Talk:Delicate Slender Opossum
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[edit] Factual accuracy
There are many things noted on this page that contradict existing literature and would qualify as a major discovery if true. These need to be referenced.
- 1.) Subterranean lifestyle for a member of this genus.
- 2.) Eusociality.
- 3.) Heterocephalus is only distantly related to other members of the Bathyergidae yet complex social structures have been seen in other mole rats (such as Cryptomys). M. parvidens is closely related to several other non-social opossums (such as M. pinheiroi). Did something like this really evolve in <1 million years?
- 4.) There are a lot of very complex and elaborate relationships here (symbioses, castes, etc.) that would require quite a bit of study by the researchers and would almost certainly be the subject of several papers beyond the initial discovery of 1-3 on this list. Searches on Zoological Record and Web of Science yield no reference to anything unique about the social structure of these animals. It's definitely possible that a brand new paper reporting this amazing find hasn't been incorporated into those databases, but it's not likely that a sequence of papers has gone undetected.
- 5.) Steiner and Catzeflis (2004; Journal of Biogeography, 31:959-973) have a nice paper with an extensive section on Marmosops (including M. parvidens) in South America and make no mention of this alleged new finding.
- 6.) There are an amazing set of coincidences with an amazing number of other creatures.
--Aranae 06:00, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Delicate Slender Opossum
Hey Ucucha, Would you mind looking at the article Delicate Slender Opossum. The information listed there is really big news and really recent if it's true. The truth is that I'm skeptical and thought you might have an opinion. I've asked for references from the anonymous author and from another person who contributed (who I suspect is the same person as anonymous). I haven't received a reply, but it has only been one day. --Aranae 02:38, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)
- It seems very, very improbable, but I'm not sure. You might contact Robert S. Voss (voss@amnh.org). He knows quite a lot about didelphimorphians. Keep in mind that parvidens only occurs east of the Orinoco and north of the Amazon, as restricted by Voss et al. (2001). By the way, do you have Dr. Voss' recent paper about Marmosops (in American Museum Novitates)? I can sent it, as well as the other things on nl:Gebruiker:Ucucha/PDF. Ucucha See Mammal Taxonomy 05:34, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
(from my talkpage)
I think the best thing we can do is removing all "eusociality" and "agriculture" stuff and keep it a small, good article. Ucucha See Mammal Taxonomy 15:13, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- It looks good. Thanks for the help. --Aranae 16:55, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)
