Opinion: Copyright trolls, or the last beautiful free souls on this planet?
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• Serendipity: Why I stopped taking photographs almost altogether
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• Featured content: Barbenheimer confirmed
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• Humour: Arbitration Committee to accept case against Right Honorable Frimbley Cantingham, 15th Viscount Bellington-upon-Porkshire
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• Traffic report: 'Cause today it just goes with the fashion
  Barbenheimer, Pee-Wee Herman and the Women's World Cup.

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The Signpost: 31 August 2023

• From the editor: Beta version of signpost.news now online
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• News and notes: You like RecentChanges?
  Wikipedia really comes into its own, editorially and artistically.

• In the media: Taking it sleazy
  "Poli", which means "many", and "tics", which means "under-the-table Wikipedia article whitewashing campaigns".

• Recent research: The five barriers that impede "stitching" collaboration between Commons and Wikipedia
  And other recent research publications.

• Draftspace: Bad Jokes and Other Draftspace Novelties
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• Humour: The Dehumourification Plan
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• Traffic report: Raise your drinking glass, here's to yesterday
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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 21

August 2023—Issue 021

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Australiformis by Mattximus Rodrigues night heron by FunkMonk Titanis by Augustios Paleo List of lorisoids by PresN List of storks by AryKun Brontosaurus by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by The Morrison Man Eukaryote by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Fritzmann2002 Stramenopile by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Fritzmann2002 Titanoboa by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by SilverTiger12 Antarctopelta by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Anna Blackburne by Kusma, reviewed by Etriusus Anomochilus leonardi by AryKun, reviewed by Amitchell125 Nyctibatrachus manalari by AryKun, reviewed by Sammi Brie Mimodactylus by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Nyctibatrachus major by AryKun, reviewed by Etriusus Anomochilus weberi by AryKun, reviewed by Etriusus Plant by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Cessaune

Newly nominated content

Ohmdenosaurus by Jens Lallensack Polar bear by LittleJerry Mimodactylus by FunkMonk List of cercopithecoids by PresN List of tapaculos by AryKun Klallamornis by Larrayal Hypericum perforatum by Fritzmann2002 Holozoa by Snoteleks Teloschistaceae by Esculenta Carcharodontosaurus by Augustios Paleo Nyctibatrachus radcliffei by AryKun Anomochilus by AryKun

New contest!

This month has seen an incredible amount of activity creating high quality content, with 3 FAs, 3 FACs, and a veritable flood of GAs and GANs, not to mention the FLs and FLCs. To help maintain this high level of activity going forward, WikiProject Tree of Life is starting a new monthly rolling contest, inspired by the contest run by WikiProject Military History. This contest should hopefully help incentivize editors to contribute in ways that are less daunting than writing articles that are GA and FA-quality. Even improving articles from stub to start class, or helping other editors by reviewing their work at GAN, FAC, or FLC, gets you points, with bonus points for articles with especially high page views. Make sure to participate in any way you can, and help improve the 'pedia while having fun and winning Barnstars!

August DYKs

Two salt marsh snakes

Blackburnian warbler

• ... that orcas have been teaching each other to attack boats? (August 2)
• ... that Ameles decolor has one of the most complex mating rituals of any praying mantis? (August 4)
• ... that salt marsh snakes (examples pictured) drink only rainwater? (August 6)
• ... that by 1967, staff at the Home Office were told not to feed Peta morsels of food as she had become "inordinately fat"? (August 8)
• ... that the perigynia of the few-flowered sedge spring outward when brushed against? (August 16)
• ... that three burnt golf balls are preserved at Kew Gardens as a "rare fungal species"? (August 19)
• ... that the chemicals responsible for the smell of freshly cut grass are a plant defense mechanism? (August 20)
• ... that the Blackburnian warbler (example pictured) is named after Anna Blackburne, who provided specimens to Thomas Pennant? (August 22)
• ... that Tylocephale possibly used their domed skulls to fight one another? (August 24)
• ... that John Cleese once called Olivia Benson "the weirdest cat I've ever seen in my life"? (August 25)
• ... that Winston Churchill was often portrayed as a bulldog (pictured), but his personal pet dog during the Second World War was a poodle? (August 25)
• ... that a report by the philosopher Jonathan Birch and colleagues led to cephalopods and decapods being recognised as sentient under the UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act? (August 27)
• ... that Mike Wingfield named a fungus after his first grandchild, Rachel? (August 27)
• ... that depending on who you ask, an anomochilid could be a dwarf or a giant? (August 28)

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The Signpost: 16 September 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia power sharing – just an advisory role for the volunteer community?
  Plus: Africa news, funding report, U4C draft, roads fork and another ChatGPT block.

• In the media: "Just flirting", going Dutch and Shapps for the defence?
  Plus a new judge, an "unimportant" record, and staying in the swim!

• Obituary: Nosebagbear
  A Wikipedian and a friend.

• Serendipity: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no paywall, for thou, Wikipedia Library, art with me
  Non-flammable, BPA-free, and really whips the llama's ass.

• Featured content: Catching up
  Covering all of August. Pretty much.

• Concept: Strange portal opened by CERN researchers brings Wikipedia articles from "other worlds"
  The Signpost brings you the latest from the source.

• Traffic report: Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic
  Sports, film and singers. We've got it all!

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Welcome to The Wikipedia Adventure!

Hi Froggydame! We're so happy you wanted to play to learn, as a friendly and fun way to get into our community and mission. I think these links might be helpful to you as you get started.

• The Wikipedia Adventure Start Page
• The Wikipedia Adventure Lounge
• The Teahouse new editor help space
• Wikipedia Help pages

-- 20:24, Wednesday, September 27, 2023 (UTC)

Mission 1	Mission 2	Mission 3	Mission 4	Mission 5	Mission 6	Mission 7
Say Hello to the World	An Invitation to Earth	Small Changes, Big Impact	The Neutral Point of View	The Veil of Verifiability	The Civility Code	Looking Good Together

Get Help

About The Wikipedia Adventure | Hang out in the Interstellar Lounge

WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 22

September 2023—Issue 022

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

List of cercopithecoids by PresN List of tapaculos by AryKun Polar bear by Little Jerry Ohmdenosaurus by Jens Lallensack Amargatitanis by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Teloschistaceae by Esculenta, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Holozoa by Snoteleks, reviewed by Esculenta Ashy flycatcher by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Nyctibatrachus radcliffei by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Carcharodontosaurus by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by SilverTiger12 Life by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Apatosaurinae by Augustios Paleo, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Hypericum perforatum by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by Femke

Newly nominated content

Mountain pigeon by AryKun List of hominoids by PresN List of cranes by AryKun List of tarsiiformes by PresN Lycorma meliae by Etriusus Aristonectes by Amirani1746 Animal echolocation by Chiswick Chap Hyalospheniidae by Snoteleks Buellia frigida by Snoteleks

Contest results

The first edition of our new monthly contest had perhaps a little less participation than I hoped for, but it still resulted in a huge amount of content work, mainly focussed on de-stubbing articles on little-known species, although we did also see two GAs for Holozoa and Hypericum perforatum. Overall, over 60 articles were improved, with most going from stubs or redlinks to fully fleshed out articles. The winner this month was Simongraham, who improved 21 articles about spiders, mainly to B and C class, and racked up 70 points, over twice the next highest. Hopefully, we'll continue to see such great work next month, with even more participants and even more articles improved.
Also anyone who wants to help coordinate the contest can just drop by at the talk page, I really need help.

September DYKs

Republicopteron douseae fossil

Male Phallichthys fish

Mimodactylus reconstruction

Adult ashy flycatcher

• ... that with all known Palae­orehniidae fossils (example pictured) being incomplete, the relationships of the family are uncertain? (September 2)
• ... that butterfly collector Ian Heslop was once required to supervise an execution? (September 3)
• ... that the Munich Mouser, Neville Chamberlain's pet, and Nelson, Winston Churchill's pet, had a rivalry during World War II? (September 6)
• ... that Phal­lich­thys (literally 'penis fish') species are so called because the males (example pictured) have "comparatively huge" sex appendages? (September 8)
• ... that merry widows like soft bottoms? (September 10)
• ... that Mimodactylus (reconstruction pictured) is the first complete pterosaur from the Afro-Arabian continent? * ... that small Poecilia gillii males have longer sex organs than larger males, to facilitate mating with females that flee from them? (September 12)
• ... that the dwarf merry widow is not very brave? (September 13)
• ... that dwarf mollies hit rock bottom when they grow up? (September 14)
• ... that the Siberian crane is considered more threatened than the whooping crane, despite there being an estimated ten times more of them? (September 15)
• ... that one way to tell the African dusky flycatcher apart from the ashy flycatcher (example pictured) is that the former is "cuter"? (September 18)
• ... that the spiky inedible grass Triodia scintillans tastes like salt and vinegar chips? (September 19)
• ... that the bicolor molly inevitably goes off the deep end in adulthood? (September 27)
• ... that the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve is the only known nesting area for the eastern great egret in New Zealand? (September 28)

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The Signpost: 3 October 2023

• News and notes: Wikimedia Endowment financial statement published
  Finances during Tides Foundation management of the endowment are shown for the first time.

• In the media: History is written by whoever can harness the most editors
  Plus Harvard, Yale, Lords and Commons, partners and trolls!

• Recent research: Readers prefer ChatGPT over Wikipedia; concerns about limiting "anyone can edit" principle "may be overstated"
  And other new research publications

• Featured content: By your logic,
  The first issue to feature two poetry article

• Concept: Wikipedia policies from other worlds: WP:NOANTLERS
  Material must be written with the greatest care and attention; the level of detail and commentary regarding the antlers of living persons is to be kept to a minimum.

• Poetry: "The Sight"
  Tamzin reflects on the hunt.

• Traffic report: There shall be no slaves in the land of lands, it's a Bollywood jam
  Taylor Swift with an NFL tight end and Lauren Boebert with a Democrat?

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The Signpost: 23 October 2023

• News and notes: Where have all the administrators gone?
  Long time passing

• In the media: Thirst traps, the fastest loading sites on the web, and the original collaborative writing
  Also: High fives, Wikipedia as a guide for counterfeiters and crossword makers, and Iskander at the UN.

• Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to know how to restore images to make massive improvements
  The benefits of research.

• Featured content: Yo, ho! Blow the man down!
  These titles never make much sense even at the best of times, so why not be random?

• Traffic report: The calm and the storm
  They are still fighting.

• News from Diff: Sawtpedia: Giving a Voice to Wikipedia Using QR Codes
  Sounds good!

