Talk:Diamondback terrapin/Archive 1

Old talk

What is their diet? Are they carnivores? Drutt 05:29, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

I think this article could benefit from a section on habitat Crushacm (talk) 01:32, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Umm, hello

Maybe terrapin should be merged already (you know, that merge suggestion tag). At present, they are referring to the same thing (or maybe terrapin can become adfb ation page or something, or redirect to Turtle#Turtle, tortoise, or terrapin?).

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• Support merge. It is fork of cited content (and uncited bias) that duplicates the scope of this article. However,

"Terrapin. Any one of numerous species of tortoises living in fresh and brackish waters. Many of them are valued for food." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

"Any ... of the family Emydiolae, especially the genus Malaclemys, which includes the diamondback terrapin."

Other references suggest that other families of the order, especially their small and edible species, might be referred to by this common name. Terrapin should be a disambiguation page, or perhaps a set index for the common name. cygnis insignis 17:31, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose Merge. In the Uk Terrapin des not necessarily mean Diamondback Terrapin, so this could be misleading... 86.128.187.15 (talk) 18:57, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

• Support merge. why hasn't there been any movement on this already? anyone can rtfa and see this is almost all redundant or poorly sourced info on one species, Malaclemys terrapin. any info not already at that established entry should be moved, and this page turned into a disambig article. - Μετανοιδ (talk, email) 20:03, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

*Oppose. Redundancies in articles or not, "terrapin" does not universally refer to the Diamondback species in all English varieties, so a merge would be inappropriate. As the tag has been there fore some time and the merge hasn't carried, I'm going to remove the tags. I'll also see if I can clean up some redundancies. oknazevad (talk) 23:30, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Yknow what, I changed my mind. Looking through the forked article, there was nothing of particularly unique value other than the note about the American/British English split. And since we already have a Terrapin (disambiguation) page, with a matching note, then a merge with appropriate redirect hatnote seemed liket the best solution. So that's what I did. oknazevad (talk) 01:43, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Why just one species?

Why isn't there an article on terrapins in general, only one on a specific species?--94.7.161.149 (talk) 00:16, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Because the term "terrapin" only properly and technically refers to one species, the one the term was originally coined to name. It's common broader application is already covered in this article. oknazevad (talk) 03:59, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Maryland football

Deserves a mention. big deal over here.

Also talk page archiving? Feel like this could grow into one of our 10 and we hide the antique blathering.TCO (talk) 23:36, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

interesting blog, some good pictures

http://www.turtlejournal.com/terrapindiary/index.html

FYR. TCO (talk) 04:05, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

lead

"It is unambiguously applied to Malaclemys terrapin in both British English and American English. The name originally was used by early European settlers in North America to describe these brackish-water turtles that inhabited neither freshwater habitats nor the sea. It retains this exclusive use in American English. In British English, however, other semi-aquatic turtle species, such as the red-eared slider, might be called a terrapin."

which is it? "unambiguous" in BE or "In British English, however..." ? Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 ^{> haneʼ} 14:09, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

The term "terrapin" covers the diamondback in both, but while it only applies to the diamondback in American English, British usage uses it for most semi-aquatic species, and typically reserves "turtle" for sea turtles only. (That's a particular Britishism, though, which is why the article turtle isn't just about sea turtles.) I'll see if I can rework the passage to make it clearer. oknazevad (talk) 02:41, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

referencing

A pattern for referencing has been established with two books formatted. The existing web references are incomplete; you will need to insert a "cite web template" for each one. Then you will need to visit each web site to glean the necessary information. If you do not have faith in the reference, cite the information from a reliable site or delete the reference and the un-cited information. This will take time.--JimmyButler (talk) 03:37, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Missing source material after merge

When terrapin was changed into a redirect, some of the source material on diamondback terrapins was not merged into this article and is still missing from it. It would be great if someone gives it some time and love! Kat (talk) 12:37, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

I missed the boat on that, not realizing that the terrapin article was essentially an article on the diamondback. I wonder why? I assume an article on tortoises is not a summary of the Galapagos tortoise. Is there only one species of terrapin... perhaps I need to read the actual article! Irregardless I will direct my student to the terrapin to "loot" its contents. Cheers--JimmyButler (talk) 19:28, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The term "terrapin" originally referred to the diamondback, and still does almost exclusively in American English. The old terrapin article was indeed only about the diamondback terrapin, and therefore redundant to this article, which uses the full common name. When I merged the articles, I didn't see the need for much of the material that was previously at terrapin, as the facts were (and are) already here, but better written with less unneeded verbosity. Terrapin was recently redirected to the disambiguation page after discussion, as other turtle species do include the word "terrapin" in their common name, reflecting the wider British usage of the term. Either way, I don't think there's much from the former terrapin article that needs to be salvaged. As I said, it was a purely duplicative effort, and a poorer one at that. oknazevad (talk) 22:31, 24 October 2011 (UTC) PS: Jimmy, "irregarless" is not a word! The correct word is "regarless"; "irregardless" is a double negative and looks poor.

I've merged referenced material across. Feel free to rearrange, cut and clean up as required. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 22:43, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Ummm should I draw attention to the mis-spelling of regardless... which looks poor. Regardless, thank you for the explanation for the merge. One of the goals is for the students to develop skills in referencing. The merged article is too heavily sourced to allow them the opportunity. I recommend they look for something more abbreviated.--JimmyButler (talk) 15:40, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

(*Grumble* Stupid typo, making me look bad!)oknazevad (talk) 17:39, 1 November 2011 (UTC)