Talk:Passer predomesticus/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:36, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, I'd never heard of this critter before...okay. Notes below. Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:36, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

~~Not essential, but bluelinking the stubs would be nice aesthetically.~~
- I got one blue, and might be able to write something on Oumm-Qatafa soon. Not sure about the others; it seems Tchernov died a few years ago, but I can't find any good sources (such as an obituary; perhaps some exist in Hebrew). Ucucha 06:45, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

~~Is there any other information that can be added about the climate at the time or any associated species etc.?~~
- There are tons of other birds found in the cave; mentioning them all would be too much and I can't see of a good reason to mention some particular ones (except for other Passer species, which are mentioned). I don't think there is much more to say on climate (and it might go off topic); what would you expect in the article? Ucucha 06:22, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  - Well, the article does say it is likely to have been a wetter climate, but does not specify how. I thought there might have been some other information from the site on vegetation or something like that that was found there. If it is just a list of birds, then is it interesting that they are waterbirds or anything like that? Casliber (talk · contribs) 07:07, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
    - I'll have another look tomorrow at Tchernov. What do you mean by "does not specify how"? I don't think he said how much wetter it was. Tchernov's paper deals only with birds, not with plants or whatever else may have been found. Ucucha 10:35, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
      - I guess what I mean is in recent years, I've seen paleontological articles become more like forensic crime scenes where increasing levels of detail are paid to the incidentals - i.e. associated features/fossils (flora or fauna) etc. in the location the fossil was found. This is a small article, so extra context is good. If it isn't there then it isn't there, but would be nice to add. Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:49, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
        I looked at Tchernov again today, and I don't think there's anything worth adding. Ucucha 17:12, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
~~Is there any other information about the circumstances they were found? How far in the cave etc.?~~
- Tchernov mentions the layer name, but not exactly where it is. Ucucha 06:22, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  - Okay. Casliber (talk · contribs) 07:07, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
    - Remember what Mengel had to say about Tchernov. —innotata 01:11, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
      - oh yeah :) - okay, I guess everything's covered then. Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Otherwise, looking pretty good. Casliber (talk · contribs) 05:53, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, I found both Markus's paper and Animals and Archaeology while browsing at libraries here (among a good dozen books the catalogues here don't seem to include). (There pretty certainly is not a copy of Tchernov 1962 or Mourer-Chauviré here.) The one thing I'll add is that Markus's Passer iagoensis was collected in South Africa, and hence is what is now split as the Great Sparrow, Passer motitensis. P. iagoensis is likely a relative of the House Sparrow, the P. motitensis maybe a basal Passer species. —innotata 01:11, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]