• Humour: New citation template introduced for divine revelations, drug use, and really thinking about it
  "Cite altered state" to join the distinguished ranks of CS1 templates

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 23

October 2023—Issue 023

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Mimodactylus by FunkMonk Mountain pigeon by AryKun List of tarsiiformes by PresN List of hominoids by PresN List of cranes by AryKun Outline of lichens by MeegsC Lycorma meliae by Etriusus, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Oak by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Esculenta Animal echolocation by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Primium Elke Mackenzie by Esculenta, reviewed by Moriwen Dwarf pufferfish by Primium, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Hyalospheniidae by Snoteleks, reviewed by An anonymous username, not my real name Paroedura maingoka by Olmagon, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated content

Hypericum sechmenii by Fritzmann2002 Teloschistaceae by Esculenta Nyctibatrachus major by AryKun List of sunbirds by AryKun List of platyrrhines by PresN Handicap principle by Chiswick Chap Slime mold by Chiswick Chap Punctelia by Esculenta Pulchrocladia retipora by Esculenta Anaptychia ciliaris by Esculenta Mocquard's Madagascar ground gecko by Olmagon Zavodovski Island by Jo-Jo Eumerus Chrysothrix chlorina by Esculenta Wood-pasture hypothesis by AndersenAnders Mammalian kidney by D6194c-1cc Lepas testudinata by Etriusus Teratoscincus roborowskii by Olmagon

Contest results

The second edition of our monthly contest was even better than the last month, with 80 articles improved spanning the entire tree of life. The winner this month was Quetzal1964, who contributed to 47 articles, mainly relating to marine fish, and racked up 81 points in the process. In second place was simongraham, who got 60 points from 14 articles on various species of jumping spiders. simongraham is still at the top of our overall standings, with 130 points, and Quetzal1964's close behind on 108. The November edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month.

October DYKs

Illustration of swordtail mollies

Lycorma meliae

Illustrations of the front foot (A) and hind foot (B) of Diplobune quercyi

• ... that the Siberian columbine has been crossed with another species in the genus Aquilegia to determine the gene behind the genus's nectar spurs? (October 2)
• ... that the swordtail molly (examples pictured) and the Petén molly have been named and renamed so often, one even ending up with the other's name at one point, that the swordtail molly's current scientific name means 'confusion'? (October 8)
• ... that the early big cat Pachypanthera may have weighed as much as 142 kilograms (313 lb) and had teeth similar to a hyena's? (October 9)
• ... that ancient Greek philosopher Xenophon thought the alopekis was part dog, part fox? (October 11)
• ... that the katydid-like fossil Republicopteron douseae possibly could not sing? (October 12)
• ... that a Brontosaurus stamp led to the United States Postal Service being accused of "fostering scientific illiteracy"? (October 16)
• ... that the wings of Lycorma meliae (example pictured) undergo multiple color changes throughout their lives? (October 16)
• ... that the three-toed species of Diplobune (fossils pictured) were mammals of the order of "even-toed ungulates"? (October 17)
• ... that although fossils of the extinct mammal Asiavorator were first found in 1922, the genus was not named until 73 years later, in 1995? (October 18)
• ... that in aquariums, the humpbacked limia is known to cannibalise the young? (October 21)
• ... that Hypericum perforatum was a common component of classical cure-all concoctions called theriacs? (October 21)
• ... that Aristotle classified living things based on whether they had a "sensitive soul" or, like plants, only a "vegetative soul"? (October 22)
• ... that in June 2022, a neurosurgeon found a roundworm in someone's brain? (October 23)
• ... that ancient permafrost can preserve viable microorganisms, some of which contain antibiotic-resistance genes that may be transferred to modern bacteria? (October 27)

Discuss this issue

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The Signpost: 6 November 2023

• Arbitration report: Admin bewilderingly unmasks self as sockpuppet of other admin who was extremely banned in 2015
  "Is this an ArbCom case request or an M. Night Shyamalan movie?"

• In the media: UK shadow chancellor accused of ripping off WP articles for book, Wikipedians accused of being dicks by a rich man
  Plus Gaza bias, Speaker Johnson, Maher, the music of websites, and antisemitism.

• News and notes: Board candidacy process posted, editors protest WMF privacy measure, sweet meetups
  And three new admins!

• Opinion: An open letter to Elon Musk
  You should learn some of our rules!

• WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2023
  The winner is...

• News from Wiki Ed: Equity lists on Wikipedia
  Do you ever wonder where Wikipedia articles come from?

• Recent research: How English Wikipedia drove out fringe editors over two decades
  And other new research findings.

• Featured content: Like putting a golf course in a historic site.
  Only literally.

• Wikidata: Evaluating qualitative systemic bias in large article sets on Wikipedia
  A systematic approach.

• Traffic report: Cricket jumpscare
  Plus Kollywood, Killers of the Flower Moon, and ongoing war.

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The Signpost: 20 November 2023

• In the media: Propaganda and photos, lunatics and a lunar backup
  Comic-con, Media summit, and a classic!

• News and notes: Update on Wikimedia's financial health
  Plus: Sockpuppet investigators asking for help.

• Traffic report: If it bleeds, it leads
  Or if it's Indian sport or cinema.

• Recent research: Canceling disputes as the real function of ArbCom
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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 24

November 2023—Issue 024

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Hypericum sechmenii by Fritzmann2002 Nyctibatrachus major by AryKun List of platyrrhines by PresN List of gymnosperm families by Dank Varroa destructor by KoA, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Lepas testudinata by Etriusus, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Island bronze-naped pigeon by AryKun, reviewed by SilverTiger12 Placidium arboreum by Esculenta, reviewed by SilverTiger12 Orange-billed lorikeet by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Spinular night frog by AryKun, reviewed by An anonymous username, not my real name Crested cuckoo-dove by AryKun, reviewed by Femke Aristonectes by Amirani1746, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Mocquard's Madagascar ground gecko by Olmagon, reviewed by Etriusus Femoral gland by Esculenta, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Ameerega munduruku by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Snowy plover by Jens Lallensack, reviewed by SilverTiger12 Crested cuckoo-dove by AryKun, reviewed by Grungaloo Wood-pasture hypothesis by AndersenAnders, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Hypericum bupleuroides by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by Etriusus Teratoscincus roborowskii by Olmagon, reviewed by Esculenta Pulchrocladia retipora by Esculenta, reviewed by Etriusus Anaptychia ciliaris by Esculenta, reviewed by Jens Lallensack

Newly nominated content

Snowy plover by Jens Lallensack List of birds of Bouvet Island by AryKun Laomaki by An anonymous username, not my real name Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei by AryKun Nyctibatrachus sabarimalai by AryKun Nyctibatrachus mewasinghi by AryKun Eucalyptus gomphocephala by Hughesdarren

Contest results

The third edition of our monthly contest saw Quetzal1964 win for the second month in a row, scoring 68 points from 39 articles about a variety of marine fishes. In second place for the month is Olmagon, who scored 45 points from 10 articles on extinct crustaceans and geckoes. In the overall standings, Quetzal1964 leapfrogged over simongraham into first place, with 176 points from 109 articles; simongraham is now in second place with 136 points from 37 articles. The December edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month.

New newsletter!

Now, this newsletter is technically not new, but I have only recently become aware of its existence and am only a month late, so it still counts. Wikiproject Fungi's Lichen task force has a new newsletter that is very nicely formatted and also features much better writing than this newsletter. Anyone interested in receiving the newsletter can add their name here.

November DYKs

A bacterium that thrives in the deep ocean

Georges Cuvier's reconstruction of Anoplotherium commune

Paroedura maingoka

Field of Wyethia amplexicaulis in bloom

An adult dwarf pufferfish

Adult Balkan terrapin

Planocarina marginata, a hyalospheniid amoeba

• ... that a variety of the Connecticut field pumpkin is known as "the original commercial jack-o'-lantern pumpkin"? (November 1)
• ... that insects not only destroyed the personal plant collection of John Hunter Thomas, but also bear his name? (November 3)
• ... that life exists in every part of the biosphere, from the deepest parts of the ocean (bacterium pictured) to altitudes of up to 64 km (40 miles) in the atmosphere? (November 6)
• ... that Sivapardus was larger than a leopard, smaller than a lion, and had a face like a cheetah? (November 7)
• ... that Lillian V. Holdeman Moore identified a spike in hydrogen-gas-producing bacteria in Skylab astronauts? (November 8)
• ... that euglossine bees distribute the seeds of vanilla tlatepusco? (November 11)
• ... that in 1822, the Paleogene mammal Anop­lo­therium commune (reconstruction pictured) was the first fossil species to be subjected to a brain cast study? (November 12)
• ... that the island bronze-naped pigeon is a popular food at bars and parties on São Tomé? (November 12)
• ... that little pink elephants are parasitic? (November 12)
• ... that the gecko Paroedura maingoka (pictured) imitates venomous scorpions to discourage predators? (November 13)
• ... that the scenic fields of northern wyethia (pictured) found in the western United States are sometimes a sign that an area has been overgrazed? (November 15)
• ... that a 1950s album of frog calls developed a cult following? (November 15)
• ... that at a maximum standard length of roughly 2 cm (0.8 in), dwarf pufferfish are some of the smallest pufferfish in the world? (November 18)
• ... that the authors of The Neanderthals Rediscovered learned that their book proposal had been accepted on the same day they took their twin sons home from hospital? (November 20)
• ... that hatchling Balkan terrapins are only 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) in length, while adults (example pictured) can grow as long as 25 cm (9.8 in)? (November 21)
• ... that organisms could harvest kinetic energy to survive? (November 22)
• ... that pollution in rivers scatters far-red light, making it harder for plants like Noveloa to germinate? (November 23)
• ... that many hyalospheniid amoebae (example pictured) construct shells by stealing mineralized particles from the shells of their prey? (November 28)
• ... that an ancient wildcat species is known only from a part of the jaw of a single animal discovered in Poland? (November 29)

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The Signpost: 4 December 2023

• News and notes: Beeblebrox ejected from Arbitration Committee following posts on Wikipediocracy
  Just as his term was ending!

• In the media: Turmoil on Hebrew Wikipedia, grave dancing, Olga's impact and inspiring Bhutanese nuns
  Plus Apple Pay, fiction, registration, expulsion, and elimination!

• Disinformation report: "Wikipedia and the assault on history"
  An analysis of a literary mystery.

• In focus: Tens of thousands of freely available sources flagged
  Continuing years of efforts to improve free-to-read access.

• Comix: Bold comics for a new age
  "I think we ought to read only the kind of comics that wound or stab us. If the comic we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?" — Franz Kafka

• Essay: I am going to die
  And so are you.

• Featured content: Real gangsters move in silence
  Quite literally, and other fascinating featured articles, pictures and lists

• Traffic report: And it's hard to watch some cricket, in the cold November Rain
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• Humour: Mandy Rice-Davies Applies
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The Signpost: 24 December 2023

• Special report: Did the Chinese Communist Party send astroturfers to sabotage a hacktivist's Wikipedia article?
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• News and notes: The Italian Public Domain wars continue, Wikimedia RU set to dissolve, and a recap of WLM 2023
  Not the best of times for Wikipedians across the world, but there are still glimpses of hope...

• In the media: Consider the humble fork
  Forky on forky on forky, plus a strange donation scheme and other interesting bits of news.

• Discussion report: Arabic Wikipedia blackout; Wikimedians discuss SpongeBob, copyrights, and AI
  Wiki goes dark and adopts Palestine flag logo; intellectual property rumblings from the bowels of the law.

• In focus: Liquidation of Wikimedia RU
  Wikimedia Russia closes after founder is declared a "foreign agent".

• Technology report: Dark mode is coming
  No more must Wikipedia always be a lightbulb in the dark — except metaphorically of course.

• Recent research: "LLMs Know More, Hallucinate Less" with Wikidata
  And other new research publications.

• Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
  Peace on earth, goodwill to all!

• Comix: Lollus lmaois 200C tincture
  the dilution makes it stronger.

