User:Lunord22/sandbox

Week 2:

Article Evaluation:

The Wikipedia page, Cephalochordata, provides relevant information regarding the topic, though it seems to be rather scattered in terms of its content. The introduction provides very little information about the subphylum, and jumps from specific characteristics to a fossil discovered in China, and then back to a specific characteristic again. The introduction also has no sources cited, even though there are specific claims stated in this section. The introduction doesn't seem to show any biases. The page then discusses the taxonomic characteristics of Cephalochordates, including the five synapomorphies. This section, however, ends abruptly and doesn't include any other relevant information. And again, it does not cite any sources to support the information presented. Following this, the page includes a section regarding the feeding of this group. This section is relatively short, but it does provide some important information. The claims are also supported by cited sources, and show no bias. Finally, the page includes a section about the phylogeny, which also contains a phylogenetic tree. Within this section, a specific study is referenced and cited. They make 1-2 statements and don't discuss anything further, which leaves the reader with questions regarding their current relationships with other chordate subphylums.

This page is lacking information, as it only covers a few relevant topics about Cephalochordata. The Talk page discusses several issues, including writing structure, lack of information, and missing explanations. Some people also made suggestions as to what could be expanded upon, or what could be included. Some argue that it should be rewritten, which is not necessarily unreasonable. A few important topics that should be incorporated into the page include cephalochordate development and morphology. One specific contribution that should be made would be a labeled diagram of the feeding structures discussed in the "Feeding" section.

The page is rated as start-class on its quality scale, and mid-importance on its importance scale. It is a part of two WikiProjects, the WikiProject Animals and the WikiProject Marine Life. The sources are relevant, reputable, and properly cited, but they are not cited throughout the entire article. This led to potential plagiarism issues in the first two sections, as they included information that was not cited. This page does not over or underrepresent any particular viewpoint, and holds a neutral tone throughout. Overall, this page is lacking. There is much more information to be included and a better structure could be used. It is scattered with random sections that don't flow, and each is incomplete.

Week 3:

Add to an article:

Add a new citation that supports existing content that is either uncited, has an existing citation that is low quality or needs a citation altogether.

In the introduction to the page, Cephalochordate, it states:

"There is a famous fossil shale from the Middle Cambrian, the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, which has yielded Pikaia fossils."

It is, however, uncited information. Using JSTOR, I was able to find a source that supports their claim and add it to the page:

1. Nielsen, C. (July 2012). "The authorship of higher chordate taxa". Zoologica Scripta. 41 (4): 435–436. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00536.x.

Week 4

Dissection Topics:

Common mudpuppy:

I would like to edit this page because I find it interesting that they retain their external gills throughout life, and I want to better understand the details of this. There is also nothing in the page regarding their sensitivity to environmental and human impacts. I could edit any of the following pages:

a) External gills

b) Common mudpuppy

c) Necturus beyeri

Rattlesnake:

I would also like to edit the rattlesnake page, as I find it interesting how their skeleton's are designed to allow for the engulfing of large prey. In fact, there is no section in the page regarding their skeleton in particular, and it might be a nice addition.

a) Rattlesnake

b) Infrared sensing in snakes

c) Eastern diamondback rattlesnake

Iguana:

I would like to look into this topic because I find it interesting that they have a parietal eye, just like the lampreys we observed. This page could use some work. A skeleton morphology section could be beneficial, or the skull morphology and diet sections could be split.

a) Iguana

b) Tympanum

c) Lesser Antillean iguana

Week 5

Find your sources:

Topics:

Personal Topic Choice

• Addition of a subsection on rattlesnake skeletal anatomy to the anatomy section of the rattlesnake page.

Group Topic Choices

• Addition of sources, as well as a labeled picture to the Heat-sensing pits subsection in the sensory organs section of the rattlesnake page.

• Addition of a subsection on rattlesnake circulatory system under the anatomy section of the rattlesnake page.

Articles

Personal Articles:

Luke

1. This page is lacking a subsection regarding the skeletal system of the rattlesnake. I think the addition of this specific subsection could be beneficial, as the rattlesnake's skeletal anatomy is amongst the most fascinating in the animal kingdom. The vertebral column, the skull, and the ribs are all interesting in their contributions to locomotion within snakes. This subsection would provide important information that would help to complete this page's anatomy section, which already includes several important topics. I have added my suggestion and sources into the Talk:Rattlesnake page.

