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[Shoku]

I meant how it didn't give descriptions of what was in a lot of the groups and how most of those articles were stubs. Well, mostly it's how the pages are so erratic in listing these unranked levels.

Yes, you have to click around a little to get good lists.  I figured people could handle that. 

I was referring to how they list infraclass and superorder but no order on the Cetartiodactyla page but Ruminantia doesn't have either of those and just has the level below Cetariodactyla listed after order. The steps you take to navigate through the tree are... a little important. Instead it looks like they just decided to try to get around five to seven of them for any page.

[Lancensis]

I decided to wake up fresh: wake up to Myriapods. Being almost impossible to tell apart aside from a few outstanding specimens, I didn't stress about getting too many, but they should add a little variety to bug-hunting in adventure mode, and the large tropical species ought to terrify your dwarves.
You'll be glad to know I only bothered with centipedes and millipedes, since including symphyla and pauropoda was too much even for me. On another note, all centipedes should have VERMIN_HATER, since they make me want to vomit, and die.

Myriapods!

==========================================Centipedes==================================
STONE CENTIPEDE:Your basic centipede, probably Lithobius Foricatus. Lift up the right rock, and you'll find one.
TIGER CENTIPEDE:There are a lot of centipedes that could go by "tiger" but this is a desert species, Scolopendra polymorpha. I picked it due to the usual dearth of desert fauna. Could probably bite you if you poked it in the face enough, but is only mildly venomous.
SOIL CENTIPEDE:Found underground I guess. Picked solely so order Geophilomorpha has a representative. These are very long and thin - usually colourless - you've probably seen them when digging in soil.
CAVE CENTIPEDE:There are a whole bunch of cave species, many of which are not named yet. This is one of the horrendously long-legged ones that live in those tropical caves that seethe with cockroaches.
"HOUSE CENTIPEDE":I hear you can get these in houses but thank god I've never seen one. I think the name seems a bit less fantasy-ish than it ought to be, so some suggestions are "LESSER CAVE CENTIPEDE" (technically it is) "MOUSTACHE CENTIPEDE" (called moustache bug in various parts of the world. makes me want to scream and laugh at the same time, but appropriate for dwarves) and the sly "FORTRESS CENTIPEDE"
"GIANT CENTIPEDE":The classic giant centipede, Scolopendra gigantea. Possible name "GREATER YELLOWLEG CENTIPEDE"? Important to note that it is found in both tropical forests, and caves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UROVfmY3NTA

==========================================Millipedes===================================
PILL MILLIPEDE:Apparantly a millipede. Personally I just think it's a woodlouse putting on airs, but in it goes. I think this (and indeed many other arthopods) would be one of the vermin that you have to Search Carefully for
SHOCKING PINK DRAGON MILLIPEDE:Perhaps in need of a name shortening, or perhaps we should just embrace being attacked be zombie giant shocking pink dragon millipedes. Loudly coloured tropical species. Produces cyanide that can poison those who handle it. Yum
YELLOW SPOTTED MILLIPEDE:Similar to above, but tasteless in a different way.
GREATER MILLIPEDE:Or the African Giant Millipede to you or I. Tropical forests are its habitat.
BLACK MILLIPEDE:Because "Plain Ol' Millipede" didn't sound right.

[Footkerchief]

God, I wish all the major clades had articles this nicely organized.  The sharks also have convenient names, and their articles are quick to either a) mention any interesting points of each species or b) tell you that very little is known about it.  Anyway, this list came from working down that article from top to bottom:

Sharks: Hexanchiformes

• Frilled shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frill_shark
• Sixgill shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexanchus

Sharks: Squaliformes

• Gulper shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulper_shark
• Kitefin shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitefin_shark (historically used for meat, liver oil, and leather)
• Pygmy shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_shark
• Cookiecutter shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookiecutter_shark (notable for eating its own teeth and generally acting like an asshole)
• Bramble shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramble_shark
• Black dogfish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dogfish
• Dwarf lanternshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_lanternshark
• Smooth lanternshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_lanternshark
• Velvet belly lanternshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_belly_lantern_shark
• Green lanternshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_lanternshark (could that name have been accidental?  also hunts in packs)
• Rough shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxynotinae
• Portuguese dogfish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_dogfish (recommend name "scaly dogfish" or "hollowscale dogfish" based on construction of scientific name.  also economically significant)
• Sleeper shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_sleeper_shark (big, has antifreeze in its tissues, eats dolphins whole)
• Gray shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark (even bigger, has role in Inuit legend, and: "More recently, a reputable Canadian wildlife biologist reported observing a Greenland Shark exploding from the water with a tremendous splash, grasping a near-shore Caribou by the (obviously startled) face, dragging it — kicking and bugalling — into the water, and then eating it.")
  
• Spiny dogfish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squalus_acanthias (poisonous spines, food source)

Sharks: Sawsharks

• Sawshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pristiophorus_cirratus

Sharks: Angelsharks

• Angelshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatina_squatina

Sharks: Bullhead Sharks

• Horn shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodontus_francisci (poisonous spines used for jewelry, bites harder for its size than any other shark)
• Bullhead shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_bullhead_shark

Sharks: Carpet Sharks

• Nurse shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginglymostoma_cirratum
• Tawny nurse shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebrius_ferrugineus
• Bamboo shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespotted_bamboo_shark
• Epaulette shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epaulette_shark
• Wobbegong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orectolobidae (great name, used for meat and leather)
• Collared carpetshark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parascylliidae
• Whale shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhincodon_typus
• Zebra shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stegostoma_fasciatum

That's maybe half the sharks.  More later.

[Halmie]

Sorry, I forgot about this thread till soemone mentioned it in FotF thread.
Anyway. List of birds so far:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tinamou
   Tinamus
      Tinamou   (Generic)


Ratite
   Struthio
      Ostrich

   Rhea
      Greater Rhea   (Can can contract into Rhea)
      Lesser Rhea   (Can can contract into Rhea)

   Casuariidae
      Emu
      Cassowary   (Deadly)

   Kiwi
      Brown Kiwi   (Can contract into Kiwi) (Meh, just look the rest up on wikipedia)
      Spotted Kiwi   (Can contract into Kiwi)

   Elephant Birds
      Elephant Bird   (Extinct)

   Moa
      Moa      (Extinct)


Anseriformes
   Screamers
      Screamer   (can expand into Southern, Northern and Horned.)

   Magpie Geese
      Magpie Goose

   Anatidae
      Whistling Duck
      White-backed Duck
      Mute Swan
      Black Swan
      Black-necked Swan
      Olor Swan   (Generic)
      Mallard Duck
      Greylag Goose
      Ross's Goose   (Can be renamed to Urist's Goose)
      Brant Goose
      Cackling Goose
      Red Breasted Goose
      Pacific Black Duck   (Can be renamed to Black Ocean Duck)
      Spectacled Duck   
      



Galliformes   (Game-birds)
   Guineafowl
      Guineafowl

   Megapode
      Australian Brush-turkey
      Orange-footed Scrubfowl

   Cracidae
      Rusty-margined Guan
      Chachalaca
      Great Curassow
      Wattled Curassow

   Odontophoridae
      Mountain Quail
      Scaled Quail
      California Quail
      Gambel's Quail

   Phasianidae
      Common Quail
      Asian Blue Quail
      Painted Bush Quail
      Rock Partridge
      Red-legged Partridge
      Grey Partridge
      Blood Pheasant
      Silver Pheasant
      Reeves's Pheasant
      Common Pheasant
      Golden Pheasant
      Mountain Peacock-pheasant
      Wild Turkey
      Turkey      (The domesticated one)
      Chicken
      Snowcock   (Generic)
      Francolin      (Generic)
      Western Tragopan   (Can just be called tragopan I guess)
      Monal      (Generic)
      Indian Peafowl   (Peacock)



Charadriiformes
   Scolopacidea
      Sandpiper   (Generic)
      Curlew      (Generic)

[Lancensis]

I've compiled as much of the list thus far onto my talk page on the wiki.

http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/User_talk:Lancensis

The basic idea is to streamline organisation and eliminate duplicates, since anyone can edit it. It's a hideous mass of formatting at the minute, since I haven't edited a wiki for years, so if you want to pretty it up, please go ahead.
At the minute, I've just dumped everything I can lay my hands on in there so please help to get rid of any duplicates or reorganise the catagories.

