The Wikipedia page for Polychrotidae
The great thing about Wikipedia is that we can rapidly access information about, well, pretty much anything. The bad thing is that the information available isn’t always accurate or professionally curated. As far as the natural world is concerned, folks are better served visiting more curated sites. For example, if you’re looking for information on anoles, my recommendations would be to visit the Encyclopedia of Life, Caribherp, or even the Anolis genome site if you are specifically interested in the genetics of anoles. But the truth is that people interested in anoles will often go straight to Wikipedia. As members of the Anolis research community, we have the opportunity to evaluate the pages and make suggestions for improvements. Follow this link to the Polychrotidae page. I pose the following challenge to you – Can you find the errors on this page? Can you find where this page could be improved? I will compile the appropriate suggestions and send them to Wikipedia so that they can curate this page. Ready, set, go!!
Martha. Good idea. Readers can make the changes themselves, or submit them to the “talk” page. Keep in mind, that updates should be restricted to facts (not opinion), and should be accompanied by citations. I’m not sure to what extent (if any) Wikipedia editors “curate” pages except by deleting inappropriate or unreferenced content. – Liam
Well, there is some wording and paragraph order I would change, but one factual error claims that A. sagrei has pushed A. carolinensis farther north. The northern populations of carolinensis existed before the arrival of sagrei and the two species coexist throughout sagrei’s range.
“One or two small, soft-shelled eggs are laid among leaf litter.”
As far as I know all anoles produce single egg clutches – if anyone knows of exceptions, please chime in. I’m not sure of the original source of this idea but I have seen inaccurate claims on the number of eggs per clutch in a variety of places. For instance the Audubon field guide entry on A. cristatellus says “2 or 3 eggs are laid in the leaf litter…”