Featured content
Extinct humans, birds, and Birdman
This edition covers content promoted from 4 to 10 March 2012.
Featured articles
Six featured articles were promoted this week:
- Washington quarter (nom), by Wehwalt. The Washington quarter is the present quarter dollar or 25-cent piece issued by the United States Mint. As the United States prepared to celebrate the 1932 bicentennial of the birth of its first president, George Washington, members of the bicentennial committee established by Congress sought a Washington half dollar. Instead, Congress permanently replaced the Standing Liberty quarter, requiring that a depiction of Washington appear on the obverse of the new coin. The new silver quarters, designed by sculptor John Flanagan, entered circulation on August 1, 1932 (above). Since 1999, the original eagle reverse has not been used; instead that side of the quarter has commemorated the 50 states, the nation's other jurisdictions, and National Park Service sites—the last as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters series, which will continue until 2021.
- Boletus frostii (nom), by Sasata. Boletus frostii (right), commonly known as Frost's bolete or the apple bolete, is a bolete fungus first described scientifically in 1874. A member of the Boletaceae family, the mushrooms produced by the fungus have tubes and pores instead of gills on the underside of their caps. Boletus frostii is distributed in the eastern United States from Maine to Georgia and Arizona, and south to Mexico and Costa Rica. A mycorrhizal species, its fruit bodies are typically found growing near hardwood trees, especially oak.
- Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (nom), by Mark Arsten and Mitch Ames. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) is an environmental movement that calls for all people to abstain from reproduction to cause the gradual voluntary extinction of mankind. VHEMT supports human extinction primarily to prevent environmental degradation, stating that a decrease in the human population would prevent a significant amount of man-made human suffering. The extinctions of non-human species and the scarcity of resources required by humans are cited as evidence of the harm caused by human overpopulation.
- Ferugliotherium (nom), by Ucucha. Ferugliotherium is a genus of fossil mammals from the Campanian and/or Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous, around 70 million years ago) of Argentina in the family Ferugliotheriidae. It contains a single species, Ferugliotherium windhauseni, which was first described in 1986. Originally interpreted as a member of Multituberculata – an extinct group of small, rodent-like mammals – on the basis of a single brachydont (low crowned) molar, it was recognized as related to the hypsodont (high-crowned) Sudamericidae after the discovery of additional material in the early 1990s.
- Pain fitzJohn (nom), by Ealdgyth. Pain fitzJohn (sometimes Payn fitzJohn, Payn FitzJohn, or Pagan fitzJohn died 1137) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", who owed their positions and wealth to the king. Pain's family originated in Normandy, but he appears to have spent most of his career in England and the Welsh Marches. A son of a minor nobleman, he rose through ability to become an important royal official during Henry's reign. In 1115 he was rewarded with marriage to an heiress, thereby gaining control of the town of Ludlow and its castle (right). After King Henry's death in 1135 Pain supported Henry's nephew, King Stephen. In July 1137 Pain was ambushed by the Welsh and killed as he was leading a relief expedition to the garrison at Carmarthen.
- Alexis Bachelot (nom), by Mark Arsten and Livitup. Alexis Bachelot (1796–1837) was a Roman Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands; he led the first permanent Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii, arriving in 1827. Although he had expected the approval of then Hawaiian King Kamehameha II, he learned upon arrival that Kamehameha II had died and a new government hostile towards Catholic missionaries had been installed. Bachelot, however, was able to convert and then quietly minister to a small group of Hawaiians for four years before being deported in 1831 on the orders of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui (a position similar to queen regent) of Hawaii.
Featured lists
Five featured lists were promoted this week:
- List of National Hockey League players born in the United Kingdom (nom), by Harrias. The National Hockey League (NHL) is a major professional ice hockey league which operates in Canada and the United States. Since its inception in 1917–18, 49 players born within the current borders of the United Kingdom have taken part. Of the 49 players, 21 are from England, 21 from Scotland, 4 from Northern Ireland and 3 from Wales. Steve Thomas and Owen Nolan (right) played over 1,000 regular season games, while Thomas and Steve Smith are the only ones to have appeared in over 100 playoff games.
- List of Vanderbilt Commodores head football coaches (nom), by Patriarca12. The Vanderbilt Commodores college football team represents Vanderbilt University in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 27 head coaches since it began play during the 1890 season. Since December 2010, James Franklin has served as Vanderbilt's head coach. The team has played more than 1,150 games over 121 seasons of Vanderbilt football.
