Wikipedia:WikiProject Dinosaurs/Dinosaur collaboration/Tyrannosaurus

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This is the Dinosaur Collaboration page for Tyrannosaurus. Please use the space below for discussion of the article. You can discuss changes, have facts checked, or simply tell us what you did to improve the article.

Contents 1 To Do List 2 Moved discussion from nomination 3 Pictures 4 Lead

[edit] To Do List

Does anyone have ideas for a 'to do' list? That's not my forte. BTW, is anyone emotionally attached to the pronunciation guide, that appears in this and other dino articles? I assume that WP is not reproducing them correctly anyway, as they appear rather incomprehensible (at least to this reader!) but do they add to our articles? - Ballista 05:34, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Which pronunciation guide are you talking about? I just wanna get rid of that horrible paleo-stat-thingy below the taxo box. It only gives information already in the article & is stupidly stupid!! Grrr! Anyway, I'm gonna get rid of it & if anyone wants it back they can talk to me... Spawn Man 08:22, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Remove away - I am not 'attached' to that 'box'. The pronunciation thingy to which I'm referring is this (from the T. rex article): "Tyrannosaurus ([taɪ'ræn.əʊ.sɔːr.ʌs]) meaning "tyrant lizard" ..." Does everyone else have gobbledegook or is it just my browser? - Ballista 09:22, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Nah, I have all those square thingys too. What ever happened to the old (TI-Ran-o-Saw-Rus)? The gobbledegook is probably because the font the words are in is not recognised by the windows/computer reader... Or because someone really likes putting boxes in text... Spawn Man 22:12, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Is this: [taɪ,ræn.oʊ'soʊr.əs] any better on your computers? Sheep81 04:37, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

I'll give it a shot. These are my recommendations. Not an official to-do list, but if there is consensus on any of my suggestions they can become part of an official one.

#Create a disambiguation page instead of having the links to the band and the motorcycle/car thingy up top. There is also apparently a minor league hockey team (Tupelo T-Rex) that uses the name which could go on there as well.

1. Expand and clean up the lead. It should be 2 or 3 paragraphs long, probably 3 for an article as long as this could get. It should summarize the article and not present any information that is not present in the body of the article (except perhaps pronunciation).
2. Make the characteristics/description section the first section as it is the most general information about the dinosaur. Describe the forelimbs but move their function to the paleobiology section.
3. Combine the discovery and individual specimens headings into one big history heading.
4. Create a classification heading which includes the species list.
5. Combine the scavenging/hunting and running/walking/moderate subheadings into only 2 different sections ("feeding strategy" and "locomotion"?) under the paleobiology heading, OR create a new "Controversies" heading (or something to that effect).
6. Remove "other tyrannosaurs" heading... this can be discussed in the classification section.
7. Move "other giant theropods" heading into a subheading of paleobiology, call it "size" or something.
8. Expand the pop culture section. Don't rewrite the entire pop culture subpage, just briefly summarize it.
9. Combine references and footnotes... make them all footnotes.
10. Go through external links and prune dead links, redundant links, and links that don't provide any more information than the article itself.
11. Alphabetize categories and interwiki links.

Phew. Breathe. Okay, so... comments?

Sheep81 04:03, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry to be slow in responding - wikitime is very short at the moment, barely having time to go thru' my overlong 'watchlist' each day. I was hoping that Sheep would propose a to do list, when I asked for proposals, as he appears to have a great knack for this sort of work. I think this list is great. When you study a good list like this, it looks kinda obvious - the clever trick is analysing & devising it.- Ballista 04:51, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I have created the required disambig page & removed those tags - it turned out to be a bit of a marathon, as I later accidentally found an extant disambig page under T-Rex, as I was trying to create a 'redirect'! - now merged and made the T-Rex one a 'redirect - also found two (!) pages on the 'automobile' T-Rex (but no time today to attach proper merger tags but have left messages on each, proposing merge). - Ballista 05:21, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moved discussion from nomination

• This is an extremely famous and 'popular' dinosaur, so should be of 'featured quality' as a priority. Whether we like it or not, it will be taken as a 'shop-window' display for the Project. There's a lot to do, although I am not as organised as Sheep in being able to analyse and list necessary mods, in agenda form, as he has done so neatly for Velociraptor. In particular, the In popular culture section is currently in a sort of throw-away format. - Ballista 03:59, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• Wow, this would be a big project. But you are right about its significance. Of all dinosaurs, T. rex deserves to be featured. I bet we can pull it off. Sheep81 04:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• I agree on all counts, even though I hope future focus will shift to slightly less famous dinosaurs.--Firsfron of Ronchester 00:40, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Well they are all less famous than T. rex so that won't be a problem. ;) Sheep81 07:32, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
    • True. :) --Firsfron of Ronchester 22:51, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
• Let's get the big guy over with, then do an equally importnat but more obscure dino like Megalosaurus.Dinoguy2 22:33, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

..............righty-ho, we're off then. I just banged in a bit about Posture under Paleobiology and put a link to the official site of teh Age of Reptiles at Yale...Cas Liber 11:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC) .......OK - got images off Commons for old and new poses, need a paragraph on the little army-things now to go next to the pic. A good hypothetical piccy of a feathered T rex would be pretty nifty....Cas Liber 10:46, 13 June 2006 (UTC) I have emailed Ken carpenter and Thomas Holtz in last few days for feathered T rex :) Cas Liber 02:02, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Ken told me of feathered T rex chick in Nov 1999 Nat Geographic - I have emailed a nice letter to them :) Cas Liber 12:51, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

As you may have noticed, I have removed a large amount of pictures from the T rex article. This is because 1) The pictures were of extrememly low quality (almost no visibility at all!). I have kept the best images. 2) The page was too overcrowded with less relevant pictures. For the amount of writing we have, it does not need that many. I have moved some, deleted others. 3) I can't think of 3 right now, but I reassure you of the importance of 1 & 2. The article will never make it through FAC with bad pictures. Asthetics is everything people. And remember to put a period (full stop (.)) after sentences in captions for pictures. Thanks, Spawn Man 23:34, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lead

I have written a new lead for the article which I believe is of appropriate length and style for a featured article. I'll post it here to see if it meets your approval. Feel free to make changes if you like!

[Tyrannosaurus (IPA pronunciation [taɪ,ræn.oʊ'soʊr.əs]; meaning "tyrant lizard") is the most famous of all dinosaur genera and one of the few that has become a fixture in popular culture. The only universally accepted species is Tyrannosaurus rex from western North America, known colloquially as T. rex (or simply "rex") and "The King of the Dinosaurs." Some scientists have synonymized the genus Tarbosaurus with Tyrannosaurus, which would extend its range into central Asia, although others maintain generic separation as separate genera.

It is the type genus of the tyrannosaurid family of theropod dinosaurs. Like other members of its family, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. While its hindlegs were large and powerful, its forelimbs were relatively tiny with only two digits. Although other theropods have been identified which rival or exceed T. rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid, and one of the largest known land predators, measuring over 12 meters (40 feet) long and weighing as much as a modern-day elephant.

Fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex have been found in western North America in rock formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, and it was among the last dinosaurs to exist prior to their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Over thirty specimens of T. rex are now known, which has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including bite force and growth rate. The top speed and feeding habits of Tyrannosaurus remain controversial.]

Have at it! Sheep81 05:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Cool - did bits above and if you stick it in, place the bite force somewhere down in paleobiology looks OK Cas Liber 07:06, 1 July 2006 (UTC)