• Crossword: when the crossword is sus
  The Signpost Crossword is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game that takes place in space-themed settings where players are colorful, armless cartoon astronauts.

• Traffic report: What's the big deal? I'm an animal!
  Bollywood, Hollywood, and both kinds of football to close out December.

• From the editor: A piccy iz worth OVAR 9000!!!11oneone! wordz ^_^
  The debugging will continue until performance improves.

• Apocrypha: Local editor discovered 1,380 lost subheadings in ancient Signpost scrolls. And what he found was shocking.
  Heartwarming — MUST READ — You Won't BELIEVE #4!!!!!

• Humour: Guess the joke contest
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• BJAODN: Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense
  Edit summary: "Only need this page for about 30 minutes to demonstrate to a friend how easy it is to create a Wikipedia page. Then it will be deleted."

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 25

December 2023—Issue 025

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Snowy plover by Jens Lallensack Teloschistaceae by Esculenta List of birds of Bouvet Island by AryKun List of sunbirds by AryKun Slime mold by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Esculenta Handicap principle by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Etriusus Insect by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Iztwoz Wheat by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by KoA Eucalyptus gomphocephala by Hughesdarren, reviewed by Grungaloo Buellia frigida by Esculenta, reviewed by J Milburn Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei by AryKun, reviewed by Grungaloo Nyctibatrachus mewasinghi by AryKun, reviewed by Grungaloo Nyctibatrachus sabarimalai by AryKun, reviewed by Grungaloo Great cuckoo-dove by AryKun, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Lake Patzcuaro salamander by Etriusus, reviewed by Grungaloo Anoplotherium by PrimalMustelid, reviewed by 20 upper

Newly nominated content

Alpine ibex by LittleJerry Pseudastacus by Olmagon Pachysentis by Mattximus List of primates by PresN Banded palm civet by Cremastra Perothops by Memer15151 Hypericum hircinum by Fritzmann2002 Boquila by Etriusus and Veridicae Aptostichus barackobamai by Etriusus Buffy-tufted marmoset by André Ribeiro Cardoso Ant mimicry by Chiswick Chap Mosquito by Chiswick Chap Anopheles by Chiswick Chap Rice by Chiswick Chap Pliosaurus andrewsi by Amirani1746 Triassosculda by Abdullah raji Flaco (owl) by Rhododendrites Crassispira incrassata by Etriusus Sei whale by 20 upper

Contest results

And so ends the fourth edition of the monthly rolling contest, as well as the 2023 Tree of Life Contest as a whole. This month saw simongraham win with a very impressive 120 points from 27 articles. Quetzal1964 was second with 74 points from 37 articles. The annual contest was a close race between simongraham and Quetzal1964; simongraham won first place with 256 points from 64 articles, and Quetzal1964 was second with 250 points from 146 articles. Snoteleks was third with 79 points from 33 articles. Congratulations to everyone who won this year and my gratitude to everyone else who helped raise the quality of articles in our little corner of Wikipedia this year. Additionally, a very Happy New Year to everyone in the project and here's looking forward to continuing our good work in 2024!

December DYKs

Snowy plover with chicks

Bofedales in the foreground

Adult female Varroa mite

Dennstaedtia christophelii fossil frond

• ... that a "bat ensnared by a plant" was discovered in the garden of the Palestine Museum of Natural History? (December 2)
• ... that female snowy plovers often abandon their families as soon as the chicks hatch? (December 4)
• ... that Lepas testudinata can form colonies of more than 1000 members at a time? (December 5)
• ... that the gecko Teratoscincus roborowskii eats caper fruits and disperses the plant's seeds in its feces? (December 5)
• ... that Henk Zwartepoorte quacked at caimans? (December 5)
• ... that the green colour of bofedales (examples pictured) stands out in the yellow surrounding landscape? (December 6)
• ... that Desulfovibrio vulgaris can remove toxic heavy metals from the environment? (December 8)
• ... that Varroa destructor (example pictured), the Varroa mite, is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most harmful honey-bee pests in the world? (December 11)
• ... that young orange-billed lorikeets are actually yellow-billed? (December 16)
• ... that stinking tutsan smells like goat? (December 20)
• ... that orange paintbrushes are guarded by rufous hummingbirds? (December 21)
• ... that the Antarctic lichen Buellia frigida has been to outer space? (December 22)
• ... that the closest modern fern relatives to Dennstaedtia christophelii (fossil pictured) of the Pacific Northwest are tropical species from South America? (December 24)
• ... that in Icelandic folklore, the Yule cat eats people who do not receive new clothing for Christmas? (December 25)
• ... that the Lake Patzcuaro salamander's native habitat is limited to a single lake in Mexico? (December 28)
• ... that plant species like Hypericum bupleuroides can reproduce by a callus? (December 29)

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The Signpost: 10 January 2024

• From the editor: NINETEEN MORE YEARS! NINETEEN MORE YEARS!
  The Signpost can now drink beer and chant slogans in Canada. What slogans should we chant for the next nineteen years?

• Special report: Public Domain Day 2024
  Mickey & You: What can you do?

• Technology report: Wikipedia: A Multigenerational Pursuit
  A techie looks at the big questions.

• News and notes: In other news ... see ya in court!
  Let the games begin! The 2024 WikiCup is off to a strong start. With copyright enforcement, AI training and freedom of expression, it's another typical week in the wiki-sphere!

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate
  The first of two installments, regarding a process of many installments.

• In the media: What is plagiarism? Oklahoma Disneyland? Reaching a human being at Wikipedia?
  Watch out for those space ships!

• WikiProject report: WikiProjects Israel and Palestine
  What are the editorial processes behind covering some of the most politically polarizing and contentious topics on English Wikipedia?

• Obituary: Anthony Bradbury
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2023
  Around the world in 365 days (with many stops in India).

• Crossword: everybody gangsta till the style sheets start cascading
  The good news is that I've perfected the templates that allow other people to make actually good crosswords.

• Comix: Conflict resolution
  Getting down to brass tacks &c.

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The Signpost: 31 January 2024

• News and notes: Wikipedian Osama Khalid celebrated his 30th birthday in jail
  Plus WMF child rights impact assessment, Chinese Wikipedia changes admin rules

• Opinion: Until it happens to you
  A stream of consciousness about plagiarism on Wikipedia from the perspective of a user who directly witnessed it.

• Disinformation report: How paid editors squeeze you dry
  And how you can stop them!

• In the media: Katherine Maher new NPR CEO, go check Wikipedia, race in the race
  Another wobble, more Ackman, our usual pathological optimist, and football in dirty pants!

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate, part 2
  Everything you really wanted to know about writing featured articles.

• Recent research: Croatian takeover was enabled by "lack of bureaucratic openness and rules constraining [admins]"
  And other new research publications.

• Comix: We've all got to start somewhere
  Writing a good subheading for a one-sentence joke is basically like writing an entire second joke so I'm not going to do it.

• Traffic report: DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down
  Job changes, death, sex, murder, suicide and a vacation!

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The Signpost: 13 February 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia Russia director declared "foreign agent" by Russian gov; EU prepares to pile on the papers
  "the exact extent of the obligations" unclear... many such cases!

• Disinformation report: How low can the scammers go?
  Lower, trust me!

• Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to touch grass to dramatically improve images of flora and fauna
  Finding the right bumblebee among all the bumblebees!

• In the media: Speaking in tongues, toeing the line, and dressing the part
  The usual odd articles about Wikipedia.

• Serendipity: Is this guy the same as the one who was a Nazi?
  The hunt for Bertil Ragnar Anzén.

• Traffic report: Griselda, Nikki, Carl, Jannik and two types of football
  Plus films, Grammys and a rumble!

• Crossword: Our crossword to bear
  &c.

• Comix: Strongly
  That's more than weakly!

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 26

January and February 2024—Issue 026

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Alpine ibex by LittleJerry Markham's storm petrel by FunkMonk, Jens Lallensack, and Therapyisgood List of primates by PresN List of birds of Alberta by grungaloo Rice by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by RecycledPixels Barley by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Bruxton Chicken by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by DocZach Cereal by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Bruxton Ant mimicry by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by AryKun Anopheles by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by AryKun Mosquito by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by 20 upper Cherry blossom by Reconrabbit, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Sei whale by 20 upper, reviewed by grungaloo Megaherbivore by 20 upper, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Brown bear by 20 upper, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Indian rhinoceros by 20 upper, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Hypericum hircinum by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by grungaloo Hypericum foliosum by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Hypericum grandifolium by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by Esculenta Boquila by Etriusus, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Aptostichus barackobamai by Etriusus, reviewed by Esculenta Crassispira incrassata by Etriusus, reviewed by 20 upper Punctelia by Esculenta, reviewed by Ealdgyth Chrysothrix chlorina by Esculenta, reviewed by Ealdgyth Chrysothrix chlorina by Esculenta, reviewed by Ealdgyth Ramalina peruviana by Esculenta, reviewed by Ealdgyth Menemerus animatus by simongraham, reviewed by Esculenta Afraflacilla braunsi by simongraham, reviewed by grungaloo Nasutoceratops by FunkMonk, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Pseudastacus by Olmagon, reviewed by FunkMonk Angustidontus by Super Dromaeosaurus and Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Amitchell125 Pruemopterus by Super Dromaeosaurus and Ichthyovenator, reviewed by Etriusus Black-billed magpie by grungaloo, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Black-capped chickadee by grungaloo, reviewed by Jens Lallensack Horned sungem by Jens Lallensack, reviewed by grungaloo Flaco (owl) by Rhododendrites, reviewed by Etriusus Telonemia by Snotoleks, reviewed by Esculenta "Pliosaurus" andrewsi by Amirani1746, reviewed by grungaloo Beaver drop by Lightburst, reviewed by Chiswick Chap

Newly nominated content

Horned sungem by Jens Lallensack Tufted jay by grungaloo Nasutoceratops by FunkMonk Maize by Chiswick Chap Cattle by Chiswick Chap Pig by Chiswick Chap Domestic duck by Chiswick Chap Eusociality by Chiswick Chap Fish by Chiswick Chap Barnacle by Chiswick Chap Ochrophyte by Snotoleks Parvilucifera by Snotoleks Thalattoarchon by Amirani1746 Hydropunctaria amphibia by Esculenta Melanohalea by Esculenta Spot test (lichen) by Esculenta Lecideaceae by Esculenta Hypericum × inodorum by Fritzmann2002 Hypericum sect. Androsaemum by Fritzmann2002 Olga Hartman by Viriditas Mixtotherium by PrimalMustelid Enhydriodon by PrimalMustelid Lentinus brumalis by Зэгс ус

News at a glance

• Our first double issue in almost four years, although we will try to return to a monthly schedule henceforth (incidentally, the last double issue saw Markham's storm petrel at GAN, and this one sees it finally pass FAC).
• A highly competitive first round of the WikiCup sees four Tree of Life editors advance to the second round: MtBotany, Fritzmann2002, Ealdgyth, and AryKun
• The March 2024 GAN Backlog Drive starts today; everyone is welcome to participate and help reduce the backlog of GANs.
• The January edition of our monthly rolling contest was won by Quetzal1964 with 100 points from 40 articles, mainly related to various species of marine fish. simongraham was second with 80 points from 14 articles on jumping spiders.
• The February edition saw Quetzal1964 win for the second time in a row, with 114 points from 43 articles. In second place was Snoteleks, with 21 points from 7 seven articles on various unicellular eukaryotes, including the GA Telonemia.