[Halmie]

I put extra spaces between all the mammals becuase they were showing up like this:

Gulper shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulper_shark Kitefin shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitefin_shark (historically used for meat, liver oil, and leather) Pygmy shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_shark Cookiecutter shark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookiecutter_shark (notable for

Instead of:
Gulper Shark (Page)
Kitefin Shark (Page)

[Tonjevic]

Is the list in the OP up to date?

If it is, Australian fauna is *way* over-represented...


EDIT: Nevermind. Done some more reading of the thread. Cool project! Two thumbs up, five stars, etc.
If there's one thing I take issue with, though, it's the note on "Quoll" which suggests that it would be a good stand in for the Tasmanian Devil. I don't think it would be. The devil is highly distinctive, and to call it a quoll is a bit like calling a goat a gazelle. Sure, they've both got four legs and eat grass, but they have different habitats, social structures, trophic relationships, behaviours and so on. And, yes, I know they're part of the same family or whatever, but quolls there are enough differences in my eyes. Quolls are often arboreal! Devils are not!


POST EDIT: You know, further reading the list, I wonder if any provision is to be made for adjusting the in-game relative abundance of these species. It seems to me that there are going to be millions of snakes and sharks and about fifteen different types of crocodilian, and often ver few of various other species. While it's all very well and good to include as many organisms as possible, surely some consideration has to be spent on how many of the various species there are in a given biome if you're concerned with 'realism'. At the very least, there should be a broadly equal number of the species to give an interesting variety of stuff that you might encounter. As it stands, it just seems like in game you might run into a great many snakes with different names and very little in the way of actual differences, when it might be preferable to have a few broadly different archetypes in each family to encounter.

Further, I wonder about the flavour of the eventual product. Should it have so many extinct and prehistoric animals in it? How many exotic versus relatively mundane organisms is preferable?


POST POST EDIT: It also struck me that it might be useful to have some kind of formal content accreditation system to verify the quality of the raw DF representations of the animals. In a project of this scope, it would be easy for some things to slip by either accidentally or maliciously, and comprimise the overall integrity of the thing. An extra pair of eyes or two just skimming the creature definitions to tell if they're OK or not might be valuable.

I understand the project is still early on, and I don't mean to be presumtuous in any way with my criticism nor to come of as nasty. I think, though, that these are things to be aware of while constructing this elaborate menagerie.
Good luck, etc.

Also, as a quick aside, will this affect game performance in any way? While, for example, generating a world?

[Shoku]

There's a rarity tag in the current version so if there's not finer tuning we will still have at least decent control over this. After all in the game a bottomless pit probably doesn't have many GCS if any but may have a dozen batmen and tons of rats and/or antmen. There are lots of ways to adjust frequency.

Yes, we're aware of how much trouble it will be to bring this all together.

And it will sort of affect the world by impacting speed but how much is something we won't know till we've done it.

[Footkerchief]

If there's one thing I take issue with, though, it's the note on "Quoll" which suggests that it would be a good stand in for the Tasmanian Devil. I don't think it would be. The devil is highly distinctive, and to call it a quoll is a bit like calling a goat a gazelle.

I didn't say anything about it being a good stand-in.  It was just the closest species I could find, and not very close at that.  Anyway, I looked around and apparently the Aboriginal word for the Tasmanian devil is "purinina."  Using that name is probably the best option, although I'm not sure people would make the connection, even with a detailed creature description.

[Gorobay]

The original scientific name of the Tasmanian devil was Didelphis ursina, so it could be called the bear devil. Now, it is Sarcophilus harrisii, so it could alternatively be called the carnivorous devil. In German and Hungarian it is called the pouch devil. Just plain "devil" is a possibility, too.

