Talk:Xeromys myoides

Requested move 2 March 2021

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Moved to Xeromys myoides, as the least bad outcome, given the absence of clarity as to whether this species has an overwhelmingly used common name, or is the clear primary topic of the proposed move target. BD2412 T 22:11, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

• False water rat → Water mouse
• Water mouse → Water mouse (disambiguation)

– While the Water mouse is currently occupied by a disambiguation page, it is also now the preferred common name for Xeromys myoides, as seen in the recent editions of "A field guide to the mammals of Australia" & in various government & conservation websites, like here for example with the Queensland Museum, FAME & Wildlife.org. The species is rarely called false water rats these days, one of those websites even makes of mentions this. It's somewhat true as outside of Wikipedia, the only other website that solely uses the name "False water rat", are websites are from the early 2000s, such as this 2009 scientific paper by the CSIRO & this archived government fact sheet from 2002. Monsieur X (talk) 02:40, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

Note: Water mouse indeed titles a dab page with significant content, so it cannot be a target title in a move request unless also proposed to be moved. I have altered this request to reflect those facts. Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 03:02, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

• Weak oppose: The nominator has provided a statement that asserts that the common name of Xeromys myoides is "water mouse", but has not said anything about whether Xeromys myoides is a proper WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for "water mouse", so something fundamental is missing here. Looking at the content of the disambiguation page at Water mouse, this is clearly not the only species referred to by that name. In fact, Xeromys myoides was not even mentioned on the dab page at Water mouse until I added it one or two minutes ago. — BarrelProof (talk) 17:32, 2 March 2021 (UTC)
• My apologies. I wasn't sure at the time to include it. Believing I was forbidden to edit any articles while they were being reviewed. Thinking I had done my move request correctly, having only discovered it not too long before. Anyway, I decided to follow the guide found on WP:PRIMARYTOPIC & do a pageview analysis & it seems like the false water rat was by far the most searched "water mouse" by far. I also did an encrypted Google search in incognito mode of "water mouse", lo & behold our good friend Xeromys myoides showed up. I also did a couple worldwide looks on Google trends & included low search volume regions to give the benefit of the doubt. First Trend search Australia is number 1, related searches however include Disney's Mickey & Minnie Mouse water bottles & water mouse traps. Pets & Animals trends search Australia is still number 1, & Lastly the trend search within Australia & within Aussie Pets & Animals it beats out "False water rat". The name change was part of my planned clean up for the article, as it was in need of an update. Monsieur X (talk) 03:02, 3 March 2021 (UTC)
• Google results do seem to indicate that the term "Water mouse" most commonly refers to "False water rat" though like BarrelProof I'm a bit concerned it wasn't even on the DAB until now. Crouch, Swale (talk) 08:17, 3 March 2021 (UTC)
• None of these animals are particularly popular. Their pages go unedited for months or even years. So I'm not particularly surprised that X. myoides wasn't added to the list of of water mice, I didn't know X. myoides even existed until a couple of months ago. Monsieur X (talk) 03:22, 5 March 2021 (UTC)
  • If we believe "false water rat" is not the animal's current common name, but aren't sure that it is definitely what nearly everyone would be looking for when they talk about a "water mouse", then I suggest to Move the article to Xeromys myoides. — BarrelProof (talk) 00:50, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

• Here's more evidence to support my case that "Water Mouse" has more or less superseded "False Water Rat" as the the common name for X. myoides here in Australia. Here's some Aussie news articles & studies. ABC News: "Cameras capture foxes pulling apart water-mouse nests in coastal wetlands", University of South-East Queensland: "The distribution and density of water mice (Xeromys myoides) in the Maroochy River of Southeast Queensland, Australia", University of Queensland: The ecology and conservation of the water mouse (Xeromys myoides) along the Maroochy River Catchment in southeast Queensland, Sunshine Coast Council News: Rare Australian water mouse found living in Caloundra. The Queensland state government lists "Water Mouse" as the common name & "false water-rat" as the alternative name. While the name "False Water Rat" is used in the federal government's recovery plan for the species, the title only used it in parenthesis & it's only mentioned as an alternative name alongside the indigenous yirrkoo. Monsieur X (talk) 09:38, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
• Move the article to Xeromys myoides per BarrelProofe, and keep the dab page as it is. I don't think there's a primary topic here, and given the lack of a clear venacular name I'd suggest sticking with the species name.  — Amakuru (talk) 10:27, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.