January DYKs

• ... that Dacrytherium, literally meaning 'tear beast', was named after its "tear-pit"? (3 January)
• ... that misidentifications of the crested cuckoo-dove have led to claims that the extinct Choiseul pigeon is still around? (4 January)
• ... that the wood-pasture hypothesis posits that semi-open wood pastures and not primeval forests are the natural vegetation of temperate Europe? (5 January)
• ... that until April 2023, when the genus Triassosculda was discovered, the mantis shrimp fossil record contained a gap of more than a hundred million years? (5 January)
• ... that although Olga Hartman believed that her basic research on marine worms had no practical value, it was applied to experimental studies of oysters? (6 January)
• ... that Oxford ivy grows towards the light to bloom and then towards the darkness when going to seed? (17 January)
• ... that S. F. Light (pictured) disliked using his full name? (20 January)
• ... that the fossil turtle Acherontemys was named for a "river of the fabled lower world"? (26 January)
• ... that a species of spider is named after Barack Obama? (27 January)
• ... that Boquila trifoliolata is the only known plant capable of simultaneously mimicking multiple species? (27 January)
• ... that Harpegnathos alperti worker ants have black heads and chocolate-colored mandibles? (28 January)
• ... that all known populations of Epipterygium opararense (example pictured) live within a 5-metre (16 ft) radius in New Zealand? (28 January)
• ... that female swamp guppies (pictured) show no preference for orange or red coloration during courtship? (29 January)

• 
  S. F. Light examining termites
• 
  Epipterygium opararense
• 
  Gold-morph swamp guppies

February DYKs

• ... that black-billed magpies are known to eat ticks off deer and other large mammals (example pictured)? (1 February)
• ... that scientist Adelaida K. Semesi was known as "mama mangroves" due to her specialist knowledge of their ecology? (2 February)
• ... that for the southern molly, sexual selection favors smaller males because they copulate by sneaking up to females? (2 February)
• ... that eyelash seaweed may have been made extinct by a single 2016 earthquake? (4 February)
• ... that conservation in Indonesia had little local support after independence because it was associated with the Dutch colonial period? (5 February)
• ... that the artiodactyl Ephelcomenus is thought to have been capable of burrowing? (6 February)
• ... that male mangrove mollies mate sneakily? (14 February)
• ... that barley was once used as a form of money? (14 February)
• ... it has been suggested that Crassispira incrassata may be a southern variation of Crassispira bottae and not its own species? (15 February)
• ... that the shining St John's wort owes its bright colors partly to carotenoid compounds? (18 February)
• ... that having lived in Central Park for more than a year after becoming homeless, Flaco (pictured) has been accused of being a peeping tom? (19 February)
• ... that the horned sungem (example pictured) is sometimes a nectar robber? (24 February)
• ... that the sea slug Bosellia mimetica benefits from photosynthesis? (25 February)
• ... that almost all members of a flock of tufted jays work together to build a nest? (28 February)
• ... that the hippocampus of the black-capped chickadee grows in the fall and shrinks in the spring? (29 February)
• ... that an Indian rhinoceros, sent as a gift to Pope Leo X in 1515, was immortalised as Dürer's Rhinoceros after dying in a shipwreck? (29 February)

• 
  Black-billed magpie eating ticks off the back of a cow
• 
  Flaco peeping through a window
• 
  Horned sungem robbing a flower

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The Signpost: 2 March 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia enters US Supreme court hearings as "the dolphin inadvertently caught in the net"
  Plus, the U4C Charter keeps planting seeds, the RfA process is set to become more sustainable, and more news from the Wikimedia ecosystem.

• Recent research: Images on Wikipedia "amplify gender bias"
  And other new findings

• In the media: The Scottish Parliament gets involved, a wikirace on live TV, and the Foundation's CTO goes on record
  Plus, naughty politicians, Federal judge not a fan, UFOs and beavers.

• Obituary: Vami_IV
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Supervalentinefilmbowlday
  If you say it loud enough the views will come your way!

• WikiCup report: High-scoring WikiCup first round comes to a close
  135 battle it out; 67 advance

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The Signpost: 29 March 2024

• Technology report: Millions of readers still seeing broken pages as "temporary" disabling of graph extension nears its second year
  Much effort was spent drafting a movement charter about becoming "essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge". How much is spent maintaining it?

• Interview: Interview on Wikimedia Foundation fundraising and finance strategy
  Signpost interviews Wikimedia Foundation leadership on fundraising banners

• Special report: 19-page PDF accuses Wikipedia of bias against Israel, suggests editors be forced to reveal their real names, and demands a new feature allowing people to view the history of Wikipedia articles
  And does it have anything to do with the unusual decision to let a zero-edit user open an arbitration request?

• Op-Ed: Wikipedia in the age of personality-driven knowledge
  Can we compete with social media? Will aoomers forget Wikipedia?

• Recent research: "Newcomer Homepage" feature mostly fails to boost new editors
  And several papers look at climate change on Wikipedia

• News and notes: Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Charter ratified
  WLM winners announced, Wikimania 2024, a new Wikimedia movement affiliate, and active enwp admins reach a record low.

• In the media: "For me it’s the autism": AARoad editors on the fork more traveled
  Worldwide women turned blue and controversies on Serbian & French Wikipedia.

• Traffic report: He rules over everything, on the land called planet Dune
  Let me take you to the movies.

• Humour: Letters from the editors
  The only worthwhile grievance is the one that prompts satire.

• Comix: Layout issue
  margin: 0 auto !important;

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The Signpost: 25 April 2024

• In the media: Censorship and wikiwashing looming over RuWiki, edit wars over San Francisco politics, and another wikirace on live TV
  Plus, tribute songs and shout-outs outweighing vandalism and hoaxes, a dispute about the real king of the platform and other bits of news.

• News and notes: A sigh of relief for open access as Italy makes a slight U-turn on their cultural heritage reproduction law
  Plus, new updates on the privacy and research ethics whitepaper and the graphs outage situation, and an Iranian former steward is globally banned from Wikimedia projects

• WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2023 in Toronto recap
  Outcomes of the event including newly published videos and photos, the archived conference website and program, and some attendee reflections on its significance.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Newspapers (Not WP:NOTNEWS)
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• Recent research: New survey of over 100,000 Wikipedia users
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• Traffic report: O.J., cricket and a three body problem
  Plus Godzilla meets Francis Scott Key!

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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 27

March and April 2024—Issue 027

Tree of Life

Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!

Newly recognized content

Horned sungem by Jens Lallensack Tufted jay by grungaloo Pseudastacus by Olmagon List of erinaceids by PresN Primates by PresN Hypericum sect. Androsaemum by Fritzmann2002 Thalattoarchon by Amirani1746, reviewed by Esculenta Lentinus brumalis by Зэгс ус, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Hypericum sect. Androsaemum by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by Maxim Masiutin Hypericum × inodorum by Fritzmann2002, reviewed by AryKun Barnacle by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Lightburst Maize by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by AryKun Pig by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Wolverine XI Orange (fruit) by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by 750h+ Fish by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Reconrabbit Organism by Chiswick Chap, reviewed by Esculenta Hydropunctaria amphibia by Esculenta, reviewed by AryKun Melanohalea by Esculenta, reviewed by AryKun Lecideaceae by Esculenta, reviewed by Wolverine XI Xylopsora canopeorum by Esculenta, reviewed by AryKun Spot test (lichen) by Esculenta, reviewed by AryKun Gustaf Einar Du Rietz by Esculenta, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Allocalicium by Esculenta, reviewed by Simongraham Multiclavula mucida by Esculenta, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Aphaena submaculata by Etriusus, reviewed by Wolverine XI White-tailed jay by Grungaloo, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Fork-tailed drongo by The Blue Rider, reviewed by Chiswick Chap Northern green anaconda by Chaotic Enby, reviewed by Geardona Heptamegacanthus by Mattximus, reviewed by Esculenta Mixtotherium by PrimalMustelid, reviewed by FunkMonk Diplobune by PrimalMustelid, reviewed by Wolverine XI Ochrophyte by Snoteleks, reviewed by Ealdgyth Parvilucifera by Snoteleks, reviewed by Fritzmann2002 Urceolus by Snoteleks, reviewed by Fritzmann2002 Plexippoides regius by Simongraham, reviewed by Grungaloo Olga Hartman by Viriditas, reviewed by Lightburst Giant panda by Wolverine XI, reviewed by Thebiguglyalien Enchylium conglomeratum by Xkalponik, reviewed by Wolverine XI

Newly nominated content

Great cuckoo-dove by AryKun Heptamegacanthus by Mattximus List of talpids by PresN List of birds of New Brunswick by B3251 List of forest-inventory conifers in Canada by Dank Dissoderma odoratum by NotAGenious Xiphodon by PrimalMustelid Banana by Chiswick Chap Phintella parva by Simongraham Evarcha maculata by Simongraham Asian elephant by Wolverine XI Megafauna by Wolverine XI Fishing cat by Wolverine XI Thistle tortoise beetle by Justinxuje Enchylium limosum by Xkalponik Enchylium polycarpon by Xkalponik Skeleton panda sea squirt by Chaotic Enby Hypericum aciferum by Fritzmann2002 Hypericum russeggeri by Fritzmann2002 Hypericum minutum by Fritzmann2002 Chrompodellid by Snoteleks Aquilegia sibirica by Pbritti Carabus japonicus by NHanselman Charles De Geer by Yakikaki Cheetah reintroduction in India by Magentic Manifestations

News at a glance

• The newsletter will not be returning to a monthly format (mainly because the author is busy failing every exam imaginable) and is on a bimonthly schedule for the foreseeable future.
• The second round of the WikiCup was very competitive, requiring the highest points total to advance since 2014. Two TOL editors, AryKun and Fritzmann2002, advanced to the third round.
• The March edition of our monthly rolling contest was won by simongraham, who amassed 118 points from 21 articles on various species of jumping spider; in second place was Quetzal1964 with 109 points from 53 articles on marine ray-finned fish.
• Quetzal1964 and simongraham were also the top two in the April edition, although Quetzal was ahead this time, with 68 points to simongraham's 48. In the annual leaderboard, Quetzal and simongraham are in first and second place respectively, with 291 and 246 points; in third place is Snotoleks, with 76 points.

