User:Megamanhuy/sandbox

Comments about "Notochord" article

Some general comments about the article are:

1. The introduction needs to be more neatly by changing some sentences and deleting redundant ones. "The notochord has been observed to have many functions including developmental functions. The most commonly cited functions are as a site of muscle attachment, vertebral precursor, and as a midline tissue that provides signals to the surrounding tissue during development." These two sentences can be rewritten better. "The notochord plays a key role in signaling and coordinating development." This sentence assumes that the readers already know about the notochord. Need to add two or more sentences to explain how the notochord do these processes. The first sentence in the introduction part doesn't correlate to the next one at all. This whole section needs to be reevaluated.
2. A better representative image needs to be added. The one in this article makes readers think that it is talking about chicken's notochord.
3. Many citations were missing whereas most of them were in "Development" section. ("citation needed").
4. For the "Development" section, there are no correlations between the three paragraph at all. Neither one of them relates to each other. The term "yolk-sac" is not properly written since it can be found as "yolk sac" on Wikipedia.
5. The "Neurology" section is very short compared to others. While the relationship between notochord and CNS has not been explained. The second sentence talks about a different and unrelated aspect compared to the first one. Similarly, the second paragraph can be expanded a lot more based on that topic.
6. "Scenarios for the evolutionary origin of the notochord have been comprehensively reviewed (Annona, G., Holland, N. D., and D'Aniello, S. 2015. Evolution of the notochord. EvoDevo 6: article 30)" This is an incorrect citation for a source. Scientist names should be used rather than saying "They" in the next sentence. Moreover, the sentence is very bias based on the scientist's point of view. Thus, it has not been cited as all since I'm pretty sure this is not the writer's "conclusion". Therefore, the sentence can be seen as plagiarism.
7. The "Evolution" section needs a phylogenetic tree for the relationship between the mentioned species.
8. The "Structure" section is surprisingly short. References from our textbook and other sources can be added.
9. Additional image for what purpose? Furthermore, these images are really old and should not be used. Update with newer ones
10. <nowiki> Source #5 is from 1998 and should be updated. Source #4 needs a hyperlink to where it was originated from. Source #6 is old and needs a hyperlink. Similarly is #7. Source #8 and #9 was not found. Megamanhuy (talk) 18:13, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

Assignment to group dissection

My top three organisms:

1. Microbat: I've never see a bat up close before and it would be a wonderful opportunity to observe them as well as learn how they create echolocation through the larynx.
   1. Larynx
2. Amia: I'd like to observe their gas bladder, which allows them to breathe both air and water.
   1. Swim bladder
3. Garter snake. I'm interested in how the organs in the snake secrete venom
   1. Duvernoy's gland

Megamanhuy (talk) 00:02, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Garter Snake dissection game plan

I am planning to focus more on the sensory organ of the garter snake, especially the vomeronasal organ. The Wiki page of the structure has a great amount of information already. However, there is only one sentence about how snakes use the vomeronasal organ and it's not even cited. I'll look for sources to add to that and expand more on that section if possible.

The listed sources below can be used in my projects:

Week 6: Draft

Both sources Snakes A Natural History and Snakes - A Natural History talk briefly about functions of the vomeronasal organ. The male snakes use it as a preliminary sexual attraction. The vomeronasal organ is able to detect the sense by tongue flicking action of the snake. However, if the tip of the tongue is cut off, the snake will lose its primary tool to detect the chemo cues in the environment; thus improving the important of the vomeronasal organ.

Furthermore, I plan to describe the anatomy of the organ in reptiles and its relative position to other organs. In most of the reptiles, the organ is located ventrally to the nasal chamber in which part of it concaves dorsally with a duct connect to the mouth ventrally.

Moreover, I will focus on how the tongue flicking behavior in the snake attracts the chemoreceptors to the vomeronasal organ then compared this mechanism to that of the dog.

I will be adding all these information to the vomeronasal organ Wiki page under the section of "Animals" for snakes as well as a cut section view of the organ. For the Garter snake Wiki page, I tend to add a sub-section about tongue flicking behavior as it has not been mentioned in the page at all.

