Talk:Koala

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GA Review[edit]

This review is transcluded from Talk:Koala/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Chiswick Chap (talk · contribs) 09:05, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Rate	Attribute	Review Comment
1. Well-written:
	1a. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct.	Grammar error in first para of Taxonomy and Evolution. Text should read "different from" or "different to" not "different than" which makes no sense. "Than" is used for comparative adjectives (eg. "bigger," "happier," "faster" or even "more different")
	1b. it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.	Lead: ok; Layout: ok; weasel: ok; fiction: n/a; lists: n/a
2. Verifiable with no original research:
	2a. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline.	OK
	2b. reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose).	"The koala's small brain size is possibly due to the lack of sufficient energy to sustain a larger brain." needs to be cited. Cite 31 is the citation. All the information in the article is sourcedto the very next cite. I've learned it is redundant to cite the same thing twice in a row. LittleJerry (talk) 17:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Hm. The "next cite" is actually 32. Could you please cite the sentence with 31 or 32 as appropriate - this actually illustrates the reason: things quickly move about or get separated by editing, often by many hands, that's just how it is. Done. LittleJerry (talk) 17:44, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
	2c. it contains no original research.	OK
3. Broad in its coverage:
	3a. it addresses the main aspects of the topic.	Taxonomy and evolution section is very brief. Could there be a cladogram or other diagram of the place of the current Koala among the fossil species? There could be a timeline or set of (overlapping) horizontal bars, for instance, to show when the other Koalas lived (and went extinct). The relationships with marsupial tapirs etc, and the possums and kangaroos would be much easier to visualize with a simple cladogram (could have just one branch for all the Koalas). - I'll check and see if the papers have have contain phylogenies but I don't know how to do a cladgram. LittleJerry (talk) 17:30, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Either clarify the text or add a diagram such as a timeline. Clarify what? It states that the koala branch was the earliest to branches, I don't think we need to get into detail on the branches of the other families. LittleJerry (talk) 18:16, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Article should discuss the distinctly inedible diet - see e.g. Moore B, Foley WJ. Tree use by koalas in a chemically complex landscape]. Nature 2005;435:488-490. And why are Koalas so apparently defenceless themselves - often, such slow "prey" are aposematic - dangerous or poisonous? Perhaps the literature discusses this. It is discussed in the "description" section. ~~As for defences, the literature I have does not seem to discuss this, but I'll look further.~~ LittleJerry (talk) 17:27, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Description doesn't address the question. I added that koala have few predators and birds of prey are threats only to the young. LittleJerry (talk) 18:16, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] This works better.
	3b. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).	Not sure the list of people photographed with koalas is really relevant, and it's almost uncited. Perhaps the whole "Cultural significance" section needs gentle pruning and attention to being "encyclopedic". I removed Jackie Chan and Janet Jackson but left the others. It is notable that so many powerful leaders have their pictures taken with the animal and it illustrates its international appeal. LittleJerry (talk) 17:40, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Thanks.
	4. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.	OK
	5. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.	No sign of recent editwarring.
6. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
	6a. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content.	Not sure if Platinum Koala is validly licensed. Replaced. LittleJerry (talk) 17:27, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] Thanks, that's better.
	6b. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.	Seem to be too many images of Koala "portrait", "On Kangaroo Island", "Resting" -- are these images adding anything to the article? Yes, the Kangaroo Island picture is next to the paragraph that talks about invasive populations and the "portrait" give the reader a good view of the animal when reading the description section. LittleJerry (talk) 17:27, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] The main thing the Kangaroo Island picture adds is the caption, otherwise it's just a Koala in a tree; same for Portrait. I think "portrait" should go, it's redundant with the lead image, which does the same thing better. Did some replacing and rearranging. LittleJerry (talk) 18:45, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] I wonder if it would be helpful to include an image of e.g. Eucalyptus tereticornis to show a major food plant? Already have one of the animal eating. LittleJerry (talk) 17:31, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] I saw. But since the Eucalyptuses are so important it could be good to show the food plant more clearly. I don't think theres enough room. LittleJerry (talk) 18:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply] It's linked, I guess - seemed there was room for multiple images... but it does look and read better, and I think the GA threshold has been reached. Picture of 'Koala Rock Art' isn't actually of a koala. It is the lighting man painting at Norlangie Rock in Kakadu, Northern Territory (see below link). http://www.google.com.au/search?bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bih=853&safe=active&q=Lighting+man+kakadu&bvm=bv.48705608,d.aGc&biw=1680&wrapid=tlif137386711625110&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=64zjUfHtLITziAfhxoDIDA Concerns verified - the photo has now been replaced - see discussion Talk:Koala#Questionable rock art image - File:Koala_rupestre.jpg. Bahudhara (talk) 01:14, 27 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
	7. Overall assessment.	A readable and informative article on a popular topic.

