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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Karanacs 21:46, 3 November 2010 [1].

Lavanify

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Lavanify (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Ucucha 23:45, 23 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about two teeth from an animal that lived on Madagascar about 70 million years ago. It is part of the gondwanatheres, the earliest mammals to evolve high-crowned teeth (possibly in order to eat grass). This article was improved by a GA review by Sasata and some further comments by Hamiltonstone, and I am looking forward to any reviews at this FAC. Ucucha 23:45, 23 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment - No dabs or dead external links. Sasata (talk) 01:47, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment - Have you tried contacting David Krause for a picture of the specimen, or even the collection site? How about File:MG-Mahajanga.png?
  • In this interview he hints at how the discovery of these (both Lavanify and the other gondwanatheres in India) fossils, in combination with plate tectonics, are giving us clues as to how and when mammals evolved on Madagascar. Does he go into more detail about in this in his publication? A quote from the interview "... it seems the mammalian fauna that existed on Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous ultimately went extinct without issue." There's no mention in this article about Lavanifys extinction, maybe a sentence or two would be worthwhile? Sasata (talk) 02:14, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
    • I added a little. I'm not sure much more would be appropriate; I don't think there has been much specific discussion about Lavanify's extinction. The Madagascar terrestrial mammal fossil record is very spotty: we have Ambondro from the middle Jurassic (~165 Ma), then this guy and its friends from the latest Cretaceous (~70 Ma), and then nothing until 1 Ma or so.
    • I will write to Dr. Krause; I'm not sure there's much use in a map showing exactly where on Madagascar this thing was found. Ucucha 19:20, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support (as GA reviewer) - I looked, but can't find anything to complain about. One small suggestion would be in the sentence "... as the latter name was published first, it is the correct name for this genus." to pipe a link to (or mention) Principle of Priority somewhere. Sasata (talk) 16:51, 28 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Images and references No images to review. References 1 and 13 look odd because they combine an existing separate ref (2 and 14 respectively) with a new ref. wouldn't it be better to separate the repeated refs from the new ones? Jimfbleak - talk to me? 08:29, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
    out of completeness there doesn't appear to be any copyright problems with File:Abyssal Brachiopod 00148.jpg.©Geni 15:40, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
    Which is in the paleontology portal template (took me some time to figure that out). Thanks both for the check and comments. When I cite multiple sources for a single sentence, I always put them in a single ref.
  • It is classified as a member — last subject was teeth
  • "The animal is..." now.
  • Matrix — no link or explanation
  • Explained.
  • "long tooth" in Malagasy and the specific name, miolaka, means "curved" in Malagasy — could be rephrased to avoid repeat of "Malagasy"
  • Got rid of the first "in Malagasy"
  • Prasad and colleagues, however, who named Bharattherium, — Not sure that "however" adds anything

Comments:

  • The Krause, Prasad et al ref - lacks the journal name.
Otherwise, sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:55, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It is there; it's from Nature. Thanks for checking. Ucucha 19:20, 24 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
This is why NOT italicising titles is so freaking annoying... Ealdgyth - Talk 12:47, 25 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
...in 1995–1996 during joint expeditions of the State University of New York.. - sounds a little ungainly to me, but I honestly can't think of an alternate way of saying it, so not a deal-breaker.
I agree; the source doesn't say whether the Lavanify teeth were found in '95 or '96. Ucucha 11:29, 1 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I am right in assuming not only is it only known from teeth, but anything it is even closely related to at all is similarly enigmatic? If so, I think the article would be much clearer with some encompassing statement to this effect - but if you haven't come across one no need to put it in.
Added. There are a few pieces of jaw of other gondwanatheres. Ucucha 11:29, 1 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Anything at all in the literature on the strata the teeth came from, such as speculation about the paelo-environment or associated critters etc...?
See the last paragraph of the "Discovery and context". I don't think we have anything about the paleoenvironment. Ucucha 11:29, 1 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Will be interesting to see what the undescribed skeleton is when it is described. ok, good to go. Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:22, 2 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Yes! Not as interesting as the gondwanathere teeth, though. Thanks for the support. Ucucha 02:25, 2 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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