User talk:Mokele

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 This user is a member of WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles.




Hi. Did you release [[Image:Snake skull joints lateral view.jpg]] into the public domain? -Frazzydee 23:56, 13 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Yes, it's of a specimen in my personal collection. MokeleMokele

I've made a few improvements with the arrows, and making the letters slightly more visible. If you want, I can upload it to a picture loading site for you to see first, or I can just upload it straight to wikipedia, and if it's not as good you can always revert (right?). Thanks. -Frazzydee 01:19, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Go right ahead and upload it, and thanks muchly


Contents

[edit] Image:Sidewindingtracks.gif

... is superb. Nice work. If you want to release it under the GNU free documentation license, or in the public domain, could you add {{GFDL}} or {{PD}} to the image text? Thanks -- Chris 73 | Talk 16:15, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

-- Thanks very much, and yes, I would like it released to public domain, but unfortunately if I recompile it with my availible software, it does that black flash at the end. Another user removed that using GIMP, iirc, and would probably be able to add the tags as well without messing it up, if you wish to contact him. But yes, public domain = good.

[edit] Image source

You've uploaded some nice images. Are they all your own? Could you please indicate this when you upload the images. Adding either {{GFDL}} or {{PD}} (for public domain or GFDL) to the description, as Chris mentioned above, would be helpful in making sure images are properly licensed. Thanks, Maximus Rex 09:35, 29 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Yes, they are, usually from my travels, pets or preserved specimens. I'll remember to add that in future, I just mis-read what Chris said, and thought he meant adding the text to the image in photoshop somehow. I'll be sure to indicate it in future uploads. User:Mokele

Hi, I want to use your blue tegu-pic on Wiki:nl, but really hope the Dutch mods don't throw it away because of the copyright warning. B kimmel 16:45, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Ectothermic muscles

Hi! :) I have a question about that ecothermic muscle thing if you wouldn't mind jumping over and looking at Talk:SuperCroc. 68.81.231.127 10:32, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Bandedkrait.jpg

Hi! Thanks for uploading Image:Bandedkrait.jpg. I notice it currently doesn't have an image copyright tag. Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can use {{gfdl}} if you release it under the GFDL, or {{fairuse}} if you claim fair use, etc.) If you don't know what any of this means, just let me know where you got the image and I'll tag it for you. Thanks so much, – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 19:54, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image copyright problem with Image:Hoazin chick claws BMNH.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:Hoazin chick claws BMNH.jpg. However, the image may soon be deleted unless we can determine the copyright holder and copyright status. The Wikimedia Foundation is very careful about the images included in Wikipedia because of copyright law (see Wikipedia's Copyright policy).

The copyright holder is usually the creator, the creator's employer, or the last person who was transferred ownership rights. Copyright information on images is signified using copyright templates. The three basic license types on Wikipedia are open content, public domain, and fair use. Find the appropriate template in Wikipedia:Image copyright tags and place it on the image page like this: {{TemplateName}}.

Please signify the copyright information on any other images you have uploaded or will upload. Remember that images without this important information can be deleted by an administrator. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, or ask them at the Image legality questions page. Thank you. Hunter 15:40, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unspecified source for Image:Blueteguspiral.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:Blueteguspiral.jpg. I notice the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you have not created this file yourself, then there needs to be a justification explaining why we have the right to use it on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you did not create the file yourself, then you need to specify where it was found, i.e., in most cases link to the website where it was taken from, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the file also doesn't have a copyright tag, then one should be added. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the {{GFDL-self}} tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media meets the criteria at Wikipedia:Fair use, use a tag such as {{Non-free fair use in|article name}} or one of the other tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags#Fair use. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 04:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Nv8200p talk 04:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sidewinding

Thanks for explaining your reversion of my edit regarding the thermoregulation benefits of sidewinding. Here are 4 refs which all mention that sidewinding aids the snake in keeping it's temp down when moving across hot surfaces. [1][2][3][4] There are many, many more.

If you've got something authoritive which debunks these claims, kindly supply it and also accept my humble apologies. If not, pls undo your reversion. Feel free to word it more succintly if you believe that it somehow detracts from the overall thrust of the article. Thanks. 08:17, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

None of those references are worthwhile, since none are from peer-reviewed scientific journals. I can find plenty of stuff online claiming that you can tell the age of a rattlesnake from the number of segments in the rattle, but that doesn't make such a legend any less bullshit. I've searched the scientific literature, and found *nothing* offering even a shred of evidence that sidewinding is in any way related to temperature. In fact, snakes sidewind only on slick surfaces, such as sand, mud, or smooth table-tops, regardless of temperature. Furthermore, few sidewinding desert snakes ever encounter warm sand - they're nocturnal. In short, it's nothing but an unsubstantiated claim with no factual basis.