I have wikified the organization of Lancensis's talk page. All it needs now is for Foorkerchief to go through it and see if anything is wrong or missing.

[Footkerchief]

The original scientific name of the Tasmanian devil was Didelphis ursina, so it could be called the bear devil. Now, it is Sarcophilus harrisii, so it could alternatively be called the carnivorous devil. In German and Hungarian it is called the pouch devil. Just plain "devil" is a possibility, too.

Oh, cool.  I like bear devil and pouch devil.

I have wikified the organization of Lancensis's talk page. All it needs now is for Foorkerchief to go through it and see if anything is wrong or missing.

Dude that is awesome.  I'll start posting my lists there, although I'll probably keep crossposting them here to keep people updated.  I'm doing some minor cleanup on the talk page now...

[Tonjevic]

I'd probably go for "devil" above the other ones, but I remain mystified as to why Tasmanian Devil is so problematic.

[Footkerchief]

I'd probably go for "devil" above the other ones, but I remain mystified as to why Tasmanian Devil is so problematic.

Because "Tasmania" is easily recognized as an Earth place name.

Anyway, I reorganized the article to have new headers for Reptiles and Arthropods, and separated Fish into Bony Fish and Sharks (will probably change that to Cartilaginous Fish later, with sharks as a subheader).

That list is still dotted with extinct animals -- are we going to move those to a separate page or what?

I noticed that whoever made this changeset to Crocodilians removed the Gharial for some reason.  These unannounced removals are kind of problematic.  It would be nice if they were mentioned here.

[Lancensis]

That list is still dotted with extinct animals -- are we going to move those to a separate page or what?

I reckon just leave them in a catagory at the bottom. Perhaps stuff like the Thylacine and Stellar's Sea Cow, can probably just be included in the main list, since they're only been extinct a millennia or two at the most.

I noticed that whoever made this changeset to Crocodilians removed the Gharial for some reason.  These unannounced removals are kind of problematic.  It would be nice if they were mentioned here.

Heh. Someone with a grudge against gharials?

Thank you Halmie and Gorobay!

[Tonjevic]

That list is still dotted with extinct animals -- are we going to move those to a separate page or what?

I reckon just leave them in a catagory at the bottom. Perhaps stuff like the Thylacine and Stellar's Sea Cow, can probably just be included in the main list, since they're only been extinct a millennia or two at the most.

I noticed that whoever made this changeset to Crocodilians removed the Gharial for some reason.  These unannounced removals are kind of problematic.  It would be nice if they were mentioned here.

Heh. Someone with a grudge against gharials?

Thank you Halmie and Gorobay!

There's video footage of the last known Thylacine, from 1933. The Sea Cow was killed off in the 19th century some time.

"A millenia or two." is a bit long.

...

You know, having typed this all out, it seems to me that you just made an oversight and meant century.


Anyway, as to geographical naming (incidentally, African Wild Dog, New Zealand Primitive Frog and Portuguese Dogfish fall into this category, but have no re-naming-required-asterisk on the list), I certainly see the point with things like "American Alligator" and so on which are not typically called by these names, but the Tasmanian Devil is inalieable from the Tasmania part of its name. If you remove it, it becomes unrecognisable. I guess Marsupial Devil might be a slightly more elegant way of putting it than "Pouched Devil" if the determination remains to be wholly non-geographical in nominal terms, but I think the whole issue is muddied anyway by the fact that so many animals - especially Australian and African ones in particular, but also many from the other continents - have such strong geographical associations. The first thing I would think when bidden, "Hippopotamus", would probably be "Africa", for instance. The same goes for the Kangaroo and its habitats, as well as a myriad of other animals.

I guess the problem lies in the fact that animals like the Bengal Tiger have no other non-colloquial names. They cannot cease to be Bengali. If they do, they cease to be recognisable.

I'd probably be inclined to leave in the geographical eponyms for those species which are commonly known as such, and find some least-objectionable common-use substitute for those which are not.

NB: I suppose "Tazzie/Tassie Devil" could be used if you wish to use a name that is in common usage, but doesn't retain the sharply specific locational detail.