Promising articles for the skeletal system subsection:

• "From Lizard to Snake; Behind the Evolution of an Extreme Body Plan"

• "Evolutionary morphology of the rattlesnake style"

• "Abstract Of Lectures On The Structure Of The Skeleton In The Sauropsida"

• "On the Locomotion of Snakes"

• "Osteology of the Reptiles"

• "The Vertebrate Body"

• "Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution"

Group Articles:

Alex

2. The Rattlesnake page is missing a subsection regarding the circulatory system. This is an important feature to the rattlesnake because snakes have a three chambered heart that is much different than the four chambered heart that mammals have. In addition, the cardiovascular system is a critical part of the anatomy because it supplies the body with oxygen and other vital nutrients needed to survive. The cardiovascular system consists of the heart and blood vessels that run throughout the whole body. This process is also important for describing how snakes obtain oxygenated blood since they have an elongated body. By adding a cardiovascular system section on this page, it would allow users to gain a better knowledge on how the process of blood flow works in rattlesnakes and the anatomy of parts involved in this system. Below are articles that provide credible information about the circulatory in snakes. Some of the aspects that these articles talk about include circulation, heart anatomy and physiology, blood flow, and the development of the snake heart due to cardiac evolution. I have added a new discussion to the talk page at Talk:Rattlesnake.

Promising articles for the circulatory system:

• "Circulation in the Three-Chambered Snake Heart"

• "Scaling of Cardiovascular Physiology in Snakes"

• "Structure and function of the hearts of lizards and snakes"

• "The heart of the South American rattlesnake"

• "Development of the Hearts of Lizards and Snakes and Perspective to Cardiac Evolution"

Mena

3. The existing subsection on heat sensing pits lacks any sources and the photo is uninformative. The information needs to be validated so that others who use it know that it is correct. I also found a new photo to replace the old one that displays the organ.

Found Sources:

Biological Infrared Imaging and Sensing

The Infrared "Vision" of Snakes

Properties of an Infrared Receptor

Molecular Basis of Infrared Detection by Snakes

Schutz Comments

• Please be sure to draft all of your individual contributions in your respective sandboxes first. Do not do your primary drafting here.
  • I suggest that the sandbox owner also create a personal draft and group draft partition.
• Check the format of some of your citations. The page guides you to issues

Week 6

Personal Draft

Luke

Snake vertebrae subsection draft

After consideration, I would like to add a subsection into the Snake page about the individual vertebra types. I will be using the Osteology of the Reptiles book as a source, because it provides relevant and specific information regarding the vertebrae. Other sources provide information relevant to the vertebrae within snakes as well. Some information I would like to add includes:

• Information on the vertebrae, including their function, how they connect in the vertebral column of the snake, and how they contribute to snake locomotion.

• I would like to add pictures of each vertebra that I personally take and label after dissecting the rattlesnake. This way, I will have no copyright issues and will be able to get the best pictures needed. I've searched and had trouble finding pictures online. Further, I plan on collecting triplets of vertebra from the snake in order to show their unique connections.

• The snake has a significantly increased number of vertebrae (>300) in comparison to mammals or other vertebrates. They specifically have many more rib-bearing vertebrae than other vertebrates. Ribs are often present on all vertebrae from the atlas to the first caudal.

• Although the vertebral column of other vertebrates are divided into five distinct regions (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal), the reptile vertebral column is divided into only four regions: the cervical region, the dorsal region, the sacrals, and the caudal region. The dorsal region contains vertebra without ribs and vertebra with ribs (what would be considered lumbar and thoracic, respectively, in mammals).

• The vertebrae of snakes show little specialization and increased homogeneity in comparison to other vertebrates. The cervical region is extended, which leads to the lack of shoulder and pelvic structures, and a lumbar region.

Group Draft

Mena

Heat Sensing Pits

Heat sensing pits are indicated by the red arrow and the nostril is indicated by the black arrow

Heat sensing pits are organs on a rattlesnakes’ face that detect infrared heat from warm-blooded organisms. The pit is located between the nostril and the eye on both sides of the face. The interior of the pit has a membrane on the back wall that is lined with clusters of nerve endings that transmit the infrared signals to the brain. Rattlesnakes are extremely sensitive to temperatures and can detect 0.003°C changes in temperatures making it possible for them to differentiate the environment and prey. Once the infrared signals are detected, the nerve clusters send this information to the brain via the trigeminal nerve. Once the signal reaches the brain, it is superimposed onto the visual image the snake is also receiving allowing them to hunt or escape predators more efficiently.