March DYKs

• ... that an Indian rhinoceros, sent as a gift to Pope Leo X in 1515, was immortalised as Dürer's Rhinoceros after dying in a shipwreck? (1 March)
• ... that due to a misunderstanding, Catodontherium was moved from its original genus name? (3 March)
• ... that a malaria-control program in rural Brazil attracted droves of annoying, colorful bees that collect pesticide (example pictured) into homes? (4 March)
• ... that popular garden plants like malfurada often escape from cultivation and become invasive? (5 March)
• ... that the cherry blossom was used symbolically in Japanese World War II propaganda, with falling petals representing "young soldiers' sacrifice for the emperor"? (8 March)
• ... that off-roading at Muriwai Beach in New Zealand may be damaging the habitat of the newly described korowai gecko (example pictured)? (9 March)
• ... that Will Smith took part in the expedition that discovered the northern green anaconda? (13 March)
• ... that the Kīlauea lava cricket disappears from a lava field as soon as any plants start to grow there? (13 March)
• ... that Julian Assange's lawyer argued that the rules set by the Ecuadorian embassy requiring Assange to take care of his pet cat Michi were "denigrating"? (13 March)
• ... that mule deer sometimes prefer the flavor of one Rocky Mountain juniper tree, like "ice cream", over another? (21 March)
• ... that the skeleton panda sea squirt was known on the Internet for its skeleton-like appearance years before its formal description? (26 March)
• ... that only one fruit but several thousand seeds were known when Allenbya collinsonae was named? (26 March)
• ... that while named for alliums, the fossil Paleoallium (pictured) was not necessarily directly related to any allium species? (27 March)
• ... that the extinct genus Mixtotherium, meaning 'mixed beast', has traits of both extinct primates and hyraxes? (28 March)
• ... that the fossil fern Dickwhitea was described from a single block of chert? (28 March)
• ... that Scytalopus krabbei is named after Niels Krabbe, who discovered seven other species in its genus? (29 March)
• ... that Institutiones rei herbariae, published in 1700, sought to give a unique name to every plant based on their "essence"? (29 March)
• ... that in some rare cases, large Siberian tigers prey on adult brown bears? (30 March)
• ... that only six years after its 2016 discovery, the Meratus blue flycatcher (pictured) was found being sold in Indonesian songbird markets? (30 March)
• ... that the spirit liverwort is called such because of its proximity to the Māori afterlife? (31 March)
• ... that cultures of the fungus Lentinus brumalis have been flown on three different satellites? (31 March)
• ... that the English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper claimed that eating alkanet leaves would make a person's spit deadly to serpents? (31 March)

• 
  Eufriesea purpurata
• 
  Korowai gecko
• 
  Paleoallium billgenseli fossil
• 
  Male Meratus blue flycatcher

April DYKs

• ... that despite its name meaning 'unscented', Hypericum × inodorum can smell strongly of goat? (1 April)
• ... that color-changing cats (artist's impression pictured) could help us communicate with the future? (2 April)
• ... that Pep the dog was falsely accused of murdering a cat and sent to Eastern State Penitentiary? (2 April)
• ... that an extinct French scarab beetle was discovered in a Prague factory? (3 April)
• ... that the white-tailed jay (example pictured) found in Ecuador and Peru was once thought to have been brought to Mexico by pre-Columbian trade? (5 April)
• ... that saving the Guadalupe cypress included the help of 40 Judas goats? (5 April)
• ... that the fork-tailed drongo gives genuine alarm calls but will sometimes lie to steal food from other animals? (5 April)
• ... that Bangiales, an order of red algae, contains both the oldest-known sexually reproducing organism and the seaweed used to make sushi wrappers? (7 April)
• ... that beavers, mules, and dogs have been parachuted from airplanes? (8 April)
• ... that Aphaena submaculata (pictured) uses specialized mouthparts to suck the sap of trees? (8 April)
• ... that female Eriopis connexa beetles prevent sibling cannibalism by laying unfertilized eggs? (9 April)
• ... that Androsaemum androsaemum is botanically unacceptable, but Aniculus aniculus is perfectly valid? (9 April)
• ... that there is one male for every 31 females in an E. interjectus colony, and each female can start its own colony? (10 April)
• ... that the first extant deer discovered in the 21st century is only 38 centimetres (15 in) tall? (10 April)
• ... that Buellia aethalea, a species of fungus, is also known as the "darkened button lichen" due to the small black spots on its crusty grey surface? (14 April)
• ... that despite commonly being caught with a hook and line, the holotype of the Rapa Nui lizardfish was instead collected with a spear? (14 April)
• ... that ochrophyte algae have twice as many membranes around their chloroplasts as plants? (16 April)
• ... that while the lichen species Enchylium conglomeratum is considered secure globally, it has been designated as extinct in the UK and regionally extinct in Switzerland? (18 April)
• ... that Cladonota's extravagant dorsal structures have been called both "grotesque" and "particularly charismatic"? (19 April)
• ... that the damselfly-relative Okanagrion is suggested to have eight species due to both alpha and beta diversity drivers? (21 April)
• ... that trees of the extinct genus Calamophyton (example pictured) formed the earliest known forest? (22 April)
• ... that the color of a black-headed tailorbird's throat was thought to depend on sex, but later turned out to depend on age? (23 April)
• ... that Biodiversity Impact Credits seek to stop species extinction? (30 April)

• 
  Artist's impression of a ray cat
• 
  White-tailed jay
• 
  Aphaena submaculata
• 
  Calamophyton tree

Discuss this issue

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The Signpost: 16 May 2024

• News and notes: Democracy in action: multiple elections
  WMF trustee elections, U4C results, Italian ArbCom, WMF and Endowment annual reports.

• Special report: Will the new RfA reform come to the rescue of administrators?
  We don't know yet, but there is some encouraging news, nevertheless.

• Arbitration report: Ruined temples for posterity to ponder over – arbitration from '22 to '24
  Some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, few with much of a comprehensible explanation.

• In the media: Deadnames on the French Wikipedia, and a duel between Russian wikis
  Plus, the WMF joins the Unicode Consortium, Chris Albon talks about AI tools on Wikipedia, communities address under-representation on the site.

• Op-Ed: Wikidata to split as sheer volume of information overloads infrastructure
  More queries are failing, and more frequently, so what is to be done?

• Comix: Generations
  It do be like that sometimes.

• Traffic report: Crawl out through the fallout, baby
  With cricket and some cute baby reindeer!

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The Signpost: 8 June 2024

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation publishes its Form 990 for fiscal year 2022-2023
  The Form 990, as well as highlights and FAQs, are now available for review.

• Technology report: New Page Patrol receives a much-needed software upgrade
  A new model for collaboration between the WMF and the community?

• Deletion report: The lore of Kalloor
  Hoaxes and the genesis of information.

• In the media: National cable networks get in on the action arguing about what the first sentence of a Wikipedia article ought to say
  First line, sixth paragraph, body text or unified Reich?

• News from the WMF: Progress on the plan — how the Wikimedia Foundation advanced on its Annual Plan goals during the first half of fiscal year 2023-2024
  Outlining progress against the four key goals

• Opinion: Public response to the editors of Settler Colonial Studies
  A letter.

• Recent research: ChatGPT did not kill Wikipedia, but might have reduced its growth
  And various research findings about Wikidata and knowledge graphs.

• Featured content: We didn't start the wiki
  No we didn't write it, but we tried to cite it

• Essay: No queerphobia
  An essay.

• Special report: RetractionBot is back to life!
  ... and flagging your articles with big ugly red notices! (This is a good thing.)

• Traffic report: Chimps, Eurovision, and the return of the Baby Reindeer
  Movies, deaths, elections (but no cricket).

• Comix: The Wikipediholic Family
  Some stuff's only okay in the privacy of the home.

• Humour: Wikipedia rattled by sophisticated cyberattack of schoolboy typing "balls" in infobox
  Project in shambles – "it had never occurred to us that this was possible".

• Concept: Palimpsestuous
  Hypertext.

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The Signpost: 4 July 2024

• News and notes: WMF board elections and fundraising updates
  Three new admins, but overall numbers still shrinking.

• Special report: Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification vote underway, new Council may surpass power of Board
  Will we weather the storm?

• In focus: How the Russian Wikipedia keeps it clean despite having just a couple dozen administrators
  Unbundling, automation, fighting spirit, and a bot named Reimu Hakurei.

• Discussion report: Wikipedians are hung up on the meaning of Madonna
  Debate unsettled after seventeen years.

• In the media: War and information in war and politics
  Advocacy organizations, a journalist, mycophobes, conservatives, leftists, photographers, and a disinformation task force imagine themselves in Wikipedia.

• Sister projects: On editing Wikisource
  A journey to a sister project.

• Obituary: Hanif Al Husaini, Salazarov, Hyacinth, and PirjanovNurlan
  Rest in peace.

• Opinion: Etika: a Pop Culture Champion
  An article about Etika's appeal and legacy in pop culture.

• Gallery: Spokane Willy's photos
  A virtual visit to the Inland Northwest.

• Op-Ed: Why you should not vote in the 2024 WMF BoT elections
  "Simply not good enough".

• Crossword: On a day of independence, beat crosswords into crossploughshares
  How well do you know the main page (no peeking)?

• Humour: A joke
  ...!

• Cobwebs: Counting to a billion — manuscripts don't burn
  Special:Diff/1 and related techno-trivia more complicated than you'd think.

• Recent research: Is Wikipedia Politically Biased? Perhaps
  And other new publications on systemic bias and other topics.

• Traffic report: Talking about you and me, and the games people play
  Elections, movies, sports.

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The Signpost: 22 July 2024

• Discussion report: Internet users flock to Wikipedia to debate its image policy over Trump raised-fist photo
  Iconic photograph, invalid fair use exemption criterion #3a claimant, or both?

• News and notes: Wikimedia community votes to ratify Movement Charter; Wikimedia Foundation opposes ratification
  Establishment of power-sharing agreement between WMF corporation and volunteer user community in limbo.

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation Board resolution and vote on the proposed Movement Charter
  Natalia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, on the Charter vote results, the resolution, meeting minutes, and proposed next steps.

• Essay: Reflections on editing and obsession
  A lost Signpost submission from fifteen years ago brought into the light, as good and true now as it was then.

• In the media: What's on Putin's fork, the court's docket, and in Harrison's book?
  Failing forks, smart and well-researched stories, LGBT rights, and oral sex!

• Obituary: JamesR
  Rest in peace.

• Crossword: Vaguely bird-shaped crossword
  Do you know these Wikipedia quotes?

• Humour: Joe Biden withdraws RfA, Donald Trump selects co-nom
  Dems in disarray, GOP in chaos — analysts say news expected, but few can predict how race will shape up from here.

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The Signpost: 14 August 2024

• In the media: Portland pol profile paid for from public purse
  A STORM over an AI that writes articles. And other notes of interest.

• Recent research: STORM: AI agents role-play as "Wikipedia editors" and "experts" to create Wikipedia-like articles, a more sophisticated effort than previous auto-generation systems
  And other findings.

• In focus: Twitter marks the spot
  Musk's Twitter acquisition and rebranding have caused long debates on Wikipedia.

• News and notes: Another Wikimania has concluded.
  And Movement Charter ratification vote comments have been published

• Special report: Nano or just nothing: Will nano go nuclear?
  Possibly paid articles.

• Opinion: HouseBlaster's RfA debriefing
  HouseBlaster's reflections on his RfA. In particular, do not ask superlative questions.

• Traffic report: Ball games, movies, elections, but nothing really weird
  Just normally weird!

• Humour: I'm proud to be a template
  Come in, you whippersnapper, have a cup of tea.

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The Signpost: 4 September 2024

• News and notes: WikiCup enters final round, MCDC wraps up activities, 17-year-old hoax article unmasked
  JCW compilation now tracks free DOIs, Wiki Loves Monuments getting started, WMF's status as UN observer stymied by China for fourth time.

• In the media: AI is not playing games anymore. Is Wikipedia ready?
  Updates from the Portland pol's case, the war in Gaza, and other Wiki-related reports.

• Recent research: Simulated Wikipedia seen as less credible than ChatGPT and Alexa in experiment
  And other new research findings

• News from the WMF: Meet the 12 candidates running in the WMF Board of Trustees election
  Who are they, why are they running and what are they bringing to the Board?

