Talk:Honduran white bat

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I have noticed that the article was changed from colonies of up to half a dozen to colonies of up to a dozen. I was wondering what is the reference suggesting that colonies can have as many as a dozen individuals, rather than half a dozen as suggested previously? The Timm & Mortimer 1976 reference only found groups containing 1-6 individuals. Nicolharper 00:55, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

For the sake of addressing comments/concerns (even 11 years later), I'll say that I found a source stating up to 15 individuals will roost together. This source is included in the text. Enwebb (talk) 19:48, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

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The Honduran white bat gets my vote for cutest bat ever. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.165.15.201 (talk) 20:40, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Honduran white bat/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: FunkMonk (talk · contribs) 00:00, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

• Looks interesting, some preliminary comments first. FunkMonk (talk) 00:00, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
• The last sentence under taxonomy needs a citation.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

• The intro seems too short, it should summarise the entire article.

 Done maybe? I expanded it some, let me know if you think it's sufficient. Enwebb (talk) 03:23, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

• The image captions could be more specific, and you don't need to mention the name of the subject. For example, the taxobox image could say its a roosting group, instead of now just saying the name in singular, say and where it was taken.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

Nice, I think the dates are a bit much, though. FunkMonk (talk) 16:28, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• The range map also needs a caption.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

• The image under description could say that the animal was mist-netted, as is said in the Commons description, and where it was taken.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

• Range/habitat should come before the "Human health applications" section. Human relations section should always be last.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

• You could begin each section by spelling out its name rather than just referring to it as "it".

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "described as a new species in 1892" Write the binomial here.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• You could mention the common name of its family, and state specifically what its closest relatives are.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "more pronounced towards its posterior." Whose, the hair's or the animal's?

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "which it is sympatric" Explain in paranthesis.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• Nose leaf, Honduras, carotenoid and holotype are overlinked.

nose-leaf: I left one link in taxonomy and one link in description  Done

Honduras: Left one link in the lead & one in range & habitat  Done

holotype: removed reference to the holotype in range & habitat per later suggestion.  Done

carotenoid: There's only one hyperlink in description and one in human health. You think that's overlinked? I believe it's quite feasible someone would want to read only parts of the article, so I like the sections to be coherent to stand alone  Not done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

I read over the MOS and see now that duplicate hyperlinks are generally discouraged. I removed duplicate hyperlinks with the exception of Honduras, which has a link in the lead (per MOS:DUPLINK) and one in range and habitat.  Done Enwebb (talk) 07:54, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

• Explain tragi/tragus.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "he holotype was collected near the Coco River in Honduras" I think this should be moved to taxonomy, where part of it is already stated.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "takes up to several weeks' worth" Is that apostrophe needed? Not sure, there seems to be a lot of discussions about it online.

weeks is plural, therefore it should be the plural possessive as currently written (1) Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• "only found in six of the roughly 1,300 known species of bat" Only stated in intro, which should not have unique info.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• The intro could be split into two paragraphs.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• The intro could need some more links.

 Done Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• I'll be away until Monday, which should give you plenty of time to fix this, but if it is fixed within the coming hours, I should be able to pass already.

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback. Let me know if you see anything else that needs to be fixed. Enwebb (talk) 02:30, 18 May 2018 (UTC)

• I'm back, and pleased to see the change, so will pass it now. I noticed the original description includes drawings[1], perhaps a single image could be made of this an added? It would certainly be in the public domain due to age. FunkMonk (talk) 13:02, 22 May 2018 (UTC)

Other Names

Enwebb Please show me where 'Caribbean white tent-making bat' is cited? Also, most "other names" in articles are not cited on Wikipedia. Simply do a search for Cotton Ball Bat and you wil come up with over 23 million results. I would say that qualifies, as the name has been used for a long time regarding this bat. Battykin (talk) 19:39, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

Battykin, we follow reliable sources. I added the citation that supports "Caribbean white tent-making bat". Just because flying foxes are colloquially called "sky puppies" doesn't mean that that should necessarily be introduced to the lead of the article, for example. An exact Google Scholar search for "cotton ball bat" and "cottonball bat" has no results. Enwebb (talk) 19:51, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

Enwebb Hi. I'm well aware that we do not include any old nickname. "Sky puppy" is a recent nickname that some everyday people use to describe a bat, and because it's quite new, it is not really considered a nickname for bats. Maybe in the future it will be. I personally do not like that name, but that is irrelevant to the point. Cotton ball bat has been used by zoologists and people in media when talking about the Honduran white bat. The source you added refers to them by their latin name. They loosely use the words Caribbean white tent-making bat, but that is their own choice of words to describe it. If you actually click on the sources they cited in that very same source, they do not use that term. Instead, they refer to it as a Honduran white bat. This type of bat is a tent-making bat, but one can argue that it's not called a "Caribbean white tent-making bat". Cotton ball bat can be argued the same way. I am okay with not including it, but the bottom line is that it is a term used for a long time, unlike "sky puppy" which is loosely used to describe bats in general. There is no comparison with the two terms, in my opinion. Battykin (talk) 20:34, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

if you actually click on the sources they cited... humor me and assume that I've read a good number of sources about this species. I think the terms are quite similar in that they are both completely neglected in reliable sources and thus merit no inclusion. Enwebb (talk) 00:08, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

As I've stated, click on the source you cited, and then read the part where they use the term "Caribbean.....bat" and see their cited reference. Go straight to the reference- there is no mention of the bat being called that. I am well informed about bats as well. There are many people who are scholars of bats. That is the point of having different people bring info to the table. If we are talking about reliable sources, then the Honduran White Bat is usually referred to its Latin name. Battykin (talk) 19:51, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

We would title this as Ectophylla alba only if the species did not have a common English name (WP:FAUNA). Enwebb (talk) 19:57, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

The common name is - Honduran White Bat. All other common names are used by different biologists. Cotton ball bat is often used because of the size of the bat being very small ~ 2 inches, and the coat of the bat resembling a cotton ball. It's what they refer to the bat in Honduras as well. I have seen a Honduran zoologist refer to them that way. A lot of them do not actually even call them a Honduran white bat. As I've already stated, I am fine with leaving it out. The reason I added it was because it is a common name given to the bat, unlike sky puppy which is not the same at all. A baby bat is called a pup, but a lot of people call bats sky puppies because they think they resemble dogs. However, that is more subjective, because not everyone believes bats look like dogs. Over time, it may become an official nickname. Battykin (talk) 20:10, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:White Bat (album) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 14:51, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

For clarity, RM is for White Bat (album) to be moved to White Bat which currently redirects here. — IVORK _Talk 00:41, 27 November 2020 (UTC)