Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life
From Free net encyclopedia
{{{1{{{1|}}}|
First, an important note for everyone to remember:
A few Wikipedians have gotten together to make some suggestions about how we might organize data in these articles. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the below guidelines may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles!
Contents |
Overview
This WikiProject aims primarily to represent the taxonomy and relationships of living organisms, as well as their extinct relatives, in a tree structure. Since there are millions of species, not all will be included, but we aim to handle as many as information, time, and interest permit.
This WikiProject descends from WikiProject Science. Various other WikiProjects may be based on it to better treat specific groups. Currently there are:
- WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles
- WikiProject Arthropods
- WikiProject Birds
- WikiProject Cephalopods
- WikiProject Fishes
- WikiProject Gastropods
- WikiProject Mammals (just begun)
- WikiProject Plants
- WikiProject Prokaryotes and Protists
- WikiProject Viruses (just begun)
Article titles and common names
In cases where there is a formal common name (e.g. birds), or when common names are well-known and reasonably unique, they should be used for article titles. Scientific names should be used otherwise. Note the following guidelines in using scientific names:
- Names of genera are always italicized and capitalized— Homo, Rosa, Saccharomyces.
- Species epithets are always italicized and preceded by the name of the genus or an abbreviation of it— Homo sapiens or H. sapiens, but never plain sapiens, since such identifiers need not be unique. They are never capitalized.
- Names of higher taxa are capitalized but not italicized— Hominidae, Mammalia, Animalia.
Many of the WikiProjects listed above have defined standards for the capitalization of common names, which should be used when discussing the groups they focus on. There is currently no common standard, so no particular system should be enforced over-all.
In cases where a group only contains a single subgroup, the two should not be separated. If there is no common name, the article should generally go under the scientific name that is most often used when discussing the group, or under the scientific name of lowest rank if there is no clear preference. However, for a genus that contains a single species, the genus name should be used since it is included in the binomial. For instance the order Amphionidacea, which has the single species Amphionides reynaudii, is discussed at Amphionides.
Not all species need have separate articles. The simplest (and probably best) rule is to have no rule: if you have the time and energy to write up some particularly obscure subspecies that most people have never even heard of, go for it! As a general guideline, though, it's best to combine separate species into a single entry whenever it seems likely that there won't be enough text to make more than a short, unsatisfying stub otherwise. If the entry grows large enough to deserve splitting, that can always be done later.
A useful heuristic is to create articles in a "downwards" order, that is, family articles first, then genus, then species. If you find that information is getting thin, or the family/genus is really small, just leave the species info inline in the family or genus article, don't try to force it down any further.
Taxoboxes
| Example taxobox Cetaceans{{#if:{{{status|}}}| {{#switch:{{{status}}}
| se|SECURE|Secure|secure=Conservation status: Secure | dom|DOMESTICATED|Domesticated|domesticated=Conservation status: Domesticated | data|DD|DATA=Conservation status: Data deficient | lr=Conservation status: Lower risk | lc|LR/LC|LR/lc|lr/lc|LRLC|LRlc|lrlc=Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | LR/nt|lr/nt|LRNT|LRnt|lrnt|NT|nt=Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) | LR/cd|lr/cd|LRCD|LRcd|lrcd=Conservation status: Lower risk (cd) | vu=Conservation status: Vulnerable | en=Conservation status: Endangered | cr=Conservation status: Critical | ew=Conservation status: Extinct in the wild | ex|EXTINCT|Extinct|extinct=Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{extinct|}}}| ({{{extinct}}}) }} | Fossil|fossil=Conservation status: Fossil | pre=Conservation status: Prehistoric | Text|TEXT=Conservation status: See text | {{{status}}} }}}}Template:Subtext}|contents=Fossil range: {{{fossil_range|}}} }} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| }}}|Image:Humpbackwhale37.jpg {{{image_caption|}}} }}{{#if:{{{image2|}}}|[[image:{{{image2}}}|{{{image2_width|200px}}}|{{{image2_caption|}}}]]{{{image2_caption|}}} }}