• Wikimania: A month after Wikimania 2024
  What all happened in Katowice?

• Serendipity: What it's like to be Wikimedian of the Year
  Hannah Clover shares her fondest memories of her first Wikimania.

• Traffic report: After the gold rush
  The Olympics (yay!) and the American election (oh no).

• Humour: Local man halfway through rude reply no longer able to recall why he hates other editor
  "I can't remember whether he is an incompetent moron, or an incorrigible POV warrior, or some other thing, but either way, to hell with him."

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The Signpost: 26 September 2024

• In the media: Courts order Wikipedia to give up names of editors, legal strain anticipated from "online safety laws"
  ANI (but probably not the one you're thinking of), bias and bans, crisis and Clover, Engelhorn's euros, and will the zoomers inherit the project?

• Community view: Indian courts order Wikipedia to take down name of crime victim, editors strive towards consensus
  In response to a takedown request, Wikipedia editors reached a consensus on how to handle it appropriately.

• Serendipity: A Wikipedian at the 2024 Paralympics
  User Hawkeye7 opens up on his experience as a media representative following the Australian team at the latest Summer Paralympics in Paris.

• Opinion: asilvering's RfA debriefing
  User asilvering reflects on their recent successful request for adminship.

• News and notes: Are you ready for admin elections?
  More changes to RfA on the way in October, final results for the U4C elections revealed, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Gallery: Are Luddaites defending the English Wikipedia?
  Picture this: medicine, drugs, JFK, Cleopatra, anachronism, and global catastrophe.

• Recent research: Article-writing AI is less "prone to reasoning errors (or hallucinations)" than human Wikipedia editors
  And other recent research publications.

• Traffic report: Jump in the line, rock your body in time
  Band reunions and Beetlejuice!

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The Signpost: 19 October 2024

• News and notes: One election's end, another election's beginning
  Find more about the new Trustees, the first election cycle for admins, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Recent research: "As many as 5%" of new English Wikipedia articles "contain significant AI-generated content", says paper
  And other searchings and findings.

• In the media: Off to the races! Wikipedia wins!
  Perplexing persistence, pay to play, potential president's possible plagiarism, crossword crossover to culture, and a wish come true!

• Contest: A WikiCup for the Global South
  Can it be fun to address systemic bias? Eighty participants say yes, it can!

• Traffic report: A scream breaks the still of the night
  Help me make it through the night!

• Book review: The Editors
  A novel about us, from the point of view of three of us.

• Humour: The Newspaper Editors
  Where do I even start?

• Crossword: Spilled Coffee Mug
  Pasta, acronyms, and one computer-crashing talk page.

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The Signpost: 6 November 2024

• From the editors: Editing Wikipedia should not be a crime
  But not everybody is able to legally read Wikipedia, and not everybody is able to legally edit Wikipedia.

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation shares ANI lawsuit updates; first admin elections appoint eleven sysops; first admin recalls opened; temporary accounts coming soon?
  Defamation, privacy, censorship, and elections.

• In the media: An old scrimmage, politics and purported libel
  Plus human knowledge and Ozzie places!

• Special report: Wikipedia editors face litigation, censorship
  Asian News International, the Delhi High Court, and the encyclopedia.

• Gallery: Why you should take more photos and upload them
  Your photos are more valuable than you may realize.

• In focus: Questions and answers about the court case
  What is going on?

• Traffic report: Twisted tricks or tempting treats?
  And Tata too!

• Technology report: Wikimedia tech, the Asian News International case, and the ultra-rare BLACKLOCK
  IP address privacy tools, and mysterious archive sites.

• Humour: Man quietly slinks away from talk page argument after realizing his argument dumb, wrong
  Many such cases.

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The Signpost: 18 November 2024

• News and notes: Open letter to WMF about court case breaks one thousand signatures, big arb case declined, U4C begins accepting cases
  Many cases: many such cases.

• In the media: Summons issued for Wikipedia editors by Indian court, "Gaza genocide" RfC close in news, old admin Gwern now big AI guy, and a "spectrum of reluctance" over Australian place names
  Publisher versus intermediary, bias versus verifiability, and probing questions about Gwern's personal finances.

• Recent research: SPINACH: AI help for asking Wikidata "challenging real-world questions"
  And other recent publications.

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Endowment audit reports: FY 2023–2024
  An overview of the finances and an explanation of what the numbers mean.

• Traffic report: Well, let us share with you our knowledge, about the electoral college
  It's so over.

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The Signpost: 12 December 2024

• News and notes: Arbitrator election concludes
  New arbs to be seated in January.

• Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5
  Will the fifth try at achieving peace be a mudfight, or something better?

• Disinformation report: Sex, power, and money revisited
  Should old acquaintance be forgot?

• Op-ed: On the backrooms
  An editor's reflection on social capital and their changing relationship with Wikipedia culture. by Tamzin

• In focus: Are Wikipedia articles representative of Western or world knowledge?
  Wikipedia aims to represent the sum of all knowledge. Is there an imbalance between Western countries and the rest of the world.

• In the media: Like the BBC, often useful but not impartial
  Ballooning British bias bombast!

• Traffic report: Something Wicked for almost everybody
  Fighting and killing – on screen, in politics, and in the ring – competes for attention with Disney.

• Opinion: Worm That Turned's reconfirmation RfA debriefing
  The importance of feedback.

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The Signpost: 24 December 2024

• News and notes: Responsibilities and liabilities as a "Very Large Online Platform"
  What the VLOP – findings of an outside auditor for "responsibilization" of Wikipedia. Plus, new EU Commissioners for tech policy, WLE 2024 winners, and a few other bits of news from the Wikipedia world.

• Op-ed: Beeblebrox on Wikipediocracy, the Committee, and everything
  A personal essay.

• Opinion: Graham87 on being the first-ever administrator recall subject
  Explanations for what led to it and what it was like to undergo it.

• In the media: Delhi High Court considers Caravan and Ken for evaluating the ANI vs. WMF case
  Plus, the dangers of editing, Morrissey's page gets marred, COVID coverage critique, Kimchi consultation, kids' connectivity curtailed, centenarian Claudia, Christmas cramming, and more.

• From the archives: Where to draw the line in reporting?
  Who's news?

• Recent research: "Wikipedia editors are quite prosocial", but those motivated by "social image" may put quantity over quality
  And other new research findings.

• Humour: Backlash over Santa Claus' Wikipedia article intensifies
  Good faith edits REVERTED and accounts BLOCKED.

• Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
  Peace on earth, goodwill to all!

• Traffic report: Was a long and dark December
  Wicked war, martial law, killing, death and an Indian movie with a new chess champ!

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The Signpost: 15 January 2025

• From the editors: Looking back, looking forward
  The 20th anniversary of The Signpost.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2024
  A lot of psephology!

• In the media: Will you be targeted?
  HUMINT or humbug?

• Technology report: New Calculator template brings interactivity at last
  Hallelujah!

• Essay: Meet the Canadian who holds the longest editing streak on Wikipedia
  Johnny Au has edited for 17 years straight without missing a day.

• Opinion: Reflections one score hence
  Some thoughts from the original editor-in-chief.

• News and notes: It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me... and I'm feeling free
  Public Domain Day 2025, Women in Red hits 20% biography milestone, Spanish Wikipedia reaches two million articles, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Serendipity: What we've left behind, and where we want to go next
  The Signpost staff on achievements of '24 and hopes for '25.

• Op-ed: Elon Musk and the right on Wikipedia
  The latest crusade?

• In focus: Twenty years of The Signpost: What did it take?
  Our alumni speak!

• Arbitration report: Analyzing commonalities of some contentious topics
  Applying the scientific method to a model of conflict that leads to arbitration.

• Humour: How to make friends on Wikipedia
  This post fact-checked by real Wikipedian patriots.

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The Signpost: 7 February 2025

• Recent research: GPT-4 writes better edit summaries than human Wikipedians
  But an open language model is ready to help.

• News and notes: Let's talk!
  The WMF executive team delivers a new update; plus, the latest EU policy report, good-bye to the German Wikipedia's Café, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Opinion: Fathoms Below, but over the moon
  Editor Fathoms Below reminisces over their successful RfA from February 2024.

• In the media: Wikipedia is an extension of legacy media propaganda, says Elon Musk
  Plus, reports on the ARBPIA5 case, new concerns over projects targeting Wikipedia editors, John Green gets his sponsor flowers, and other news.

• Community view: 24th Wikipedia Day in New York City
  Wikimedians and newbies celebrate 24 years of Wikipedia in the Brooklyn Central Library. Special guests Stephen Harrison and Clay Shirky joined in conversation.

• Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5 has closed
  Ending with some bans, and a new set of editing sanctions.

• Traffic report: A wild drive
  The start of the year was filled with a few unfortunate losses, tragic disasters, emerging tech forces and A LOT of politics.

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The Signpost: 27 February 2025

• News and notes: Administrator elections up for reapproval and 1bil GET snagged on Commons
  French Wikipedia defends a user against public threats, steward elections, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Serendipity: Guinea-Bissau Heritage from Commons to the World
  "The only time I ever took photos in my entire life".

• Technology report: Hear that? The wikis go silent twice a year
  From patrolling new edits to uploading photos or joining a campaign, you can count on the Wikimedia platform to be up and running — in your language, anywhere in the world. That is, except for a couple of minutes during the equinoctes.

• In the media: The end of the world
  Or just the end of Wikipedia as we know it?

• Recent research: What's known about how readers navigate Wikipedia; Italian Wikipedia hardest to read
  Of "hunters", "busybodies" and "dancers".

• Opinion: Sennecaster's RfA debriefing
  User Sennecaster shares her thoughts on her recent RfA and the aspects that might have played a role in making it successful.

• Tips and tricks: One year after this article is posted, will every single article on Wikipedia have a short description?
  What are they? Why are they important? How can we make them better? And what can you do to help?

• Community view: Open letter from French Wikipedians says "no" to intimidation of volunteer contributors
  Liberté, liberté chérie.

• Traffic report: Temporary scars, February stars
  Grammys, politics and the Super Bowl.

• Essay: The source, the whole source, and nothing but the source
  Straight from the source's mouth. A source is a source, of course, of course!

• Obituary: Ümüt Çınar (Kmoksy) and Vinícius Medina Kern (Vmkern)
  Turkish linguist wrote about languages and plants; Brazilian informaticist studied Wikimedia projects and education.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:27, 27 February 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 March 2025

• From the editor: Hanami
  It's an ecstasy, my spring.

• Opinion: Talking about governments editing Wikipedia
  Let them know what you think!

• News and notes: Deeper look at takedowns targeting Wikipedia
  Read this, then forget all about it.

• In the media: The good, the bad, and the unusual
  Life on the Wiki as usual!

• Recent research: Explaining the disappointing history of Flagged Revisions; and what's the impact of ChatGPT on Wikipedia so far?
  And WMF invites multi-year research fund proposals

• Traffic report: All the world's a stage, we are merely players...
  The Oscars, politics, and death elbow for the most attention.

• Gallery: WikiPortraits rule!
  The photographers are the celebrities!

• Essay: Unusual biographical images
  And very unusual biographical images.

