Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Microtenthes

Microtenthes

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This taxon has a baffling lack of presence on the web. I'm getting a grand total of two hits [1][2], both books from the 60s. I suspect that this may have been a classification that did not gain traction and quietly disappeared from the records, without even being synonymized. Further excavations welcome. -- Elmidae (talk · contribs) 08:47, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Organisms-related deletion discussions. Elmidae (talk · contribs) 08:47, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - I've found one additional mention in an extremely roundabout way. UC Berkeley in an ancient web directory hosts the files from a 1993 University of Texas CD called "THRINAXODON: DIGITAL ATLAS OF THE SKULL", included in which is a reprint from a 1961 paper in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard. This paper in turn cites a 1956 paper for the statement suggested that in Ericiolacerta these foramina indicated either a mobile prolongation of the snout or highly developed sense organs such as a rhinarium or vibrissae. Brink (1957a, p. 86) extends this interpretation to Diademodon, as does Attridge (1956, p. 67) for the therocephalian Microtenthes. The hosted document is at https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/synapsids/rowe/estes.html --(loopback) ping/whereis 09:07, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Following that lead gets pretty hard though. That was not the only Attridge who did something of note in 1956 and nearly all hits for Attridge 1956 refer to the test pilot who managed to shoot down his own jet that year. --(loopback) ping/whereis 09:11, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I've shot off an email to the UC Museum of Paleontology who hosts that archive to see if they may be some help in tracking down the Attridge paper. Will pass along anything if they get back to me. --(loopback) ping/whereis 09:39, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Update: the UC professor got back to me. It's a misspelling that worked it's way into a few things back in the day. Full email reply included here:

Tracking down data quality issues is never silly and pointless. Unfruitful and vexing, yes, but not silly and pointless. However, in this case, I can solve your mystery.

Microtenthes SHOULD be deleted, because it is a misspelling of Mirotenthes. Here's the Attridge paper where he first describes Mirotenthes. You can also see it featured here <https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-009-0117-4#Fig10> as part of an open access article on "transitional fossils".

Best wishes, Pat Holroyd

Patricia A. Holroyd, Ph.D.

Senior Museum Scientist

Museum of Paleontology

University of California

Berkeley, CA 94720}}

Answers the questions about why we can't find sources at least. --(loopback) ping/whereis 16:30, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]