{ "model": { "rank": 2409, "code": "thing-q46212", "model_id": "vr.tr.aardvark", "name": "aardvark", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise an aardvark, assess its condition and circumstances, and decide whether observation, habitat protection or qualified intervention is appropriate.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.LIV", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q46212/", "tier": 2, "score": 106, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [], "aliasCount": 0, "merged": 0, "knownIn": 106, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": "vr.tr.aardvark", "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q46212", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q46212", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T12:05:51Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.01476076, "turns": 1, "seconds": 205.2, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 72, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07bbd-39a5-7031-8ffc-0e0c0056d0f2\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: aardvark\nRegistry id: vr.tr.aardvark\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.LIV\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA Vercy" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q46212", "registryId": "vr.tr.aardvark", "name": "aardvark", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.LIV" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q46212/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.aardvark", "name": "aardvark", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise an aardvark, assess its condition and circumstances, and decide whether observation, habitat protection or qualified intervention is appropriate.", "definition": "The aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is the only living species of the afrotherian order Tubulidentata: a medium-sized, nocturnal, fossorial mammal of sub-Saharan savanna and open woodland that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites, with ever-growing peg-like cheek teeth built of hexagonal dentine tubes and lacking enamel.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the identity, observable condition, behaviour, burrow dependence and immediate intervention constraints of an individual aardvark, Orycteropus afer, while retaining uncertainty in identification and assessment.", "in_scope": [ "Identification from direct observations, images and associated field signs", "Individual life stage, body condition, injuries and functional abilities", "Foraging, digging, sheltering and activity relative to local conditions", "An individual's use of burrows, feeding sites and surrounding habitat", "Immediate hazards, disturbance sensitivity and intervention decisions" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Population abundance, regional trends and species-wide conservation assessments", "Ant and termite colony biology beyond their relevance as food resources", "Burrow engineering and other species' use of abandoned burrows", "Land ownership, protected-area administration and landscape management plans", "Veterinary treatment protocols and wildlife transport procedures" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Check for the combined presence of a long tubular snout, conspicuously long ears, an arched back and a substantial tapering tail; a snout alone does not establish identification.", "Distinguish it from a pangolin by its sparsely haired skin and absence of overlapping body scales.", "Distinguish it from a giant anteater by its long ears and substantial, relatively sparsely haired tail rather than a conspicuously bushy tail.", "Where an unobstructed view permits, check for four digits on the forefoot and five on the hindfoot; do not infer digit counts from incomplete tracks.", "Treat digging signs or a large burrow as supporting evidence only; neither independently establishes aardvark identity or current occupancy." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Identification confidence", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "confirmed by qualified review | probable | possible | unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Prevents ambiguous sightings and burrows from becoming certain aardvark records." }, { "name": "Observation basis", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "direct sighting | image or video | tracks | feeding excavation | burrow association | other", "why_it_matters": "Determines which conclusions the evidence can support." }, { "name": "Life stage and dependency", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "dependent young | independent immature | adult | unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Changes how separation, solitary occurrence and intervention should be interpreted." }, { "name": "Body mass", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "kg, with date and measured or estimated method", "why_it_matters": "Supports longitudinal condition assessment when collection is justified and safe." }, { "name": "Body condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "observed body contours and change over time; qualified interpretation or unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Flags possible deterioration without inventing a species-specific scoring standard." }, { "name": "Locomotion and digging function", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "no impairment observed | impaired | not observed, with affected limb or claw", "why_it_matters": "Access to food and shelter depends on movement and excavation." }, { "name": "Observed activity", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "resting | travelling | investigating | feeding | digging | other | unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Connects visible behaviour to immediate needs and potential disturbance." }, { "name": "Activity timing", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "local timestamp and minutes relative to sunrise or sunset", "why_it_matters": "Allows activity to be assessed in context rather than treating daylight occurrence alone as illness." }, { "name": "Burrow association", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "individual linked to burrow by observed