| ||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| {{{diversity|}}}Template:Section}|color=pink|contents=Binomial name}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{binomial}}} {{{binomial_authority|}}}}}Template:Section}|color=pink|contents=Trinomial name}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{trinomial}}} {{{trinomial_authority|}}}}}Template:Section}|color=pink|contents=Type Genus}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{type_genus}}} {{{type_genus_authority|}}}}}Template:Section}|color=pink|contents=Type Species}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{type_species}}} {{{type_species_authority|}}}}}{{#if:{{{range_map|}}}|<tr><td>[[image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width|200px}}}|{{{range_map_caption|}}}]] {{{range_map_caption|}}} }}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{binomial2}}}{{{binomial2_authority|}}}}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{trinomial2}}} {{{trinomial2_authority|}}}}}{{#if:{{{range_map2|}}}|<tr><td>[[image:{{{range_map2}}}|{{{range_map2_width|200px}}}|{{{range_map2_caption|}}}]] {{{range_map2_caption|}}} }}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{binomial3}}}{{{binomial3_authority|}}}}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{trinomial3}}} {{{trinomial3_authority|}}}}}{{#if:{{{range_map3|}}}|<tr><td>[[image:{{{range_map3}}}|{{{range_map3_width|200px}}}|{{{range_map3_caption|}}}]] {{{range_map3_caption|}}} }}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{binomial4}}}{{{binomial4_authority|}}}}}Template:Row}|style=style="text-align:center;"|contents={{{trinomial4}}} {{{trinomial4_authority|}}}}}{{#if:{{{range_map4|}}}|<tr><td>[[image:{{{range_map4}}}|{{{range_map4_width|200px}}}|{{{range_map4_caption|}}}]] {{{range_map4_caption|}}} }}Template:Section}|color=pink|contents=Suborders}}
| ||||||||||||||||
|
|
The full taxobox guide is located at Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/taxobox usage.
Detailed taxonomic information, including notes on how taxa are defined and how they vary between different systems, belongs in the article proper. Where possible, however, a standard table will be provided to allow easier navigation between related groups and quick identification of what sort of organisms are being discussed. These are called taxoboxes. A typical taxobox is shown at right (it belongs on the top right of the page Cetacea).
There are three main sections to the taxobox:
- A header showing the name of the group, sometimes followed by a representative image.
- A table showing the placement of the group in a typical classification system.
- A footer, whose content varies, showing the binomial name or a species, or a list of subgroups for higher taxa.
Some items that are often included, but are not (necessarily) standardized, include:
- Range map (see, for example, Orca)
- Synonyms (European lobster)
- Breeding organizations' classifications (Dingo)
Position: The taxobox generally belongs at the top right corner of the article, unless it has been decided otherwise on the relevant talk page - for instance, if the article is not primarily about the biological group.
For cultivars — cultivated varities of plants — don't use a taxobox; instead use a cultivar infobox as described at Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/Cultivar infobox.
For breeds of animals, don't use a taxobox; instead use the appropriate breed template; see for example Wikipedia:WikiProject Dog breeds and Wikipedia:WikiProject Horse breeds.
Categories
Major groups should be given their own categories. When possible, these should use the common name in the plural. In general, only articles about major subgroups should be added, and more specific articles should be included in subcategories. However, when there are only a few articles about members of the group, they can all go directly into the main category. Use your judgement on when to split, aiming for an approximate category size of 10-50 articles.
Note that in addition to taxa, categories may also contain informal subgroups. For instance Category:Primates may include an article or subcategory for monkeys, although they are not treated as a formal group. They may also include some other articles that pertain specifically to members of the group, although they are not about them.
Taxonomic resources
The taxonomy of many groups is in a state of flux, and it is not always possible to find a single satisfactory classification, and we would be doing a great disservice by pretending otherwise. The best would be to try and find out what the current consensus is, if there is one, and make notes on variant systems. In this, the following resources may be helpful:
General taxonomy
- NCBI database- attempts to incorporate phylogenetic and taxonomic knowledge from a variety of sources.