typo in 'behaviour' section[edit]

The koala does not need to drink often has it can get enough water in the eucalypt leaves,[9]: 73–74

I assume even if from the source this should be "as it can get enough water" rather than "has it can get enough water" 2601:547:C300:7F90:B5E9:55B8:C3A9:5C99 (talk) 04:06, 2 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. Thanks for alerting us. HiLo48 (talk) 05:42, 2 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Making "threats" visible in table of content?[edit]

How would people feel about making "threats" visible in the table of content? I think this would be useful for our readers. Currently it's mingled in under "conservation". An easy change could be to change that section heading to "Threats and conservation". Even better might be to make them into two separate sections. One would explain the threats to koala populations and one would explain the conservation activities. Thoughts? I wonder about the same for other articles, such as bird, flowering plant (see talk page there, pinging . For comparison, the article on dolphin has a section on "threats" but not on "conversation". If there is an overarching template and WikiProject where this has been discussed in the past, I could ask there as well. EMsmile (talk) 10:25, 5 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Spacing between cladograms[edit]

@LittleJerry: You reverted my change to the clade gallery that put more space between the cladograms with a "not helpful" edit message. The change isn't needed for the desktop view, but the appearance of the two cladograms is awful in mobile view, where it's hard to see separation between the header text and the top of right cladogram is adjacent to the header of the left one. We have to try and accommodate different skins and the mobile/desktop views. — Jts1882 | talk 06:45, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Creating large spaces and gaps is not the solution. It looks godawful. Maybe I heard you like clades can help. LittleJerry (talk) 10:10, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I found the main problem. The first cladogram was in the header, which messed up the rest of the formatting. I've also used headerstyle to restrain the very wide header seen in some views. — Jts1882 | talk 11:59, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 22 April 2024[edit]

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§ Health and mortality:

“

Prevalence of KoRV in koala populations suggests a trend spreading from north to south, where populations go from being completely infected to being partially uninfected.^[1]

”

"Go from [infected] to [uninfected]" is a bad choice of phrasing here. I initially took it as "start out infected and become uninfected", which makes little sense. I'm guessing what was meant is "some are infected and some are not", which makes sense and agrees with the ref, based on a quick look. Minimal rephrasing, off the top of my head, would be "range from".

ETA: Now that I re-read the above, I'm no longer convinced that I properly intuited the original intention. Maybe "where" doesn't refer to "south", or maybe an "un" is in the wrong place, or maybe the order ended up jumbled, or whatever. Here's what I take to be the relevant ref excerpts:

“

They show that KoRV is present, at variable copy number, in the germline of all koalas found in Queensland, but that animals from some areas of southern Australia lack the provirus. Most notably, KoRV appears completely absent from koalas on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia.

”

“

Studies of koala samples from different geographic locations suggest an on-going process of endogenization spreading from the north of Australia, where all animals contain endogenous KoRV, to the south, where some animals are still virus-free.

”

- 2A02:560:59A1:EF00:C87D:44F3:B15E:AC6E (talk) 10:54, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Stoye, J. P. (2006). "Koala retrovirus: A genome invasion in real time". Genome Biology. 7 (11): 241. doi:10.1186/gb-2006-7-11-241. PMC 1794577. PMID 17118218.

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. UtherSRG (talk) 11:47, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pinged the responsible editor. - 2A02:560:59A1:EF00:C87D:44F3:B15E:AC6E (talk) 13:03, 22 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Stoye, J. P. (2006). "Koala retrovirus: A genome invasion in real time". Genome Biology. 7 (11): 241. doi:10.1186/gb-2006-7-11-241. PMC 1794577. PMID 17118218.

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