entry, exit, repeated use or uncertain evidence", "why_it_matters": "Separates demonstrated shelter use from proximity to an unidentified hole." }, { "name": "Immediate hazard exposure", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "individual linked to a road, fence, excavation, trap, dog, machinery or other observed hazard", "why_it_matters": "Supports a specific response based on exposure and urgency." } ], "affordances": [ "Document an identification with visible distinguishing features and confidence.", "Observe feeding, movement and burrow use from a distance without obstructing access.", "Compare repeated observations for changes in condition, activity and digging ability.", "Flag occupied or possibly occupied burrows before nearby excavation or machinery use.", "Recommend reducing an identified disturbance or escalating an injury or entrapment to qualified wildlife responders.", "Record whether handling or relocation has an established justification, responsible specialist and applicable authorization." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "shoshani-1988", "title": "Orycteropus afer", "url": "https://doi.org/10.2307/3504211", "what_it_supports": "Species account: morphology, dentition, measurements, distribution, reproduction, and natural history of the living aardvark.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "iucn-2015", "title": "Orycteropus afer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T41841A21286437", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Range, Least Concern status, threats (hunting, habitat conversion, drought), and treatment as one species without separately assessed subspecies.", "url_status": "dead" }, { "id": "lehmann-2009", "title": "Phylogeny and systematics of the Orycteropodidae (Mammalia, Tubulidentata)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00460.x", "what_it_supports": "Living species versus fossil genera; why most named living subspecies are weakly supported; placement of Tubulidentata among Afrotheria.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "wilson-reeder-2005", "title": "Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd edition (Orycteropus afer)", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Accepted binomial, authorship (Pallas, 1766), order Tubulidentata, family Orycteropodidae, and the long historical subspecies list." } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "aardvark-identification", "name": "Aardvark identification", "description": "Establish whether the evidence concerns an aardvark and whether separate records concern the same individual.", "rationale": "Long-snouted mammals and ambiguous digging signs can otherwise produce incorrect identities and duplicated individuals.", "layers": [ { "id": "visible-anatomy", "name": "Visible anatomy", "description": "Assess the combination of anatomical features available in an observation.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination", "name": "Diagnostic feature combination", "description": "Record visible snout, ears, skin covering, tail and feet, including obscured or contradictory features.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which visible features support identification as Orycteropus afer rather than a pangolin or anteater?", "kind": "definition", "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination-q01" }, { "text": "Which features are obscured, and does the available view justify identification beyond a possible aardvark?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "field-signs-and-continuity", "name": "Field signs and individual continuity", "description": "Connect indirect signs and repeated observations without overstating attribution.", "findings": [ { "id": "attributed-signs-and-sightings", "name": "Attributed signs and sightings", "description": "Retain the evidence linking tracks, feeding excavations, burrows and sightings to an aardvark or a particular individual.", "questions": [ { "text": "Was the aardvark observed producing this sign or entering this burrow, or is attribution inferred?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "attributed-signs-and-sightings-q01" }, { "text": "What markings, observation continuity or other evidence justify treating these sightings as the same individual?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "attributed-signs-and-sightings-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-functional-capacity", "name": "Condition and functional capacity", "description": "Assess whether the individual can move, excavate and sustain itself, with attention to dependent young.", "rationale": "An aardvark's condition must be interpreted through the functions needed to obtain underground food and reach shelter.", "layers": [ { "id": "body-and-excavating-function", "name": "Body and excavating function", "description": "Record body condition and observable limitations affecting movement or digging.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-linked-to-function", "name": "Condition linked to function", "description": "Separate visible injuries and functional difficulty from unverified diagnoses.", "questions": [ { "text": "What changes in body contours, gait, limb use or claw condition are visible compared with earlier observations?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "condition-linked-to-function-q01" }, { "text": "Does observed impairment prevent travel, excavation or burrow access sufficiently to warrant qualified assessment?", "kind": "action", "id": "condition-linked-to-function-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "young-and-dependency", "name": "Young and dependency", "description": "Assess life stage and evidence of dependence without assuming that a solitary young animal is abandoned.", "findings": [ { "id": "dependency-and-separation-evidence", "name": "Dependency and separation evidence", "description": "Record observed adult association, nursing where visible, and the circumstances of apparent separation.", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence supports the life-stage assignment and whether this individual still depends on an adult?