But there is an inheritance hierarchy that I don't know how to handle using W3C's specifications alone. A genus has properties values (e. g.flower/petals/color = 'white' ) that MUST be inherited by the species in this genus. The properties values of a genus CAN be overriden by some species in this genus.

I have no insight on the way it would be handled in XML, but I believe we must consider that (a) inheritance goes up and down, and (b) information may be original or virtual.

The genus description is nothing more than the consensus description of all species placed in that genus. This is true regardless, whether it is done by computer or a scientist. The type species (the species to which the genus name is bound) will carry more wheight, some people may wheigh it very strongly.

Thus currently placed in GenusX Species1=101 \ Species2=10U > synthesized ("summary function") description of GenusX Species3=10U /

results in a description GenusX=[101) (1 = a state applies, 0 = does not apply, U = unknown, not yet observed)

Some information, e.g. anatomical or electron microscopy is usually only obtained from one or few species and then assumed to be true for all species in the Genus. Thus, information that was passed up, is now passed down again to species where this has not been studied. Care must be taken that the information is recognized as being passed down, it can NOT be simply copied as if it would indeed have been studied there.

Species1=10 1 Species2=10[1] Species3=10[1]

Square brackets shall here indicate that the information has been passed down.

It will often happen that Species3 is transferred to a different Genus, because the assumption that it belongs to GenusX turned out to be false. The GenusX description must now be revised, and information that was passed up from Species3 to GenusX and down to Species1/2 must be removed.

This is a continous dynamic process in science, and must be modeled on the computer.

However, the Genus description is not necessarily entirely dynamic. In many cases it will be necessary to copy information from publication, thus the Genus description may be physical and original data, in contrast to the virtual descriptions obtained by automatic synthesis processes.

Gregor ---------------------------------------------------------- Gregor Hagedorn G.Hagedorn@bba.de Institute for Plant Virology, Microbiology, and Biosafety Federal Research Center for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA) Koenigin-Luise-Str. 19 Tel: +49-30-8304-2220 14195 Berlin, Germany Fax: +49-30-8304-2203

Often wrong but never in doubt!