Template:Did you know nominations/Tufted ground squirrel
- The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was: promoted by Allen3 talk 11:07, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
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Tufted ground squirrel
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Rheithrosciurus macrotis
- ... that the "vampire squirrel" of Borneo (pictured), which is reputed to eat the livers and hearts of chickens and deer, has the largest known tail to body size ratio of any mammal?
5x expanded by Prioryman (talk). Self-nominated at 09:26, 7 September 2015 (UTC).
- The source for "the largest known tail to body size ratio" says "one of the largest" and is from the Washington Post not a scientific publication; I'm not saying it isn't true but you need better sourcing for such a bold claim. The "vampire squirrel" is also a bit tabloidesque; it's hooky but doesn't really rate inclusion in the same sentence as the observed feeding habits; I'll be back later, I'm going to rub a toad on my lips; I think that summons a prince, or is it cures warts?; gives you warts?!?? Oh great. Belle (talk) 17:05, 8 September 2015 (UTC)
- I've added an extra reference for the tail from Science magazine, though it doesn't say anything different to the WaPo. It also refers to the squirrel as a vampire; I would hope you don't consider Science to be a tabloid! The inclusion of the alleged vampirism in conjunction with the observed feeding habits is a deliberate bit of debunking. As virtually all of the recently published sources about the squirrel refer to vampirism, I thought it would be important to state up front exactly what is known about its feeding habits. I think using the vampire description in the hook is eminently justifiable as a means of making it more interesting (it seems to have made you look, so it evidently works). But be careful what you do with toads; you can also get high on them... Prioryman (talk) 11:53, 10 September 2015 (UTC)
Actually it was the picture that hooked me, not the threat of a squirrel making me its vampire bride. Long enough, new enough, neutral (even if I think the vampire rumours get too much coverage); no copyphrasing or close vio; pic is free to use and intriguing if a bit conservative on the tail; hook fact cited; good to go. Belle (talk) 14:30, 10 September 2015 (UTC)