Alex

Three-chambered Heart

After looking at several Wikipedia pages regarding the snake anatomy, I want to add a picture of my own dissected snake heart and more information about it on the Snake page. In addition, I could also add a picture of the snake heart to the Reptile page since it only has a picture of an iguana heart. In particular, the Snake page is missing valuable information and a picture of the snake's three-chambered heart. Some things that I would like to add is:

• My own dissected picture of a rattlesnake's three-chambered heart, which is fully labeled and free of any copyright issues. I have searched online for any pics, and there were no pictures of any snake hearts.
• The snake's heart is divided into the atrium (heart) via two atria and one ventricle (heart) that is divided into three different chambers, which include the systemic and left-sided cavum arteriosum, the pulmonary and right‐sided cavum pulmonale, and the medial cavum venosum. These components allow the heart to provide oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body.
• The form and function of these hearts are different than mammalian hearts due to the fact that snakes have an elongated body, and thus are affected by different environmental factors. In particular, the snake's heart relative to the position in their body has been influenced greatly by gravity. Therefore, snakes that are larger in size tend to have a higher blood pressure due to gravitational change. This results in the heart being located in different ranges relative to the size of the snake's body length.
• Posted to the Talk:Snake regarding the addition of a dissected heart picture that is fully labeled.
• Adding other relevant information and gain feedback about it as time goes on

Week 9 Peer Comments

Mena

"The inclusion of actual dissection images will be great to avoid copyright issues and directly represent the topics you guys have chosen"

• I plan on exposing the internal membranes and hopefully the trigeminal nerve during our dissection so that I can label those parts on a real specimen.

To address comments from Dr. Schutz on my first draft: I am going to continue adding citations to the heat sensing pit section on the rattlesnake page but add a a section on the Viperidae page because they have a particular type of infrared pit. I plan on going into detail about the trigeminal nerve because it plays such an important role in the sensing process. In addition, I am also looking for images from old (pre 1944) papers for a diagram of the infrared pit.

Luke

"To start prepping for those dissections you guys could start listing out the parts of the heart and vertebrae you are planning on labeling."

• In order to prepare for the lab, I will research the vertebrae of snakes more and decide which specific parts I plan to label for the picture I will eventually post. I also added a little more detail as to what the picture will entail.

"In the Snake vertebrae subsection draft there were multiple in-text citation superscript numbers made for the same source, which is an easy fix - when clicking the "Cite" button on the visual editor, just re-use one of your previously made citations."

• I went through and recited my entire section in the correct format, deleted repeats, and added a new citation to the original list of citations under week 5 “articles” section.

"I would suggest adding an overview photo of your rattlesnake with the vertebral column dissected (with the four regions labeled) in addition to the pictures of the individual vertebra. You might also consider linking some the more sophisticated/scientific words in your vertebrae section, so that people who are not necessarily well versed in anatomy can understand."

• I plan on adding pictures of the vertebra in triplets, so that people will be able to not only see vertebra, but also the way they connect with each other. The snake has an interesting vertebral column which would be beneficial to show, but unrealistic to completely remove, considering our current dissection plan.

"Other than the snake page, you may want to consider examination/ edits of Vertebra page. You may also want to consider the Vertebral column page."

• In the Vertebra page, there is information regarding non-human animal vertebra, but there isn’t much about reptiles, and nothing about snakes in particular. In the Vertebral column page, there is one mention of snakes, but providing information about the column, rather than the vertebra. Therefore, I think this subsection is relevant and worth adding to the snakes page.

Alex

"To start prepping for those dissections you guys could start listing out the parts of the heart and vertebrae you are planning on labeling." ---Kxr 11

• I plan on dissecting the whole heart and observing the 3 chambers (atria and ventricle). Once I am able to get the dissect the whole heart, I will examine other functional components like major arteries or vessels if they are intact. If I am unable to see any functional components, then I will just label what I can and add it to the Heart and Rattlesnake pages.