- The Tree Of Life Web Project - phylogeny, but without ranks - becoming out of date due to lack of updates.
- Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
- Biosis Index to Organism Names
- Systema naturae - usually gives multiple breakdowns for groups, which is sometims confusing but can be very useful.
- www.itis.usda.gov - an automated reference database of scientific and common names for species built within a working hierarchy. ITIS partners with Species 2000 to build the Catalog of Life.
- Species 2000 a list of specific taxonomic (current) databases, covering contemporary and fossil organisms.
Animals
- Vertebrata - Japanese language, but the structure's fine and the names are in Sciencese!)
- FishBase - Huge database giving basic info on thousands of fish.
- Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan - Very informative
- Avibase - database including all the world's bird species
- CephBase - superb information about Cephalopod classification. Permission granted to use their images (see image:Orangeback_Squid.JPG for example
- Lepidoptera and other species (mostly related to Lepidoptera, such as popular butterfly plants, etc.). Info collected from other sources, not sure how accurate it all is. Interesting note: he has a (open source) perl script generating range maps automatically from distribution text.
- Mammal Species of the World - Internet edition of one of the leading works about mammalian taxonomy.
- Mesozoic mammals - Containing much information about Mesozoic mammals and relatives.
- Mammal Taxonomy - Database of living and extinct mammals of the world (by User:Ucucha).
- Fauna Europaea - Database of all European land and freshwater animals.
Plants
- Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003). An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 141, 399-436. available here : Available online. Probably now authoritative source for flowering plants at family level and above.
- Accepted names and synonyms of taxa from volume 24 of the Flora of North America (Poaceae and relatives)
- The TROPICOS database is searchable by species, and where this is available, will give the accepted classification, and the degree to which it is accepted. Also lists authors, synonyms and homonyms. Far from complete.
- Vascular Plant Families - a systematic and alphabetical index of the non-flowering and the flowering plant families with the Cronquist sytem and the phylogenetic system of Judd et al. (2002) (i.e. APG)
- USDA/NRCS PLANTS Database - Not complete, but nice. Resource for some PD images, although not all are PD. Use Template:PLANTSDB to label images. Common names used are usually only common in the USA and may not be used worldwide.
- L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com - up-to-date scheme with comprehensive genus lists - includes classifications of Cronquist; Dahlgren; Dahlgren, Clifford and Yeo; and APG
- Gymnosperm Database - very good coverage of gymnosperms
- HortiPlex Plant Database - Searchable by common or scientific name. Submitted by gardeners- may not be in line with current taxonomy.
- ILDIS A database of legume taxonomy, includes synonyms and accepted names, common names and detailed bibliographies for many species.
- Likewise, the following sites can help find taxonomic authors and abbreviations:
- IPNI, authors search Note that the author database is separate from the plant name databases: the author database is authoritive. The plant name databases are "as is" and should be used as a search aid (invaluable as such) rather than as any kind of authority.
Protists and Prokaryotes
- uBio classification - classifications fairly deep and up to date, generally following standard form though not always among basal groups
- BIOS database of bacteria, archea and cyanobacteria names, with bibliography.
- List of Bacterial names with Standing in Nomenclature - Bacteria have a formal approved nomenclature, all approved names can be found here.
- AlgaeBase - database of algae species, very large but not complete
Other resources
Photos
- Stock.xchng - thousands of photos (e.g. over 9,000 in category 'animals', over 7,600 in category 'plants'), mostly free use ({{PD}}); many un-named, but a good source for those able to identify the pics
Related WikiProjects
Participants
- andy Mostly adding taxoboxes where I spot them missing, and occasionally adding articles on Amphibians
- User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/Sig - going to help with changing the taxoboxes over to the new template syntax.
- Belizian I just take nature pictures in the Jungles of Belize, request welcome.
- Bibliomaniac15 - I like and research organisms in general. However, why isn't there a WikiProject for Reptiles or Amphibians?