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "dependency-and-separation-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What observation history and immediate hazards distinguish possible temporary separation from a situation needing specialist intervention?", "kind": "action", "id": "dependency-and-separation-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "foraging-and-shelter-use", "name": "Foraging and shelter use", "description": "Connect an individual's feeding and burrow use to observed resource access and local conditions.", "rationale": "Ant and termite foraging and access to underground shelter are central to interpreting an aardvark's daily functioning.", "layers": [ { "id": "feeding-and-activity-context", "name": "Feeding and activity context", "description": "Distinguish successful feeding from searching and interpret activity timing using accompanying evidence.", "findings": [ { "id": "observed-foraging-outcome", "name": "Observed foraging outcome", "description": "Record excavation, food access and activity timing without treating every digging event as successful feeding.", "questions": [ { "text": "Was consumption of ants or termites observed, or only searching and excavation?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "observed-foraging-outcome-q01" }, { "text": "How do the timing, local weather and repeated behaviour affect interpretation of this foraging observation?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "observed-foraging-outcome-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "burrow-access-and-occupancy", "name": "Burrow access and occupancy", "description": "Assess demonstrated shelter use and whether entrances remain accessible.", "findings": [ { "id": "usable-shelter-association", "name": "Usable shelter association", "description": "Link the animal to particular burrows while preserving uncertainty about occupancy and underground conditions.", "questions": [ { "text": "What dated entry, exit or monitoring evidence links this aardvark to the burrow?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "usable-shelter-association-q01" }, { "text": "Is access visibly obstructed, flooded or disturbed, and what protective action is justified without probing or entering the burrow?", "kind": "action", "id": "usable-shelter-association-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "disturbance-and-intervention", "name": "Disturbance and intervention", "description": "Translate specific hazards and observed responses into proportionate action.", "rationale": "Burrow dependence and powerful digging anatomy make casual pursuit, entrance obstruction and improvised handling consequential.", "layers": [ { "id": "encounter-and-hazard-context", "name": "Encounter and hazard context", "description": "Record the animal's relationship to people, dogs, roads, fences and ground disturbance.", "findings": [ { "id": "immediate-exposure-and-response", "name": "Immediate exposure and response", "description": "Identify the actual hazard and whether nearby activity is changing movement, feeding or access to shelter.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observed hazard threatens this individual or its route to a used burrow, and how immediate is the exposure?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "immediate-exposure-and-response-q01" }, { "text": "Can the hazard or disturbance be reduced by stopping machinery, controlling dogs or withdrawing observers?", "kind": "action", "id": "immediate-exposure-and-response-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "response-boundaries", "name": "Response boundaries", "description": "Define when observation is sufficient and when assessment or intervention requires specialist responsibility.", "findings": [ { "id": "justified-specialist-escalation", "name": "Justified specialist escalation", "description": "Tie escalation to documented injury, entrapment or other concrete circumstances, with handling decisions assigned to qualified responders.", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence supports urgent escalation rather than continued distant observation?", "kind": "action", "id": "justified-specialist-escalation-q01" }, { "text": "Who is qualified and authorized to decide on capture, treatment or relocation in this location?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "justified-specialist-escalation-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Living aardvark (Orycteropus afer), treated in conservation and field practice as a single species - the only extant tubulidentate", "Southern African / Cape aardvark (nominate O. a. afer), still used on museum labels and in older regional lists", "Northeast African aardvark (O. a. aethiopicus and allied names), a historical subspecies cluster on Ethiopian-Sudanese material", "West African aardvark (O. a. senegalensis group), the name still seen on West African specimens", "Horn of Africa / Somali aardvark (O. a. somalicus), another historical subspecies still cited in some checklists", "Fossil orycteropodids (Amphiorycteropus, Myorycteropus, Leptorycteropus), distinguished by palaeontologists as the rest of family Orycteropodidae" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "ICZN binomial", "value_or_pattern": "Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766)", "note": "Sole extant species of order Tubulidentata, family Orycteropodidae." }, { "scheme": "IUCN Red List species ID", "value_or_pattern": "41841", "note": "Assessed as Least Concern; citation key T41841A21286437 for the 2015 assessment." }, { "scheme": "NCBI Taxonomy", "value_or_pattern": "9819", "note": "Species taxid; genus Orycteropus is 9818, order Tubulidentata is 9817." }, { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q185733", "note": "Item used for the living aardvark / Orycteropus afer." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "IUCN Red List assessment of Orycteropus afer (Least Concern, 2015) - IUCN SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group", "Not listed on CITES Appendices I-III - CITES", "National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 and provincial nature-conservation ordinances (often a protected wild animal) - Republic of South Africa", "IATA Live Animals Regulations (crate, density and handling rules for zoo and research shipments) - International Air Transport Association", "Terrestrial animal health standards for international movement of live wild mammals - World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Encountered as a nocturnal fossorial insectivore across sub-Saharan savanna and open woodland; not domesticated.", "Ecosystem engineer: unused burrows are used as refuge by warthogs, porcupines, pythons, African wild dogs and many smaller vertebrates.", "Hunted locally for bushmeat and for hide, claws and teeth used in some traditional-medicine and curio trades.", "Held in zoos, almost always in nocturnal houses, on manufactured insect or chitin-rich diets.", "Farm and infrastructure conflict: burrows undermine fences, tracks and livestock footing; conversely the animal is sometimes tolerated as a termite predator.", "Research model for tubulidentate teeth, afrotherian phylogeny, and myrmecophagous convergence with pangolins and anteaters." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "adult body mass", "typical_range": "40-65 (occasionally to ~80)", "unit": "kg" }, { "quantity": "head-body length", "typical_range": "100-130", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "tail length", "typical_range": "44-70", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "shoulder height", "typical_range": "55-65", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "gestation", "typical_range": "210-240", "unit": "days" }, { "quantity": "litter size", "typical_range": "1 (rarely 2)", "unit": "young" }, { "quantity": "captive lifespan", "typical_range": "18-29", "unit": "years" }, { "quantity": "burrow length", "typical_range": "2-13", "unit": "m" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Roadkill: nocturnal, low visual acuity, frequent crossing of roads between feeding grounds and burrows.", "Snaring and hunting for meat and body parts; local depletion where demand is high.", "Drought and large-scale termite-control or habitat conversion collapsing the ant/termite prey base.", "Human-wildlife conflict: collapsed vehicle tracks, damaged fences, livestock breaking legs in burrows.", "Predation of juveniles at the burrow (lion, leopard, hyena, python).", "In captivity, obesity, dental wear problems, and metabolic disease on diets that under-supply insects/chitin.", "Burrow flooding or collapse during heavy rain, especially in clay soils." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "English took the Afrikaans name aardvark (\"earth pig\"); southern African English also uses antbear / ant-bear for the same animal.", "French oryctérope or cochon de terre; German Erdferkel; Portuguese porco-formigueiro - all the same species, not regional taxa.", "Present through much of sub-Saharan Africa but generally absent from closed rainforest (Congo Basin core) and from hyper-arid Namib and Sahara.", "Legal status varies: protected under national or provincial law in parts of southern Africa; hunted with little restriction in parts of Central and West Africa.", "Named subspecies are a European museum tradition (especially early 20th-century German mammalogy); field workers and IUCN treat one species." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "aardwolf (Proteles cristata)", "difference": "Also an African termite-eater with a similar English name, but a small striped hyaenid (~8-14 kg) with a mane and carnivore cheek teeth; aardvark is much larger, unstriped, pig-bodied, with a tubular snout and tubulidentate teeth." }, { "name": "ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) and other African pangolins", "difference": "Overlapping range and myrmecophagous diet; pangolins are covered in keratin scales and are toothless, whereas the aardvark has bristly hide and ever-growing cheek teeth." }, { "name": "warthog and bushpig", "difference": "Night-time silhouette can look pig-like; suids have a terminal snout disc and tusks and are not ant/termite specialists, while the aardvark has long rabbit-like ears, a tubular snout, and massive digging claws." }, { "name": "giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)", "difference": "Classic ecological analogue but Neotropical (Pilosa), with a plume tail and no Afrotherian/tubulidentate dentition; geography alone separates them." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of aardvark this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Which field-identification criteria reliably separate aardvark tracks, feeding excavations and burrows from locally similar signs?", "Which body-condition and life-stage assessment methods are validated for wild aardvarks across regions?", "How should season, temperature and food availability affect interpretation of unusual activity timing or prolonged foraging?", "What observation methods and durations can establish burrow occupancy or dependency of young with minimal disturbance?", "Which evidence-based thresholds and local response requirements govern intervention for injured, entrapped or apparently separated aardvarks?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 9, "findings": 16, "questions": 24 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "organism", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a aardvark, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise an aardvark, assess its condition and circumstances, and decide whether observation, habitat protection or qualified intervention is appropriate.", "characteristics": { "substance": "living", "origin": "natural", "agency": "autonomous", "mobility": "self-moving" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Described in 106 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a aardvark, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "a living thing", "physicalCharacter": [ "Moves under its own power or of its own accord.", "Acts on its own behalf.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by diagnostic characters, and those differ by life stage - the young of many kinds are mistaken for other kinds entirely. A sighting is settled by characters, a photograph and a place, not by a name alone." ], "relatedModels": [], "standing": "Described in 106 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one aardvark from another, and a aardvark from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a aardvark sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a aardvark from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a aardvark is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Anatomy, parts and life stage.