Week 7: Peer Review

Team Chimera (from Azana's sandbox)

For Sophia:

You explained greatly about the 1st source and how it can contribute to the wiki page of egg case (Chondrichthyes) overall. I agree with you about the need to add an evolutionary history of the chondrichthyan egg. It will be much more helpful with the diagram you find in the first resource. However, you didn't talk a lot the other two resources and how they could contribute to the wiki page respectively as well as why they are useful for you. More specifically, what is the purpose of the migratory sighting of chimaeras resource? What information from there are useful for your edit? What can be improved or edited on the wiki page using that information? You need to hyperlink the resources from EBSCO Host as well or any resources that you find in the future.

For Azana:

I am lost at what you are trying to do for rabbit fish. All of your resources are really vague and doesn't seem to connect at all. What is the purpose of the first article when it focuses on about sex? Are you trying to talk about the reproductive structure? The second resource seems to be more related anatomically. Again, what can you add to the page? What's missing on the wiki page that needs to be added? The last resource looks to be a new section that you plan on doing. Are you going to create a new section on the wiki page and editing/improving information on another section? My guess is that you will be focusing on the diet of rabbit fish based on the latest update. However, what anatomical structure are you planning on dissecting? How can it be relevant to the fish diet?

For Chris:

Good start of the resources and I think that you have a good plan in term of editing the venom of the chimera.

Team Iguana (from Courtney's sandbox)

For Courtney:

I think it's a really good idea that you link the Iguana and Reptile page together. It would be better for your team to compile a reference list so that all the sources can be cited again easier in the future.

For Lexie:

Similar to my suggestion to Courtney earlier, it would be easier if you create a reference for all of these external links. It's great that you have hyperlinked these resources, good practice of citation. Great job on mentioning your plan on adding the mechanic of the dewlap on the wiki page and how that connects to your teammates' work as well!

For Mikayla:

That is definitely important to start a new subsection about skeletal structure. I really like your idea of distinguishing the iguana's skull from lizard's. This can help the wiki readers to have a better understanding overall. Similarly, you need have a list of reference for your resources for a better organization.

Week 8: Response to Comments from Peer Review Assignment

Below are some suggestions for improvement after looking at comments from Dr. Schutz and my classmates:

1. Clarification on adding an image. My plan is to add a real image of the vomeronasal organ of the garter snake after finishing my dissection project, which won't happen for the next few weeks until I start dissecting the animal and look for the organ.
2. Taking comment from my peer, I might not add or work on the relative position of the vomeronasal organ comparing to that of others. However, the cited source in the Structure section of the Wiki page of the vomeronasal organ is not accessible at all. I can try and contact with the author about this problem and suggest the replacement for this source.
3. In response to comments from Dr. Schutz specifically, the vomeronasal organ plays an important role in some vertebrates with its sensitivity toward chemicals that are related to mating or sensing prey. Particularly, there should be a distinction made between the odors and vomodors. Odors are chemicals detected by the sensory cells in the nasal epithelium through the process of olfaction. Vomodors are chemicals detected by the sensory cells from the vomeronasal organ through the process of vomerolfaction.
4. I will look into experiments that demonstrate the function of the vomeronasal organ. Megmanhuy (talk) 20:57, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
5. Finally, I might have to add a sepration section in the Wiki page of the garter snake since not a lot of details have been covered about my topic. 

Week 10: Draft #2

In addition to the main olfactory system, garter snakes also have the vomeronasal system which consists of the vomeronasal organ. The vomeronasal organ plays an important role in some vertebrates with its sensitivity toward chemicals that are related to mating or sensing prey. For example, the snakes use the organ to detect the presence of prey or predator by gathering the chemical cues in the environment through the flicking behavior of the forked tongue. Moreover, garter snakes also uses the vomeronasal organ in their pheromone communication as well. Particularly, there should be a distinction made between the odors and vomodors. Odors are chemicals detected by the sensory cells in the nasal epithelium through the process of olfaction. Vomodors are chemicals detected by the sensory cells from the vomeronasal organ through the process of vomerolfaction. Upon entering the lumen of the organ, the chemical molecules will come into contact with the sensory cells which are attached to the neurosensory epithelium of the vomeronasal organ. More importantly, a new research has demonstrated that the vomeronasal organ is necessary in order for garter snake to response to airborne prey odors, but fail to respond to airborne nonprey odors.