Wikipedia:Peer review/Beaver/archive1

Beaver

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I've listed this article to get to FAC.

Thanks, LittleJerry (talk) 00:13, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

NOTE: when you close this peer review, please be sure to remove it from Template:FAC peer review sidebar. If FA regulars have to do all the maintenance, they may stop following that very useful sidebar :) And please add the sidebar to your userpage so you can help out at Peer review! Good luck, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:29, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

LittleJerry, thanks for opening a PR! I took a day off, but see on my watchlist you have been hard at work. I will look in once I catch up. @Jimfbleak, FunkMonk, Hog Farm, and Dunkleosteus77: SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:29, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll have a look soon, but it would probably be good if the standing issues from the FAC were first. FunkMonk (talk) 19:48, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Guys, I need feedback. I made some major arrangments. LittleJerry (talk) 22:38, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I will look in tomorrow, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:56, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll have a look asap, won't be today though Jimfbleak - talk to me? 11:07, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Comments from SandyGeorgia

• Check your ps and pps ... Müller-Schwarze & Lixing Sun 2003, pp. 58.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• You can install and run this script yourself.
• Would it be possible to spell out ITIS on the first citation that uses it, as Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), with the rest using the abbreviation. Otherwise full name on all of them.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Prose

Looking about for samples only:

• It is odd to find "Beavers usually live up to 10 years" at the end of a para about things that get them. They usually live up to ten years ... seems to be better followed by "here are the things that can go wrong".

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• It is best not to tell our readers what to notice ... Notice the beaver being depicted biting off its testicles. --> Depiction of a beaver hunt from a medieval bestiary with the beaver depicted as biting off its testicles

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• "They have also lent themselves to everyday language." ... I don't think they meant for this to happen :) We don't need in wider culture. Known for, not famed ... and industriousness trips up the tongue.

• References to the beaver's industrious building skills are reflected in everyday language. The English verb "to beaver" means to work hard and constantly, and a "beaver intellect" refers to a slow but honest mentality. The name "beaver" is also a slang term for beards and the female genitalia.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• sometimes looking dog like, ... should dog-like by hyphenated? Unsure ...

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• Groups this size, or close to this size, build more lodges to live in while smaller families usually need only one. --> Groups about this size build multiple lodges while smaller families usually need only one.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

These are random things looking around. The prose has improved, but still could benefit from a thorough going over by Jimfbleak or Funkmonk, who are better versed in this area. Bst, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:08, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

I think I may need only one of them since who is left to review at FAC? LittleJerry (talk) 23:39, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

It's OK to say, "Support. I reviewed at PR" !! (We should do away with the idea that you have to pick 100 nits to be able to support at FAC :) Best regards, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:53, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

• Kit is never defined, and we don't have an article on it that we can link to. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:55, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:48, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

SandyGeorgia, I think Jim and FF can look at it at FAC. Before I close, what problems do you have with the lead? LittleJerry (talk) 16:24, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Will check back in this afternoon, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:32, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

You have been busy as a beaver, and the article is much improved. On the lead, my concerns are 1) length and 2) examine the prose carefully.

Length

WP:LEAD says an article of this prose size (5,000 words, a bit over 30,000 characters) can be three to four paragraphs. Considering that WMF types push data that say that most readers only look at leads, I think you can say a bit more in this lead, to be sure to cover all aspects. In particular, I believe more could be said from the Behavior and Family life sections ... more about how long they live, what sorts of things impact longevity, more about the family unit. I will leave the choice up to you, but I think two or three more sentences would not be too much.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:21, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Prose

We should be very careful not to put readers off in the first sentence ...

• Is there a WikiProject standard or convention that requires this construct? Beavers (genus Castor) are ... for example, I don't see genus mentioned in the lead of the recently featured Canadian lynx and wonder if it is necessary in to break up the first sentence this way ... let's make it an easy sentence for readers to get through.

The genus Castor is a synonym for modern beavers just like Lynx canadensis is a synonym for The Canadian lynx species. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• Many readers will first encounter a word they may not know (Holarctic), and be forced to click out: Beavers (genus Castor) are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Holarctic realm.
• Would something like this work? Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Holarctic realm that encompasses most habitats found in the northern continents of the world.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Next, I am left to guess whether c. fiber stands for Castor fiber, and if not, why the two are named differently (that is, why don't both either include the full word castor, or both abbreviate it)? Would this work?

• In the genus Castor, there are two extant species—the North American beaver (C. canadensis) and the Eurasian beaver (C. fiber).

I can't find where in the article the qualifier "living" is explained ... is there a larger extinct rodent?

Yes but it would be unnecessary to mention the rodent here.

• Beavers are the second largest living rodents after the capybaras.
• Perhaps wikilink incisor.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• I am unsure if the average reader will deal well with the word "dexterous" but unsure how to fix that.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

In the second paragraph,

• Three of the four sentences start with the same words (beavers are); try to vary wording.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• Should not urine-based substance be hyphenated?

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• This feels disjointed ... and some readers will have to click out to know what a keystone species is. Beavers are considered to be a keystone species, and their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species. Would something like this work? Their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species and because of their effect on other organisms in the ecosystem, they are considered to be a keystone species.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:07, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• Consider moving "Adult males and females live in monogamous pairs with their offsrping" to the end of that para (or to a new paragraph) that could then include two or three more sentences about the life cycle, life expectancy, family units, whatever you choose ...

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:22, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Third para:

Historically, beavers have been hunted for their fur, meat and castoreum. Castoreum has been used in medicine, perfume and food flavoring, while beaver pelts have been a major driver of the fur trade. Both species have been decimated because of overhunting, but protections begun in the 19th and early 20th centuries have allowed their populations to rebound. They are both listed as least concern by the IUCN Red List of mammals. The beaver is famed for its industriousness and its building skills, and is an official symbol of Canada.

• Famed for --> known for.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:22, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

• Again, feels disjointed ... Both species have been decimated because of overhunting, but protections begun in the 19th and early 20th centuries have allowed their populations to rebound. They are both listed as least concern by the IUCN Red List of mammals. --> Before protections began in the 19th and early 20th centuries, both species had been decimated by overhunting. Their populations have rebounded and they are both listed as least concern by the IUCN Red List of mammals.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 00:22, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Do you think the Beaver Wars should be a See also link? Unsure on that myself ...

Its linked in the article. LittleJerry (talk) 00:10, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

That's all ... I think you're ready to return to FAC. Bst, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:04, 4 November 2020 (UTC)