Talk:Kangaroo mouse

Kangaroo mouse was a good article, but it was removed from the list as it no longer met the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions below for improving the article. If you can improve it, please do; it may then be renominated. Review: October 23, 2005. (Reviewed version).

A fact from Kangaroo mouse appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 12 July 2005. The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that like many desert rodents, kangaroo mice go their entire lives without drinking and get water from their food? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2005/July.

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Could someone find a picture?

Currently there's a photo on the page, but it appears to be a photo of a kangaroo rat, not a kangaroo mouse. The tail of a kangaroo mouse is thicker at the center than at either end, and lacks the prominent tuft at the end. I would replace the k-rat photo with a k-mouse photo if I could locate one in the public domain.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.68.66.254 (talk) 18:22, 9 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There are no images. slambo 16:47, 23 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Is it really appropriate to have a "pop culture" section for this type of article, especially when it is so obscure? The info added might belong in the article on Dune, but probably not here. If nobody objects over the next few days, I'll remove. Interested to hear comments. - Bantman 06:34, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's been a worthwhile addition to a number of animals, particularly lesser known ones, to have a mass media/pop culture section. In this case, I actually question if it's been established that muad'dib was supposed to have actually been a kangaroo mouse as opposed to a kangaroo mouse/kangaroo rat/jerboa/gerbil-like alien creature. --Aranae 06:46, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I added the Dune reference because I was on (for some reason or another) the Turtle article, which as has the last time I counted 19 references to pop culture. Seeing this, I thought this was enough justification to add a pop culture reference (albeit literary in nature) to this article on Kangaroo mice.

As for the other comment about the possibility of it being another small kangaroo like mammal, according to my 1984 Berkley Books (35th printing)of Herbert's Dune, in the appendix page 524 under the listing of "Muad'Dib", it contains the following:

"the adopted kangaroo mouse of Arrakis, a creature associated in the Fremen earth-spirit mythology with a design visible on the planet's second moon. This creature is admired by Fremen for its ability to survive in the open desert. " (italics added for emphasis)"

So, it's not any other creature according to Herbert, it is in fact a "Kangaroo mouse".

Finally, if Wikipedian admin feel that pop culture should be purged from all scientific articles then of course that should be done. But I would lament this, as Wikipedia's amount of pop culture is unparalleled. Perhaps the best answer is to create a massive animal pop culture article as Aranae suggested, or disambulation page could be created for animals in pop culture.

Sincerely,

Zidel333 05:52, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm convinced, and I think this is a particularly nice use of pop culture in an article. Herbert was a great influence in incorporating biodiversity and ecological thinking into sci-fi and literature. I don't know that I've ever mentioned a massive animal pop culture article. I actually like the brief reference per species or group approach. Of course if it were to get too long it might warrant a subpage, but that's true of any section. My only concern was that it may not have been a kangaroo rat and I think you've established that nicely. Thank you, Zidel. --Aranae 07:39, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

For the record, I strongly disagree. First of all, the previous version of the article was a short but well-written scientific article with strong references; that version would be a fine (if limited) reference for anyone looking for basic biological information on the kangaroo mouse. By adding a pop culture reference, it degrades the seriousness of the article as a whole, and raises questions as to its accuracy. I think it also lessens the imact of Wikipedia as a whole, that we are unable to control "fancruft" in even our most mundane hard-science articles. Second, the fact noted is irrelevant to the topic of kangaroo mouse. The likelihood that anyone visiting the kangaroo mouse article is actually looking for this obscure bit of Dune trivia is vanishingly small. While it may be appropriate to link to kangaroo mouse from the relevant Dune-focused article, it is inappropriate to add an entire section to refer from kangaroo mouse back to Dune. It vastly overstates the importance of the relationship. Third, any unreferenced information added to a referenced article degrades the quality of the article as a whole, so if this must stay, please add a properly formatted reference in the references section.

I know I'm probably in the minority on this, but if we are ever to be taken seriously as a reference source, this type of information really must be restricted to the relevant articles. - Bantman 18:07, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'd also like to point out, for the record, that "Wikipedian admin" don't decide these things. Wikipedia editors decide it by consensus, which is just what all of us (Wikipedia editors) are doing here. --Doradus (talk) 01:39, 8 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I have both caught and released one and I saw one miles away , years later jumping in the snow in the mountains of east Tennessee. 2600:6C5C:6D00:13A7:386C:8D31:C591:92B9 (talk) 13:38, 3 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]