• Obituary: Rest in peace
  Send not to know
  For whom the bell tolls,
  It tolls for thee.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:04, 22 March 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 April 2025

• Special report: Wikipedian and physician Ziyad al-Sufiani reportedly released from Saudi prison
  Fellow doctor Osama Khalid remains behind bars for "violating public morals" by editing.

• In focus: WMF to explore "common standards" for NPOV policies; implications for project autonomy remain unclear
  Major changes to core content policy, or still-developing plan for new initiative?

• In the media: Indian judges demand removal of content critical of Asian News International
  Defeat, or just a setback?

• News and notes: 35,000 user accounts compromised, locked in attempted credential-stuffing attack
  Plus: 30-year anniversary of wiki software commemorated.

• Op-ed: How crawlers impact the operations of the Wikimedia projects
  Our content is free, our infrastructure is not!

• Opinion: Crawlers, hogs and gorillas
  What is to be done?

• Debriefing: Giraffer's RfA debriefing
  Advice to aspirants: "Read RfA debriefs", including this one.

• Obituary: RHaworth, TomCat4680 and PawełMM
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, off to report we go...
  Snow White sinking, Adolescence soaring, spacefarers stranded, this list has it all!

• News from Diff: Strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view
  The Wikimedia Foundation's announcement from Diff.

• Comix: Thirteen
  Gadzooks!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:21, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 May 2025

• News and notes: India cut off from Wiki money; WMF annual plan and Wikimedia programs seek comment
  As always, Wikimedia community governance relies on user participation; plus, more updates from the Wikimedia world

• In the media: Feds aiming for WMF's nonprofit status
  Scrapers, an Indian lawsuit, and a crash-or-not-crash?

• Recent research: How readers use Wikipedia health content; Scholars generally happy with how their papers are cited on Wikipedia
  And other new research findings.

• Arbitration report: Sysop Tinucherian removed and admonished by the ArbCom
  And don't bite those newbies!

• Discussion report: Latest news from Centralized discussions
  And don't bite those newbies!

• Traffic report: Of Wolf and Man
  Television dramas, televised sports, film, the Pope, and ... bioengineering at the top of the list?

• Disinformation report: At WikiCredCon, Wikipedia editors and Internet Archive discuss threats to trust in media
  Community volunteers network among themselves and use technology to counter attacks on information sharing.

• News from the WMF: Product & Tech Progress on the Annual Plan
  A look at some product and tech highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan (July–December 2024).

• Humour: Crisis erupts as furious admins, functionaries complain about crappy t-shirts
  Hey! At least it is something!

• Comix: By territory
  Zounds!

• In focus: Using AI on the Russian Wikipedia: opportunities or challenges?
  Would a billion articles be a good idea?

• Community view: A deep dive into Wikimedia
  There's a lot more to this than you think.

• Debriefing: Barkeep49's RfB debriefing
  I wonder about having crats, but decided to become one anyway.

• Gallery: Meet the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024
  Just beautiful photos!

• Obituary: JarrahTree, JohnClarknew and Yashthepunisher
  Rest in Paradise.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:16, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 May 2025

• News and notes: WMF to kick off new-CEO quest as Iskander preps to move on — Supreme Court nixes gag of Wiki page for other India court row on ANI — code-heads give fix-up date for Charts in lieu of long-dead Graph gizmo
  And comment is requested on a privacy whitepaper.

• In the media: Wikimedia Foundation sues over UK government decision that might require identity verification of editors worldwide
  And other courtroom drama.

• Disinformation report: What does Jay-Z know about Wikipedia?
  And how he knows it: all about lawyer letters and editing logs.

• In focus: On the hunt for sources: Swedish AfD discussions
  Why the language barrier is not the only impediment to navigating sources from another culture.

• Technology report: WMF introduces unique but privacy-preserving browser cookie
  And QR codes for every page!

• Debriefing: Goldsztajn's RfA debriefing
  When an editor is ready to become staff at a public library (not a brother in a fraternity).

• Obituary: Max Lum (User:ICOHBuzz)
  Rest in peace.

• Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 2)
  The technology behind it, and the other stuff.

• Comix: Collection
  Gadzooks!

• From the archives: Humor from the Archives
  And more.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:57, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 June 2025

• News and notes: Happy 7 millionth!
  Admins arrested in Belarus.

• In the media: Playing professor pong with prosecutorial discretion
  Pardon our alliteration!

• Disinformation report: Pardon me, Mr. President, have you seen my socks?
  A get-out-of-jail card!

• Recent research: Wikipedia's political bias; "Ethical" LLMs accede to copyright owners' demands but ignore those of Wikipedians
  And other new research publications.

• Traffic report: All Sinners, a future, all Saints, a past
  Holy men and not-as-holy movies.

• News from Diff: Call for candidates is now open: Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
  Get your self-nomination in by July 2nd!

• Opinion: Russian Wiki-fork flails, failing readers and editors
  After two years RuWiki fails to thrive.

• Debriefing: EggRoll97's RfA² debriefing
  With some sweet-and-sour sauce!

• Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 3)
  Every thing you need to know about the Wikimedia Foundation?

• Comix: Hamburgers
  Egad!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:27, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 July 2025

• News and notes: Is no WikiNews good WikiNews? — Election season returns!
  Endowment tax form, Wikimania, elections, U4C, fundraising and a duck!

• In the media: How bad (or good) is Wikipedia?
  And how do we know?

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Medicine reaches milestone of zero unreferenced articles
  Five-year journey comes to healthy fruition.

• In focus: Wikimania 2025: Connecting Wikimedians across the world for 20 years
  Wikimedians from around the world will gather in person and online at the twentieth annual meeting of Wikimania.

• Recent research: Knowledge manipulation on Russia's Wikipedia fork; Marxist critique of Wikidata license; call to analyze power relations of Wikipedia
  As well as "hermeneutic excursions" and other scientific research findings.

• News from the WMF: Form 990 released for the Wikimedia Foundation’s fiscal year 2023-2024
  The report covers the Foundation's operations from July 2023 - June 2024

• Discussion report: Six thousand noticeboard discussions in 2025 electrically winnowed down to a hundred
  A step towards objective and comprehensive coverage of a project nearly too big to follow.

• Comix: Divorce
  Drawn this century!

• Opinion: Women are somewhat under-represented on the English-language Wikipedia, and other observations from analysis
  How data from the Wikipedia "necessary articles" lists can shed new light on the gender gap

• Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 4): The Future Of Wikimedia and Conclusion
  Annual plans, external trends, infrastructure, equity, safety, and effectiveness. What does it all mean?

• Obituary: Pvmoutside, Atomicjohn, Rdmoore6, Jaknouse, Morven, Martin of Sheffield, MarnetteD, Herewhy, BabelStone
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: God only knows
  Wouldn't it be nice without billionaires, scandals, deaths, and wars?

• Humour: New forum created for people who don't care about Wikipedia
  If you are too blasé for Mr. Blasé and don't give a FAC.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:49, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 August 2025

• News and notes: Court order snips out part of Wikipedia article, editors debate whether to frame shreds or pulp them
  Plus a mysterious CheckUser incident, and the news with Wikinews.

• Discussion report: News from ANI, AN, RSN, BLPN, ELN, FTN, and NPOVN
  A review of June, July and August.

• Disinformation report: The article in the most languages
  Who is this guy?

• Community view: News from the Villages Pump
  Threads since June.

• In the media: Disgrace, dive bars, deceased despots, and diverse dispatches
  And slop.

• Crossword: Accidental typography
  It's not a conlang, it's a crossword puzzle.

• Comix: best-laid schemes o' wikis an' men
  gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!

• Traffic report: I'm not the antichrist or the Superman
  Everybody's Somebody's Fool.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:23, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 9 September 2025

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation loses a round in court
  UK Online Safety Act remains undefeated.

• In the media: Congress probes, mayor whitewashed, AI stinks
  Plus Wiki rules, Wiki Spin, and physicists get street cred!

• Disinformation report: A guide for Congress
  The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.

• Recent research: Minority-language Wikipedias, and Wikidata for botanists
  And other new research findings.

• Technology report: A new way to read Wikisource
  Tis true: there's magic in the web of it.

• Traffic report: Check out some new Weapons, weapon of choice
  With the usual mix of war, death, super heroes, a belt, and Wednesday.

• Essay: The one question
  It's an easy one.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:04, 9 September 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 October 2025

• News and notes: Larry Sanger returns with "Nine Theses on Wikipedia"; WMF publishes transparency report
  This time "not merely negative".

• In the media: Extraordinary eruption of "EVIL" explained
  Wickedpedia wrangles post-truth politics.

• Disinformation report: Emails from a paid editing client
  Unexpected news!

• Discussion report: Sourcing, conduct, policy and LLMs: another 1,339 threads analyzed
  Fifty hot topics from fourteen noticeboards.

• Community view: The pressing questions of the modern WWW, as seen from the Village Pump
  Policy, politics, icons, captchas, and LLMs.

• Recent research: Is Wikipedia a merchant of (non-)doubt for glyphosate?; eight projects awarded Wikimedia Research Fund grants
  And other recent publications.

• Opinion: Some disputes aren't worth it
  When to walk away.

• Obituary: Michael Q. Schmidt
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Death, hear me call your name
  Celebrities, deaths and software.

• Comix: A grand spectacle
  All invited!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:49, 2 October 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 October 2025

• News and notes: Board shuffles, LLM blocks increase, IPs are going away
  And the "Global Resource Distribution Committee" emerges.

• Special report: The election that isn't
  Two shortlisted WMF Board candidates removed from the ballot.

• Interview: The BoT bump
  Who was bumped and why?

• In the media: An incident at WikiConference North America; WMF reports AI-related traffic drop and explains Wikipedia to US conservatives
  ...while Musk prepares to launch "Grokipedia".

• Traffic report: One click after another
  Serial-killer miniseries, deceased scientist, government shutdowns and Sandalwood hit "Kantara" crowd the tubes.

• Humour: Wikipedia pay rates
  Don't get too excited before you read this.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:41, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 November 2025

• News and notes: Temporary accounts go live and WMF board member self-suspends
  ArbCom elections draw close, and Wikimania '27 in Santiago.

• Community view: Six Wikipedians' thoughts on Grokipedia, and the humanity of it all
  It ain't a five course meal, according to one of our interviewees.

• Wikicup report: BeanieFan11, WikiCup victor of 2025, covers the results
  Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

• In the media: Jimbo's book, an argument about genocide, and a train of shame
  Wikipedia's new rival, political controversy in Italy and other Wiki-reports.

• Recent research: Taking stock of the 2024–2025 research grants
  $400,000 USD in total funding: what did we get?

• Opinion: With Grokipedia, top-down control of knowledge is new again
  Does it shed any light on particular topics that are better suited to LLM-generation than others?

• Obituary: Struway
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: The documentaried, the disowned, the deceased, Diwali and the Dodgers
  You know your man is working hard, he's worth a deuce.

• Comix: Head of steam
  'Sblood!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:52, 10 November 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 1 December 2025

• News and notes: Election cycles come and go, and Wikimedia Foundation achieves record revenue in 2024–2025!
  Admin and ArbCom elections upcoming, BoT elects two new members, task force advises to close Wikinews and keep Wikispore, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• In the media: Wales walk-off, antisemitism, supernatural powers, feminism turmoil, saints, and sex
  Plus mammoth mummy sex-change operation completed!

