Genus differentia
From HAO Wiki
Currently we are extracting definitions verbatim from the literature. This is probably better than having completely undefined terms, but it creates a situation that potentially introduces waffling, unnecessary verbiage, and inexplicit statements:
- epicranium - A term variously applied to the entire cranium, to the cranium exclusive of the frons, or preferably to the upper part of the cranium. (Snodgrass, 1935)
- axillar depression - Paired large depressions laterad scutellar disc, often filled with hairs or foamy structures. (Masner & García, 2002)
- sex segment - Specialized antennomere, typically A4 (rarely A3), usually constricted basally and bearing sharp keel on outer surface in lateral view. (Masner & García, 2002)
OBO Foundry recommends that "... ontologies include textual definitions for all terms. Many biological and medical terms may be ambiguous, so terms should be defined so that their precise meaning within the context of a particular ontology is clear to a human reader." We should take a page from the Foundational Model of Anatomy (mentioned in this OBO Foundry paper) and the Teleost Anatomy Ontology and use Genus-differentia definitions:
A is a B that X
- head - Head (A) is a tagma (B) that is anterior to the thorax and primarily serves for sensing and for food acquisition (X)
The forces the definer to:
- Think about the parent-child relationship - ok, the head is a tagma, which means it inherits all the properties of tagma; what does that mean?
- Think about how the term differs from its sisters. Thorax and Abdomen are also tagmata; how is the head different?
Proposed format for HAO
A: B that X