- Bjwebb - I'll do any animals I can
- Chinasaur Going to try to add some images from the largely public domain NSF Image Library.
- Coyoty Disambiguations, proofreading, etc.
- Cryoboy I started the Cnidarians Wikiproject, I am also interested in primates.
- Dalf | Talk - Right now mostly doing house keeping stuff and mostly that in the extinct animals space.
- Dan Koehl I am now trying to implement the templates on the swedish wikipedia.
- DanielCD My main interest is in plants, fossils and extinct animals/organisms; adding taxoboxes where I find them missing, etc.
- Dante Alighieri | Talk If I happen to be working on a plant/animal article with a missing taxobox, I usually try to put one in.
- DarthVader Trying to sort out classification, especially problems with Dinosauria and Primates.
- Demi - slow and desultory contributions on fish, esp. elasmobranchs like bat rays
- Dinoguy2 Dinosaur-like birds, bird-like dinosaurs, and taxonomy.
- Eclecticology
- ElCharismo - I've always had a passion for taxonomy, and I'm very intrigued by this WikiProject. Here's to the proliferation of taxoboxes, untangling of reference roots, and healthy branching of the Tree of Life: Víva Biology!
- Furius Just fleshing out Bovidae animals
- Gangleri I arrived here because I saw that some Tree of Life articles, categories (maybe also lists) (also from other languages) are not linked to la.Wikipedia. Having Icelandic Sheepdogs I search dog related articles in other Wikipedias and link them together for the dog breeds project.
- GerardM Mainly in using information for use in other wikipedia's and for promoting the universal taxobox in stead of an only en:taxobox.
- Hadal Currently focusing on fish but will write about anything with a heartbeat.
- Iorsh Wild flora of Israel. I'm an amateur - most my contributions are stubs with taxobox and a photo.
- Ingoolemo Currently mammals, will probably end up doing a lot of stuff on various organisms. I try to be as scientific as possible, but the problem is that taxonomy and biology aren't exactly the areas I specialise in.
- IronChris 18:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
- jaknouse Plants in general, especially ferns; have done some members of non-plant groups when noticeably missing
- Jim mainly birds
- JoJan : mostly Project:Gastropods; taxoboxes; common names
- Josh Grosse Mostly though not entirely protists.
- Jurriaan Mostly reptiles and amphibians
- KimvdLinde Drosophilidae, birds and general taxonomic, nomenclatorial etc stuff.
- --KQ (intermittently, when something has been dumbed down enough to be legible to the unwashed masses)
- Trevor Dykes (I'll try. My main interest is Mesozoic mammals and the like. I do wash, but I'm strictly an amateur.)
- LDan
- liquidGhoul Mostly Australian frogs, but also any Australian animals/plant and any frog.
- Magnus Manske
- M Alan Kazlev - interest in history of life in general. Most familiar with various Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians and reptiles, and some invertebrate groups, e.g. Molluscs (especially nautiloids, gastropods, etc). Disclaimer: I'm a lay-writer and armchair enthusiast only.
- Marshman Mostly angiosperms, but some invertebrates groups as well (Annelida, Arthropoda) from my previous life
- maveric149
- Merovingian: I'm most interested in Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, Protista, etc.
- Miwa Primarily birds, but I'll Wiki-spackle just about anything where necessary.
- MPF Main interest in Pinophyta, also trees and other plants more generally
- Neutrality (hopefully!)]] (endemic species)
- Mycota - Where are all the mycologists? As always, the fungi have been ignored. Sigh...
- Nighthawk4211 I'm working mainly on the Orchidaceae.
- nixie works on all organisms and viruses too, currently interested in increasing coverage of various plant pests
- Peter1968 - helping out with Australian flora, mainly rainforest species.
- Phlebas Dinosaurs and fishes, mostly. Oh, and ostracods maybe too.
- OldakQuill General, alot of bacteria so far.
- Onco_p53 Mostly bacteria, some algae.
- Pierre Abbat
- Qwertzy2 Taxonomy of higher plants above all, but some small animals (crustaceans, insects or even birds) from time to time as well. No particular specialist knowledge.