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and life stages", "description": "The parts of a aardvark and the stages it passes through.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a aardvark is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a aardvark is, how it got there and where it may go (self-moving).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a aardvark is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a aardvark moves on its own.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a aardvark passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a aardvark between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a aardvark, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a aardvark is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "taxonomic-placement", "name": "Taxonomic placement and identification", "description": "What aardvark is called scientifically, by whose authority, and how a specimen is recognised.", "rationale": "Names change with revisions while the organism does not, so a name without its authority and date cannot be reconciled later.", "layers": [ { "id": "accepted-name", "name": "Accepted name and synonymy", "description": "The current binomial, its author and date, and the names it replaced.", "findings": [ { "id": "name-and-authority", "name": "Accepted name, authority and synonyms", "description": "What to record so a later revision can be applied without losing the old data.", "questions": [ { "id": "name-and-authority-q01", "text": "What is the accepted scientific name of aardvark, with its author and year, and which synonyms does it absorb?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "name-and-authority-q02", "text": "Which taxonomic authority is being followed, and what would a competing authority say?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "field-identification", "name": "Field identification", "description": "The characters that separate aardvark from what it is confused with.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters", "name": "Diagnostic characters and confusable kinds", "description": "Features that settle an identification, and those that only suggest it.", "questions": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q01", "text": "Which observable characters distinguish aardvark from its closest look-alikes, and at which life stage are they visible?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q02", "text": "What evidence is enough to record an identification as confirmed rather than provisional?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "life-cycle-and-condition", "name": "Life stages, condition and behaviour", "description": "What aardvark does over its life and how its state is judged.", "rationale": "Stage and condition change what may be done - handled, treated, harvested, left alone - and both are observations with a time.", "layers": [ { "id": "stages-and-reproduction", "name": "Stages and reproduction", "description": "Development from origin to death, including forms that look like different animals.", "findings": [ { "id": "life-stages", "name": "Life stages and their marks", "description": "The stages worth recording and what tells them apart.", "questions": [ { "id": "life-stages-q01", "text": "What stages does aardvark pass through, and what observable change marks each transition?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "life-stages-q02", "text": "Which stages are so unlike the adult that they are mistaken for another kind?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "health-and-condition", "name": "Health and condition", "description": "How condition is assessed and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition assessment", "description": "Signs of health, injury and stress, and who is competent to judge them.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "How is the condition of aardvark judged, on what scale, and by whom?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "What condition obliges an agent to act, and what act is permitted to whom?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "range-and-status", "name": "Habitat, range and conservation status", "description": "Where aardvark lives and how threatened it is.", "rationale": "Range and status govern what is lawful, and both are assessments with an assessor and a year rather than facts of nature.", "layers": [ { "id": "habitat-and-range", "name": "Habitat and range", "description": "Native range, introductions and the habitat it needs.", "findings": [ { "id": "range-record", "name": "Range, introductions and habitat", "description": "What to record about where it is found and how it got there.", "questions": [ { "id": "range-record-q01", "text": "What is the native range of aardvark, where has it been introduced, and what habitat does it require?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "range-record-q02", "text": "What distinguishes a native record from an introduced or vagrant one?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "protection-status", "name": "Protection and legal status", "description": "Conservation assessments and the rules that follow from them.", "findings": [ { "id": "status-and-rules", "name": "Conservation status and legal consequence", "description": "The assessment, its date, and what it forbids or requires where.", "questions": [ { "id": "status-and-rules-q01", "text": "What conservation status does aardvark hold, under which assessment and year?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "status-and-rules-q02", "text": "What does that status forbid or require of an agent, and in which jurisdiction?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a aardvark came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a aardvark and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a aardvark is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a aardvark, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a aardvark, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a aardvark is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }