Template:Did you know nominations/Meerkat

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:01, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Meerkat

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Meerkats

... that meerkats (pictured) use alarm calls that can identify the type of predator posing the risk, the level of danger and the caller itself? Manser, M. B.; Bell, M. B.; Fletcher, L. B. (2001). "The information that receivers extract from alarm calls in suricates". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 268 (1484): 2485–2491. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1772. PMC 1088904. PMID 11747568. · Schibler, F.; Manser, M. B. (2007). "The irrelevance of individual discrimination in meerkat alarm calls". Animal Behaviour. 74 (5): 1259–1268. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.02.026.
- ALT1:... that the burrows of meerkats (pictured) have a temperature gradient that helps them survive in harsh weather and extreme temperatures? Van Staaden, M. J. (1994). "Suricata suricatta" (PDF). Mammalian Species (483): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504085. JSTOR 3504085. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2016. · Macdonald, D. W. "Suricata suricatta Meerkat (Suricate)". In Kingdon, J.; Happold, D.; Hoffmann, M.; Butynski, T.; Happold, M.; Kalina, J. (eds.). Mammals of Africa. Vol. V–Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury. pp. 347–352. ISBN 978-1-4081-8994-8.
- ALT2:... that the body temperature of meerkats (pictured) follows a diurnal rhythm? Müller, E. F. & Lojewski, U. (1986). "Thermoregulation in the meerkat (Suricata suricatta Schreber, 1776)". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology. 83 (2): 217–224. doi:10.1016/0300-9629(86)90564-5.

Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Tanitoluwa Adewumi‎

Improved to Good Article status by Sainsf (talk). Self-nominated at 08:02, 2 May 2020 (UTC).

Starting review —valereee (talk) 20:37, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: —valereee (talk) 20:37, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Sainsf, I'm wondering if we might do a closer crop on that image? DYK images are so small, at this size the photo looks almost like a painting. —valereee (talk) 20:53, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the review. Sure, we can crop it, or maybe use this clearer pic [1] also there in the article? Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 20:58, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

That's a good one, too, though we might actually want to crop it a bit also. Hard to tell until we actually see it at that size. I do love the first image, though, the colors are striking. And of course the composition is good, which we'd lose a bit of with a crop. Hm. —valereee (talk) 21:08, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Yeah I have the same concern about cropping the first pic. How does the second pic look at 100px? Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 21:21, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

I much prefer ALT0; for me it's by far the most interesting. I'm trying to check all parts. I see that 'the caller itself' is supported by the article sentence Meerkat calls carry information to identify the signaling individual or pack, but meerkats do not appear to differentiate between calls from different sources which has a source. 'Type of predator' seems to be supported by For instance, upon hearing a terrestrial predator alarm call, meerkats are most likely to scan the area and move towards the source of the call, while an aerial predator alarm call would most likely cause them to crouch down which does not have a citation at the sentence, it'll need one.

'Level of danger' seems to be supported by This indicates that meerkats are able to perceive the nature of the risk and the degree of urgency, also does not have a citation at the sentence. —valereee (talk) 21:15, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

I see. The citation for the last 2 parts is at the end of the paragraph containing the line (which has both pieces of info), after the examples. Do you recommend putting the citations at the end of this line "This indicates that meerkats...transmit it and respond accordingly"? Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 21:21, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Sainsf, anywhere within or just after the sentences is good enough; your choice. The rule is simply that all parts of a hook must be cited at the sentence. It's to make it easy for readers to be able to check DYK hook content for themselves without having to possibly read several source documents. —valereee (talk) 21:23, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Right, forgot that. I have fixed these issues now. Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 21:28, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

For instance, upon hearing a terrestrial predator alarm call, meerkats are most likely to scan the area and move towards the source of the call, while an aerial predator alarm call would most likely cause them to crouch down still doesn't have a citation. —valereee (talk) 11:57, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

ALT1 has two parts. 'Burrows have temperature gradients' seems to be supported by Outside temperatures are not reflected at once within burrows; instead there is usually an eight-hour lag which creates a temperature gradient in warrens, so that burrows are coolest in daytime and warmest at night. which does not have a citation at the sentence. 'Helps them survive' is supported by This reduces the need for meerkats to thermoregulate individually by providing a comfortable microclimate within burrows; moreover burrowing protects meerkats in harsh weather and at extreme temperatures, also needs a citation. —valereee (talk) 21:20, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

This reduces the need for meerkats to thermoregulate individually by providing a comfortable microclimate within burrows; moreover burrowing protects meerkats in harsh weather and at extreme temperatures still needs a citation. —valereee (talk) 11:57, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

ALT2 is supported by The meerkat has a specialised thermoregulation system that helps it survive in its harsh desert habitat. A study showed that its body temperature follows a diurnal rhythm, averaging 38.3 °C (100.9 °F) during the day and 36.3 °C (97.3 °F) at night, also needs a citation. —valereee (talk) 21:21, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

ALT2 approved, but I think ALT0 is better for general interest, so I'd love to see that one fully cited at the one last place we need it! —valereee (talk) 11:57, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

@Valereee: Should be all sorted now. Is there an issue with the QPQ? Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 12:48, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

Whoops, no! Somehow I missed it earlier, sorry! Good to go now, all hooks approved with a preference for ALT0 and original image! —valereee (talk) 13:05, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

@Valereee: I came by to promote this, but I do not understand your insistence on the first image. At thumbnail size, it just looks orange. If a good, clear image cannot be found (the clearest in the article is the one of the pups), we'll have to run it in a non-image slot. Yoninah (talk) 20:47, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Yoninah, yeah, I know. In thumbnail it's not good, unfortunately. It's just that once you click on it, it's stupendous. It's fine to choose a different image, this one may just not work for DYK —valereee (talk) 20:52, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

@Sainsf: can you come up with anything else? Yoninah (talk) 20:57, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Here's the pups:

—valereee (talk) 21:00, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Here's a crop on the original

—valereee (talk) 21:28, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Pups might not be good for representation of the species. I think this pic of a standing meerkat (an FP) looks excellent even at 100px, and it can replace the pic under Physical characteristics in the article. Though that would not allow the readers to see the banded pattern if it has to stay in the article forever. Can we change it back to the original pic in the article once the DYK is done? Sainsf · (How ya doin'?) 03:41, 12 May 2020 (UTC)