• Recent research: At least 80 million inconsistent facts on Wikipedia – can AI help find them?
  And other recent publications about contradictions and retractions.

• Disinformation report: Epstein email exchanges planned strategy, edits and reported progress
  At work on Wikipedia whitewashing. How much should they be paid?

• Traffic report: It's a family affair
  Even in these times there is something to be thankful for!

• Book review: The Seven Rules of Trust
  Jimmy Wales and Dan Gardner write a book inspired by Wikipedia. What's in it?

• From the archives: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein ..."
  The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.

• Humour: An interview with Wikipe-tan
  A conversation about being the mascot of Wikipedia.

• Opinion: AI finds errors in 90% of Wikipedia's best articles
  Using ChatGPT to fact-check a month's worth of Today's featured articles.

• Serendipity: Highlights from the itWikiCon 2025
  A recap of the latest convention of the Italian Wiki-community, held in Catania from 7–9 November.

• Comix: Madness
  It could happen to anyone.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:12, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 December 2025

• Interview: Part 1: Bernadette Meehan
  Say hello to the new WMF CEO.

• News and notes: We're gonna have a party!
  And a new WMF CEO!

• In the media: The "bigg" bosses: Robertsky and the Pope
  Pay up, big guys!

• Traffic report: Death and stranger things
  And going for the FIFA prize!

• Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
  Something old and something new!

• Obituary: Michal Lewi (Iwelam) and Alan R. King (A R King)
  Rest in peace.

• Concept: List of xxtreme sports (redirected from Electrojousting)
  You are viewing an old revision of this page, as edited on 2065-11-10 04:33:10.

• Comix: display: flex-inline;
  ampersand nb semicolon ampersand nb semicolon ampersand nb semicolon

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:01, 17 December 2025 (UTC)

The Signpost: 15 January 2026

• News and notes: Wikipedia's 25th anniversary is here!
  Where does the time go?

• Special report: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call
  The internet is booming. We are not.

• Serendipity: The WMF wants to buy you books!
  Really! A major triumph.

• WikiProject report: Time for a health check: the Vital Signs 2026 campaign
  The campaign to get all of our top-importance medical articles up to B-class or above.

• In the media: Fake Acting President Trump and a Wikipedia infobox
  D.J.T. assumes a new position.

• Community view: The inbox behind Wikipedia
  What the Volunteer Response Team actually does!

• Recent research: Art museums on Wikidata; comparing three comparisons of Grokipedia and Wikipedia
  And other research.

• Traffic report: Tonight I'm gonna rock you tonight
  A world in white gets underway.

• Comix: Oh come on man.
  Really?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:14, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 January 2026

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2025
  Everybody had a hard year, everybody had a good time.

• News and notes: Good news... but also bad news for the Public Domain
  Benvenuto Betty Boop, arrivederci Italian Photos.

• News from Diff: Solving puzzles together
  Maryana Iskander says farewell.

• In the media: Every view on the 25th anniversary of everything
  Media about hard-core nerds, a place with paragraphs, baby globes, and wikipedes.

• Comix: Perspectives
  Everybody has one.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:27, 29 January 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 February 2026

• In the media: Global powers see Wikipedia as fundamental target for manipulation
  Attempted Wikipedia shenanigans apparent from Epstein, AI, various governments.

• News and notes: Discussions open for the next WMF Annual Plan
  Plus, WikiFlix going places, steady progress on older FAs and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Serendipity: Maintenance crews continue to slog through Wikipedia's oldest Featured Articles
  Hundreds of old FAs have been triaged since project began, but thousands remain — and they need reviewers.

• Disinformation report: Epstein's obsessions
  The sex offender's attempts to whitewash Wikipedia run deeper than we first thought.

• Technology report: Wikidata Graph Split and how we address major challenges
  A personal perspective on a major update to the Wikimedia social machine.

• Traffic report: Deaths, killings, films, and the Olympics
  I'll have the usual!

• Opinion: Incoming Incurables
  A poem for Wikipedia Day 2026.

• Crossword: Pop quiz
  Sharpen your pencil. How well do you really know Wikipedia?

• Comix: herculean
  efforts.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:59, 17 February 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 March 2026

• Interview: Bernadette Meehan, new Wikimedia Foundation CEO
  Part 2.

• News and notes: Security testing unleashes computer worm on Meta-wiki
  Dormant worm awakes; a sketchy archiving site struck; ether burns.

• Special report: What actually happened during the Wikimedia security incident?
  A horrifying exploit took place, which could have had catastrophic and far-reaching consequences if used maliciously; instead, it seems to have happened by accident and was used for childish vandalism. How did this happen, and what did the script actually do?

• In the media: Indonesian government blocks Wikimedia logins; archive site scoured from Wikipedia after owner runs malware
  As well as controversy over LLM translations.

• Recent research: To wiki, perchance to groki
  Comparisons continue.

• Obituary: Madhav Gadgil, Fredrick Brennan, Mark Miller, Chip Berlet
  Rest in peace.

• Opinion: Interface administrators and trusting trust
  Potential attacks are the logical consequence of giving a group of users unlimited control over JavaScript.

• Technology report: English Wikipedia deprecates archive.today after DDoS against blog, altered content
  After the archive site launched a DDoS campaign against a small blog in January 2026, a request for comment was started, with consensus to deprecate the site used almost 700 thousand times.

• Op-ed: Why is "Trypsin-sensitive photosynthetic activities in chloroplast membranes" cited in "List of tallest buildings in Chicago"?
  The answer is slop.

• Essay: The pursuit of a button click
  Volunteering for Wikipedia has its rewards. The thank-button, for example.

• In focus: Short descriptions: One year later
  A discussion of the challenge set forth to the Wikipedia community one year ago!

• WikiProject report: Unreferenced articles backlog drive
  Unreferenced articles in English Wikipedia - help us in the backlog drive!

• Community view: Speaking of planning ...
  The WMF planning process is underway.

• Traffic report: Over the mountain, kissing silver inlaid clouds
  Death and the Winter Olympics.

• Crossword: "It will never happen"
  Want to take a break?

• Comix: BRIEn't
  Or is it.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:11, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 March 2026

• News and notes: Entirety of Wikinews to be shut down
  All languages to be shut down in May; first AI agent blocked; new name for AfD?

• In the media: AI ban, newspapers disrupt archiving; and antisemitism complaints
  Perennial challenges with AI, demographic representation, and attacks from people buying media influence.

• Community view: Videos from WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC
  In attendees' own words.

• Disinformation report: Cleaning up after Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Nygard, and Mohamed Al-Fayed
  Countering the edits of the rich and dangerous.

• WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC review
  About the conference series, and this conference particularly.

• Obituary: Dr. Subas Chandra Rout
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Call in the dogs of war, soldier of fortune
  Though of course the picture needs to be Chuck Norris...

• Gallery: Canadian Rangers participate in Operation Enduring Encyclopedia
  Analogies between how Wikipedia works and how Canada works.

• Comix: n00bsitting
  ...!

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:04, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 April 2026

• News and notes: Six Serbian Wikipedia editors banned following controversy about political bias
  Plus, new bans for AI-generated content in place, a new drop in active admins, pranks on pranks, May admin election, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• In the media: Could Wikipedia be involved in Massachusetts' proposed social media ban for minors?
  Another regulate-the-internet attempt casts a wide net.

• Gallery: March equinox
  The progression of seasons in March.

• Traffic report: Time to change my galaxy in case, we outta space!
  What catches the reader's eye? Death and film, per usual, and a loop around the moon per unusual.

• Comix: Of skirts and articles
  When significant coverage is only skin deep.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:47, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 May 2026

• News and notes: Offline: Osama Khalid still in prison
  He has been imprisoned since 2020 for his Wikipedia edits. A fresh campaign is calling for his release.

• In the media: Indonesian editors, you shall return!
  And lawspam, may you be away.

• Disinformation report: Who is a typical paid editor? Who are their typical clients?
  Remember the golden rule!

• Recent research: WikiLambda the Ultimate
  Does Abstract Wikipedia help fight "One ring to rule them all" solutions for knowledge access - or does it implement one itself?

• Traffic report: This is where I'll be, so heavenly, so come and dance with me Michael!
  A real off the wall thriller, invincible, can't beat it, or is it dangerous and just bad?

• Forum: WikiAnnotate: help us build a dataset of article quality evaluations
  A research project to build better automated article assessment tools.

• In focus: Demystifying the 2026-27 Annual Plan
  A guide to WMF's Tech Annual Plan for the next year.

• Opinion: Wikipedia isn't a battleground. So why does it feel like one?
  Do we really have to fight?

• Serendipity: Wikinews: Into the Wikiverse
  The early suggestions for what the wiki could have been.

• Special report: Wikimedia Foundation closes Wikinews after 21 years
  Displaces 700 active editors among 31 language editions.

• Community view: Wikipedia's traffic drop: more on languages and freshness
  Which topics are dropping, and is the pattern the same everywhere?

• Gallery: Earth Day and Mother's Day
  Earth Day was on 22 April, and Mother's Day was on 10 May (in the US and many other countries).

• Comix: Brother, can you spare a page?
  What would you say?

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:15, 22 May 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 June 2026

• From the editors: Ways for beginners to support The Signpost community journalism
  Pointing the way to your contribution to The Signpost!

• News and notes: Community Tech development team disbanded
  And English Wikipedia reaches a milestone in number of highly active editors.

• Disinformation report: PR for the people?
  Or, "PR using PR for PR"?

• Recent research: Proposed tagging system for AI involvement; successful and unsuccessful AI tools for contributors
  And other new research publications.

• In the media: Who won a 14th century battle and who won the 2026 Iran war?
  Media take issue with portrayals of recent and medieval history on Wikipedia. Plus a team supporting Wikipedians gets dissolved, and a few other things.

• Community view: Putting the Wish into the Wishlist
  A history of the Wikimedia community's request process to Foundation developers.

• In focus: A global standard for Neutral Point of View
  Wikipedians are commenting on a proposed global standard for neutral point of view.

• On the bright side: Flowers, blue helmets, reefs, pride, and Juneteenth
  Nice things around the world.

• Op-ed: Breathe, Don’t Panic, there is a different story about Wikimedia + AI futures
  We can build a strategy about AI that doesn't just center on readers; there are still plenty of humans to write the encyclopedia and work on diverse global knowledge.

• Opinion: Wikimedia Foundation staff develop union and Wikimedia user community reacts
  Why should editors support the Wiki Workers United union drive? Lessons the Wikimedia movement can learn from other labor struggles.

• Technology report: Community Tech team is disbanded, controversy erupts
  WMF disbands Community Tech, sparking community backlash over the future of the Wishlist and concerns about unionization.

• Traffic report: 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
  Horror movies and Michael Jackson dominate theaters in the lead-up to the World Cup.

• WikiConference report: Report of Volunteer Supporters Network Annual Meeting 2026
  Outreach staff of Wikimedia chapters host a global discussion.

• Comix: Take your turn
  In a maze of twisty little edits, all alike.

• Humour: Group of banned T-shirt makers comes out of hiding to sell new Wikipedia-themed merchandise
  It ain't WikiProject United Nations, but you will find some PUNs.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:17, 21 June 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 13 July 2026

Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2026-07-13

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:22, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 August 2026

Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2026-08-02

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:13, 2 August 2026 (UTC)