"Also, there are a couple of spelling and grammar edits that I would like to make to the Three-chambered Heart section. I will copy and paste a edited version here with the edited parts italicized:" ---GoldenRetriever21

• I have added these edits to my original draft.
• This was very helpful in editing my draft

"However, You have the same sources listed multiple times in your works cited. You can actually just cite it once, and then re-use your original citation. This will make your bibliography shorter and less repetitive/jumbled. I would also suggest adding a header for your bibliography section so that it looks more organized and is separated from the rest of your draft." ---AICOI

• I realized this problem and didn't know how to fix it. This was very helpful in reusing citations since they were the same citations that I used in my draft from my previous plan. I have made this correction in my draft so that the citations are used only once.

• More than one atrium: atria
• I think you should be more specific about how the components allow the heart provides oxygen and other nutrients to the body. You could talk about the flow of blood through the heart and around the body. This would also go hand in hand well with a labeled cross section of the snake heart. I think this would better clarify your section because right now its sounds a bit like a list of chambers, rather than a description of the form and function of the snake heart. ---AICOI
• I realize that my grammar needed some major editing. I fixed these edits in my original draft.
• I wanted to talk about the flow of blood through the heart and around the body (systemic and circulatory systems), but this information is already present on the Heart and Reptile pages, but it is not present in the Rattlesnake and the Snake pages. I will try to add some information to all of these pages or adding the information to the Rattlesnake page and linking it to the Heart page.

"I also urge you to consider making your contributions to this page (heart) and then linking to the snake page. That might make more sense than directly to the snake page." ---Dr. Schutz

• There is currently no pictures of a snake heart on the Heart page, so I will consider adding this to here and then linking it to the Snake page. This would definitely make more sense considering there is already information about the flow of blood in reptiles. I will add little information to each of these pages while also adding the labeled dissected heart of the rattlesnake. My future work will include: dissecting the whole heart, observing any functional components, labeling the heart, and adding information to the desired pages.

Week 10 Draft 2

Personal Draft 2:

Luke

• While preparing to enhance my previous project on the snake vertebrae, I found that the information had already been added to the snake skeleton page. Therefore, I have decided to create my own page providing information about procoelous vertebrae, as they're present in reptiles, including snakes. I will still be able to dissect the rattlesnake and gather pictures of the vertebra.

• Included will also be an image of the dissected vertebrae from a rattlesnake that I collect. Within this image, there will be a lateral view of several vertebrae, a cranial view of a vertebra, and a caudal view of the vertebra as well.

• Additionally, I will see, if necessary, if I can find a simple, drawn diagram of a procoelous vertebrae to go along with the dissected vertebrae pictures.

Below is a draft of the page I intend to add to Wikipedia:

Procoelous Vertebrae

Introduction:

Procoelous vertebrae are those in which a spherical protrusion extending from the caudal (anatomical term) end of the centrum of one vertebra fits into a concave socket on the cranial end of the centrum of an adjacent vertebra. These vertebrae are most often found in reptiles, but are found in some amphibians such as frogs. They serve to allow for a wide range of motion.

Structure:

The vertebrae fit together in a ball-and-socket articulation, in which the convex articular feature of an anterior vertebra acts as the ball to the socket of a Caudal (anatomical term) vertebra. This type of connection permits a wide range of motion in most directions, while still protecting the underlying nerve cord. The central point of rotation is located at the midline of each centrum, and therefore flexion of the muscle surrounding the vertebral column does not lead to an opening between vertebrae.

An example of procoelous vertebrae dissected from a rattlesnake.

An example of procoelous vertebrae found in snakes shown from the caudal, lateral, and cranial end (left to right, respectively). Image taken from page 39 of "Water reptiles of the past and present".

• (NOTE: I would still like to add pictures I personally take to the procoelous page, but this might be a good image to add as well.)

Group Member Draft 2's:

Alex

Snake three-chambered heart: **A dissected and fully labeled picture of a rattlesnakes' three-chambered heart will be added to the Rattlesnake page after dissection**

Additions to the Heart page: The form and function of these hearts are different than mammalian hearts due to the fact that snakes have an elongated body, and thus are affected by different environmental factors. In particular, the snake's heart relative to the position in their body has been influenced greatly by gravity. Therefore, snakes that are larger in size tend to have a higher blood pressure due to gravitational change. This results in the heart being located in different ranges relative to the size of the snake's body length.