- List of Malmö FF seasons (nom), by Reckless182. Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly called Malmö FF, is a Swedish professional association football club based in Malmö, whose first team play in the highest tier of Swedish football, Allsvenskan, as of the 2012 season. Malmö FF was founded on 24 February 1910. The pinnacle of the club's history came in 1979, when, as finalists in both the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup, Malmö FF were ranked as one of the strongest clubs in the world. As of 2012, Malmö FF have played 102 seasons, 89 of which have been spent within the Swedish league system.
- List of scheduled monuments in Maidstone (nom), by DavidCane. There are 27 scheduled monuments in Maidstone, Kent, England. In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is an archaeological site or historic building of "national importance" that has been given protection against unauthorised change by being placed on a scheduled monuments list, defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983. The borough of Maidstone is a local government district in the English county of Kent. The monuments range in date from a neolithic standing stone to a tiny 18th-century mortuary, but the majority are medieval.
- Birdman discography (nom), by Sufur222. The discography of American rapper Birdman consists of five studio albums (four as a solo artist, and one collaboration album with rapper Lil Wayne), one mixtape, nineteen music videos and forty singles, including twenty with him as a featured artist. In 2002, Birdman released his debut studio album Birdman under the recording name "Baby". It peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard 200, spending 23 weeks on the chart. In 2005, Birdman released his second album Fast Money, which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200. He has released two more successful albums and has an upcoming fifth album, Bigga Than Life.
Featured pictures
Six featured pictures were promoted this week:
- US Postal Currency (5 cent; 1862-1863) (nom; related article), created by the United States Post Office, scanned by Swtpc6800, and nominated by Crisco 1492. Essentially postage stamps printed on Treasury paper, postal currency arose during the American Civil War after people began hoarding coins and other currency. Issued from 21 August 1862 through 27 May 1863, the currency came in 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢ denominations.
- Polet Airlines An-124 RA-82075 (nom; related article), created by Sergey Kustov and nominated by Russavia. The new featured picture depicts the Antonov An-124, also known as the Ruslan or Condor, a strategic airlift jet aircraft designed by the Ukrainian SSR's Antonov design bureau. First flown in 1982, the An-124 is the world's largest ever serially-manufactured cargo airplane and world's second largest operating cargo aircraft.
- White-necked Petrel (Pterodroma cervicalis) (nom; related article) by JJ Harrison. The White-necked Petrel is a seabird that averages 43 centimetres (17 in) in length, with a 30–32 centimetre (12–13 in) wingspan, and is found in much of the Pacific Ocean. However, the bird only breeds in two locations. According to the nominator, this photograph represents the only sighting of the bird in Tasmanian waters.
- Salvin's Albatross (nom; related article) by JJ Harrison. This new featured picture depicts Salvin's Albatross, which was once considered a subspecies of the Shy Albatross. The bird, which averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and 2.56 m (8.4 ft) across the wings, nests in various islands in the Southern Ocean. This photograph was taken east of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania.
- Leaden Flycatcher (nom; related article), created and nominated by JJ Harrison, with modifications by Jjron. After a debate on the exposure and saturation of the image, culminating with nine days in holding for clarification of the results, this edit of the original was promoted. This specimen of Leaden Flycatcher, a 15-centimetre (5.9 in) long passerine bird native to eastern and northern Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, was shot in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.
- Mezcala Bridge (nom; related article), created by Jujutacular and nominated by Pine. Promoted in a narrow 5–2 vote after a nomination in 2010 which failed by half a vote, this new featured image (below) depicts the Mezcala Bridge in Guerrero, Mexico. The cable-stayed bridge, built in the early 1990s, measures 891 m (2,923 ft) in total length over six spans and is used as a toll bridge.
Featured topics
One featured topic was promoted this week:
- Faryl Smith (nom) by J Milburn. Faryl Smith, a British teen mezzo-soprano who rose to fame after appearing on Britain's Got Talent in 2008, has released two albums. The 16 year old's debut album, Faryl, was the fastest-selling solo classical album in British chart history; her second album, Wonderland, was less commercially successful. The new featured topic consists of three articles, one on Smith and one for each of her albums.
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