Jon wrote:

A good example of the difficulties is outlined in today's featured article on the Island Fox. The bit on the main page includes the sentence "Its small size is a result of [[island dwarfing]], a kind of [[allopatric speciation]]". Come again! To find out what that means you have to wade through the technical article [[island dwarfing]] and [[allopatric speciation]] - and to begin to understand the latter, you also have to try to understand [[speciation]]. I think it means - "It is small because it is on a small island", but why not just say that?

It means, "it is small because it is on a small island and because it can't breed with its larger relatives on the mainland".

I see that the article was rewritten to avoid the term "allopatric speciation". That's not a good change. Yes, unfamiliar technical terms need to be glossed. But they should be kept in the article where possible. Here is an excellent opportunity to mention an important scientific term and explain briefly what it means, while providing a link to an article that explains the term in more detail.