- Ram-Man Mostly for fish, but maybe some plants too.
- Richard Barlow - I've been working on moths for a while. Planning to do some butterfly stuff. Probably will dip into virtually anything! (Strictly layman - do NOT call me an entomologist!)
- Sabine's Sunbird - Birds, mostly, but I'll contribute to anything I know something about. Seabirds are my speciality.
- Sambostock intend to standardise mammal pages. work on birds and everything else.
- SB_Johnny I'm an organic farmer and horticulturist, interested in the practical side of plant articles.
- seglea I have some specialist knowledge on birds, rodents and primates (which need a lot of work), but I have ready access to the technical literature and am willing to turn an amateur hand to most taxa.
- Shyamal - fauna and flora of the Indian subcontinent
- The Singing Badger No specialist knowledge but interested in improving stuff especially the prehistoric sections
- Soo I seem to have become an accidental contributor to this project, but I thought I'd sign myself in anyway.
- Spawn Man 22:48, 9 October 2005 (UTC) Happy to help the tree of life anytime!!
- Stan Shebs fish, plants, insects, exotics - ideally material only in print previously, gives WP unique online content
- Stanskis: Classification; Standard lists; Taxonomy in the service of Conservation and other uses. Broad background and dirty hands.
- Stemonitis: chiefly Crustacea, but also anything else I come across.
- Stephen Gilbert (interested in working on dinosaurs; I'm also one of the unwashed masses.)
- Tannin Mostly birds and mammals, particularly Southern Hemisphere species.
- TeunSpaans Mostly plants, perhaps occasional insects. Creating interwiki links, adding a hand at expanding some stubs.
- Tkinias I just realized I'd never added my name. I've started WikiProject Fishes.
- Ucucha Taxonomy of mammals, mainly rodents, insectivores marsupials and bats but no carnivores and ungulates.
- UtherSRG General cleanup. Taxobox creation, formatting, maintenance. Projects Primates and Cephalopods.
- WormRunner (earthworms, some other invertebrates and some plants, especially herbs, medicinal plants and Oregon natives.)
Sample articles
A number of articles under this WikiProject and its descendants have been recognized for their excellence by the Wikipedia community as featured articles, and may serve as good models:
- Albatross (part of WikiProject Birds)
- Antarctic krill
- Blue Whale (part of WikiProject Cetaceans)
- Cat (related to WikiProject cat breeds)
- Coconut crab
- Dinosaur (part of WikiProject Dinosaurs)
- Frog
- Gray Wolf (part of WikiProject Mammals)
- Helicobacter pylori (part of WikiProject Prokaryotes and Protists)
- Homo floresiensis (part of WikiProject Primates among others)
- Humpback whale (part of WikiProject Cetaceans)
- Island Fox (part of WikiProject Mammals)
- Kakapo (part of WikiProject Birds)
- Krill
- Marginated tortoise
- Mixed-breed dog (part of WikiProject dog breeds)
- Myxobolus cerebralis
- Orca (part of WikiProject Cetaceans)
- Platypus (part of WikiProject Mammals)
- Saffron (part of WikiProject Plants)
- Short-beaked Echidna (part of WikiProject Mammals)
- Sperm whale (part of WikiProject Cetaceans)
- Tasmanian Devil (part of WikiProject Mammals)
- White's Tree Frog
Cleanup
Please add {{ToLCleanup}} to the top of all ToL articles in need of cleanup. In addition to adding some text indicating the article needs some work, it will also add the article to Category:Wikipedia cleanup and Category:Tree of Life cleanup.ca:Viquipèdia:Viquiprojecte Arbre de la vida cs:Wikipedie:WikiProjekt Klasifikace biologie de:Wikipedia:WikiProjekt Lebewesen es:Wikiproyecto:Taxonomía fr:Wikipédia:Projet/Arbre de la Vie it:Wikipedia:Progetto Forme di vita ja:Wikipedia:ウィキプロジェクト 生物 zh:Wikipedia:专题/生物