Additions to the Snake page: Snake's and other reptiles have a three-chambered heart that controls the circulatory system via the left and right atrium, and one ventricle. Internally, the heart is divided into the systemic and left-sided cavum arteriosum, the pulmonary and right‐sided cavum pulmonale, and the medial cavum venosum. These components provide the functions of the systemic circulation, which allow the heart to provide oxygen and other nutrients to muscles and tissues of the body.

Mena

Original Article

Aside from this pair of simple eyes, rattlesnakes are able to detect thermal radiation emitted by warm-blooded organisms in their environment. Functioning optically like a pinhole camera eye, thermal radiation, in the form of infrared wavelength light, enters, passes through the opening of the pit and strikes the pit membrane located in the back wall, warming this part of the organ. Due to the extremely high density of these heat-sensitive receptors innervating this membrane, the rattlesnake can detect temperature changes of 0.003 °C or less in its immediate surroundings. Infrared cues from these receptors are transmitted to the brain by the trigeminal nerve, where they are used to create thermal maps of the snake’s surroundings. Due to the small sizes of the pit openings, typically these thermals images are low in resolution and contrast. Nevertheless, rattlesnakes superimpose visual images created from information from the eyes with these thermal images from the pit organs to more accurately visualize their surroundings in low levels of light. Research conducted recently on the molecular mechanism of this ability suggests the temperature sensitivity of these pit organs is closely linked to the activity of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1, a temperature-sensitive ion channel saturated in the pit membrane.

With Citations and Links

Aside from this pair of simple eyes, rattlesnakes are able to detect thermal radiation emitted by warm-blooded organisms in their environment. Functioning optically like a pinhole camera eye, thermal radiation, in the form of infrared wavelength light, enters, passes through the opening of the pit and strikes the pit membrane located in the back wall, warming this part of the organ. Due to the extremely high density of these heat-sensitive receptors innervating this membrane, the rattlesnake can detect temperature changes of 0.003 °C or less in its immediate surroundings. Infrared cues from these receptors are transmitted to the brain by the trigeminal nerve, where they are used to create thermal maps of the snake’s surroundings. Due to the small sizes of the pit openings, typically these thermals images are low in resolution and contrast. Nevertheless, rattlesnakes superimpose visual images created from information from the eyes with these thermal images from the pit organs to more accurately visualize their surroundings in low levels of light. Research conducted recently on the molecular mechanism of this ability suggests the temperature sensitivity of these pit organs is closely linked to the activity of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1, a temperature-sensitive ion channel saturated in the pit membrane.

For Viperidae

Pit vipers have a specialized sensory organs near the nostrils called heat sensing pits. The location of this organ is unique to pit vipers. These pits have the ability to detect thermal radiation emitted by warm-blooded animals which helps them better understand their environment. Internally the organ forms a small pit lined with membranes attached to the trigeminal nerve. Infrared light signals the internal membranes and the trigeminal nerves send the infrared signals to the brain where they are overlaid onto the visual image created by the eyes.

EDIT

Pit vipers have specialized sensory organs near the nostrils called heat sensing pits. The location of this organ is unique to pit vipers. These pits have the ability to detect thermal radiation emitted by warm-blooded animals, helping them better understand their environment. Internally the organ forms a small pit lined with membranes, external and internal, attached to the trigeminal nerve. Infrared light signals the internal membranes, which in turn signal the trigeminal nerve and send the infrared signals to the brain where they are overlaid onto the visual image created by the eyes.

A rattlesnake heat sensing pit dissected out of the face. Rostral meaning toward the nose and caudal meaning toward the rear of the animal. 1. External membrane 2. Internal membrane (Pacific Lutheran University Comparative Anatomy dissection)

Heat sensing pit located in blue circle on a rattlesnake specimen (Pacific Lutheran University, Comparative Anatomy dissection)

1. Trigeminal nerve extending into the heat sensing pit2. Trigeminal nerve originating in the brain 3. Heat sensing pit (Pacific Lutheran University, Comparative Anatomy dissection)

Week 14

Luke

I posted my information to the procoelous vertebrae page, but it was moved to the vertebra page under "other animals". The reviewer left my contribution the way I wrote it (besides a few word alterations), and my citations were left intact. I added a picture of the rattlesnake vertebrae directly next to that paragraph.