Mokele

Ok, thanks. Secret Squïrrel 02:06, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Snake scales

Hi Mokele,

Its nice to have a herpetologist look over Snake scales to which I contributed, though not learned in snakes. I have a couple of points. The article was completely referenced. Based on your expert opinion, you deleted some referenced text in the lead. The lead only introduces the rest of the article and serves as a short summary for those who do not want to delve deeper. Could you please provide references and also edit the main text of the article re scale structure and use so that it remains worthy of a Good Article. AshLin 04:14, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

I made several changes, with the following source / rationale. First, scales are not considered a defining characteristic of reptiles, as they are an ancestral trait (a plesiomorphy). Pough's Vertebrate Zoology text has a good first chapter of the use of apomorphies vs plesiomorphies in classification, explaining why we don't use the latter). The use of scales to capture food in Acrochordus is documented extensively, but the first ref I found was Lillywhite 1996, journal of zoo biology. As for color, snakes born without scales have normal patterns, as noted in Bennett & Licht, 1975, Comparative biochemical physiology. Lissman's 1950 paper on rectilinear locomotion in boas puts to rest the issue of using the ventrals to grip in terrestrial habitats (though it is known that arboreal species do use them thus). Finally, as for friction vs damage protection, I have actually never seen damage protection used as a rationale for snake scales - it's always evaporative water loss and friction reduction. Gray, Gans, and Jayne have all published extensively on snake locomotion, and especially in Gray's 1946 work on grass snakes friction is noted as a major limitation. IIRC, that paper also has frictional coeficients for snake-skin on various surfaces. Mokele 12:42, 20 September 2007 (EST)
Perhaps, you misunderstood. :-) My point was not to challenge your edits or to ask you to prove the references to me. It was only to request you to make your edits in the main article sections properly referenced as per WP:CITE. Since I dont have the resources/references you mentioned, I cant do it on your behalf. May I request you to do the same? Secondly, the 'lead' or the 'intro' has to summarise the article rather than introduce new facts not evident from the rest of the article, so that would need amending once you have modified the main sections of thearticle and referenced them properly. I hope I have made my point clearly this time. In good faith, AshLin 09:38, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I think I see more of what you're getting at, but I'm still not totally clear. Do you want me to add little ref tags after the sentences in the text with accompanying links at the bottom? What do I do for material like peer-reviewed articles which may not be available to users who don't have university access to journal archives, just link to the abstract? Should I try to use webpages rather than scientific articles to ameliorate this, in spite of the former's inferiority as a source? Sorry about this, I'm not used to wikipedia style conventions (I'm used to "push the button that says 'insert citation' in Word with EndNote"); my main goal is simply to add information. Also, I plan on expaning the body of the article substantially once I have time, which will be sometime after Tuesday, so that'll take care of the asymmetry between the intro and main. Mokele 12:42, 21 September 2007 (EST)

[edit] Your edit to Talk:Dinosaur

I believe your edit to 'Talk:Dinosaur' violated Wikipedia:Civility, Wikipedia:No personal attacks, and Wikipedia:Assume good faith. Please be more careful in future. Thank you. --Mark (Mschel) 04:44, 24 November 2007 (UTC)


Only if you refrain from injecting creationist BS into legitimate science articles. Go do that on creation wiki, some people here care about *real* science. Mokele (talk) 04:54, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

You only agree to stop violating Wikipedia policy if refrain from make a certain kind of edit. Very fascinating. --Mark (Mschel) 04:59, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
How is what you did NOT a violation? You made an edit with ulterior motives of promoting an agenda which lacks any factual backing. It's no different from editing the article on Bush to claim he has the IQ of a carrot - it's the advancement of a viewpoint without factual basis. There are plenty of wikipedia pages on creationism; don't polute real science pages with such garbage. Mokele (talk) 05:06, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism?

The edit to Crocodile appears to constitute vandalism and has been reverted. Was that you? If not, might want to change your password. Trekphiler (talk) 10:55, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Which edit are you talking about? There's been about a thousand edits to that page, and I haven't made any recently. Mokele (talk) 05:03, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reptile and Amphibian Portal

Here's the link: [Amphibians and Reptiles] Just add your name to the list! The snake article was alot worse when I started working on it, I've tried improving it and have almost deleted the whole thing a few times to start it over. I primarily write about the animals I keep now:Ctenosaur and Cyclura iguanas, but I used to keep and breed pythons, Gaboon Vipers, cobras, boas, etc years ago...so I tried to help out. Thanks for your help, by the way...always good to have another pair of eyes!--Mike Searson (talk) 05:36, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] February 2008

Please do not remove speedy deletion notices from pages you have created yourself. Please use the {{hangon}} template on the page instead if you disagree with the deletion. Thank you. ЭLСОВВОLД talk 04:12, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] snake dentition

If you have refs that need formatting, let me know!--Mike Searson (talk) 05:52, 18 February 2008 (UTC)