[tdwg-content] New terms need resolution: "Individual" [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Steven J. Baskauf]

I forgot to mention in my earlier email that I would like to see the 
definition of BiologicalEntity include clarification of whether the 
"single taxon" is required to be taxonomically homogeneous or if it is 
allowed to be taxonomically heterogeneous.  I have expressed a 
preference in the past that it be restricted to taxonomically 
homogeneous entities, but I believe that in the extended discussion that 
took place about six months ago, a definition such as the one currently 
on the table was understood to allow taxonomic heterogeneity.  I believe 
that as a practical matter, allowing taxonomic hetergeneity introduces 
some significant complications, but I'm willing to live with it if 
that's what it takes to get this issue resolved.  See
http://code.google.com/p/darwin-sw/wiki/ClassIndividual
and
http://code.google.com/p/darwin-sw/wiki/TaxonomicHeterogeneity
for my attempt to summarize the history of the extended discussion which 
took place on this subject and what I believe to be the implications of 
allowing "individuals" to be taxonomically heterogeneous or not.

Steve

On 7/11/2011 9:03 PM, Paul Murray wrote:
> On 11/07/2011, at 11:58 PM, Richard Pyle wrote:
>
>>   I don't like the word
>> "Individual", because I would like to see it applied up to at least the
>> level of a group of individuals, if not a population
> Another difficulty is that "Individual" is a term-of-art in RDF/OWL: an individual is any instance of a class. "Individual", in OWL, means pretty much the same thing  as "entity" or "object" in other spaces.
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-- 
Steven J. Baskauf, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer
Vanderbilt University Dept. of Biological Sciences

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