{ "model": { "rank": 2624, "code": "thing-snake", "model_id": "vr.tr.snake", "name": "snake", "purpose": "limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.LIV", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/snake/", "tier": 2, "score": 101, "payload": { "layer": "wordnet", "aliases": [ "serpent", "ophidian", "colubrid snake", "colubrid", "hoop snake", "thunder snake", "worm snake", "Carphophis amoenus", "ringneck snake", "ring-necked snake", "ring snake", "hognose snake", "puff adder", "sand viper", "leaf-nosed snake", "green snake", "grass snake", "smooth green snake", "Opheodrys vernalis", "rough green snake", "Opheodrys aestivus", "racer", "blacksnake", "black racer", "Coluber constrictor", "blue racer", "Coluber constrictor flaviventris", "horseshoe whipsnake", "Coluber hippocrepis", "whip-snake", "whip snake", "whipsnake", "coachwhip", "coachwhip snake", "Masticophis flagellum", "rat snake", "corn snake", "red rat snake", "Elaphe guttata", "black rat snake" ], "aliasCount": 211, "merged": 101, "knownIn": 0, "facets": { "substance": "living", "origin": "natural", "agency": "autonomous", "mobility": "self-moving", "scale": "not-applicable", "affordances": [ "observable" ] }, "markers": [ "animal" ], "lexicalClass": "noun.animal", "senseRank": 0, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "oewn:2024", "synset": "oewn-01729333-n", "ili": "i44390", "license": "CC BY 4.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T10:26:34Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.0085935, "turns": 1, "seconds": 141.3, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 74, "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: 01a07b65-30a5-7af0-9f16-2aac64e4852a\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: snake\nRegistry id: vr.tr.snake\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.LIV\nRegistry definition: limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous\nNames folded int" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-SNAKE", "registryId": "vr.tr.snake", "name": "snake", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.LIV" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/snake/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.snake", "name": "snake", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a snake, assess its condition and encounter context, and choose justified observation, care or specialist intervention.", "definition": "A snake is a member of the squamate clade Serpentes (Ophidia): an elongate, scaly, limbless reptile with a long series of precloacal vertebrae, a highly kinetic skull whose mandibular rami act independently, a deeply forked tongue serving the vomeronasal organ, a transparent spectacle in place of a movable eyelid, and no external ear opening; some lineages deliver venom through specialized fangs.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the identity, physical condition, life stage, behaviour, environmental dependencies and action constraints of an individual snake, including uncertainty in identification and venom status.", "in_scope": [ "Recognition as a snake and evidence supporting more specific identification", "Body dimensions, integument, injuries and shedding condition", "Life stage, reproductive indicators and feeding history", "Behaviour, movement and immediate thermal and shelter conditions", "Venom uncertainty, exposure opportunities and handling constraints", "Wild, captive or escaped status and responsibility for care" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Snake population dynamics and conservation programmes", "Complete reptile taxonomy and species descriptions", "Habitat ecosystems and their wider food webs", "Design and operation of enclosures or wildlife facilities", "Human or animal bite diagnosis and medical treatment", "Venom chemistry and antivenom manufacture" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Check whether the elongated, apparently limbless body bears reptilian scales; body outline alone cannot distinguish a snake from a worm or caecilian.", "For confusion with a legless lizard, record visible eyelid and external ear-opening evidence, including whether either feature could actually be resolved; apparent absence in a poor image is inconclusive.", "Record the head, underside and tail configuration against a geographically relevant identification reference; do not assume that every snake has conspicuously broad belly scales.", "Distinguish a whole animal from a shed skin, detached body part or replica using continuity of anatomy and direct evidence of tissue or spontaneous movement; immobility alone does not establish death." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Identification and confidence", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "snake uncertain | snake confirmed, taxon if supported, confidence and unresolved alternatives", "why_it_matters": "Species-dependent conclusions require stronger evidence than recognition of the general body form." }, { "name": "Body length", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "cm; distinguish total length from snout-to-vent length and record estimation method", "why_it_matters": "Supports recognition, growth assessment and accommodation without treating length alone as an age estimate." }, { "name": "Body mass", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "g, dated and linked to measurement method", "why_it_matters": "A trend can inform condition assessment when interpreted alongside feeding, shedding and reproductive context." }, { "name": "Skin and shed condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "observed shedding stage, retained skin location, visible lesions, or not assessed", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes a recorded shedding process from unresolved integument concerns." }, { "name": "Locomotion and posture", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "resting | moving | concealed | defensive display | apparently impaired | unknown, with observed details", "why_it_matters": "Supports condition and encounter assessment without equating stillness with illness or approach with aggression." }, { "name": "Thermal context", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "°C for air, substrate or body surface, with location, time and method", "why_it_matters": "Temperature observations help interpret activity and captive conditions, but require taxon-specific interpretation." }, { "name": "Feeding record", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "last observed or reported feeding date, prey identity and size, acceptance, refusal or regurgitation", "why_it_matters": "Separates documented intake from assumptions based on appearance or an unverified report." }, { "name": "Life stage and reproductive evidence", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "stage and sex if supported; reproductive indicators; unknown permitted", "why_it_matters": "Care and interpretation may differ with development or reproduction, while appearance alone may not resolve either." }, { "name": "Venom hazard assessment", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "unresolved | supported taxon-specific assessment, with source and confidence", "why_it_matters": "Prevents an uncertain identification from becoming an unsupported declaration that contact is safe." }, { "name": "Human custody and encounter setting", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "wild | captive | suspected escape | unknown; location, responsible keeper or responder if known", "why_it_matters": "Determines who can authorise care or intervention and what encounter-specific constraints apply." } ], "affordances": [ "Document appearance, movement and location from a distance without provoking or repositioning the snake.", "Compare observed features with relevant identification references and request expert review where uncertainty affects action.", "Track condition, shedding and feeding observations across time for a recognised individual.", "Assess an existing captive environment against verified requirements for the identified taxon.", "Recommend limiting access to the encounter area and contacting a qualified responder when exposure is plausible.", "Refer suspected injury or abnormal condition to an appropriately qualified wildlife or veterinary professional." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "greene-1997", "title": "Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Morphology of the kinetic skull, spectacle and tongue-vomeronasal system; natural history of constriction, venom and major lineages." }, { "id": "who-snakebite", "title": "Snakebite envenoming (fact sheet)", "url": "https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/snakebite-envenoming", "what_it_supports": "Public-health burden of envenoming, medically important groups, and WHO's neglected-tropical-disease framing of snakebite.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "who-antivenom", "title": "WHO Guidelines for the Production, Control and Regulation of Snake Antivenom Immunoglobulins", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Regulatory expectations for antivenom manufacture and the classification of medically important venomous snakes." }, { "id": "reptile-database", "title": "The Reptile Database", "url": "http://www.reptile-database.org/", "what_it_supports": "Extant species richness of Serpentes and current family-level names used by herpetologists.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "cites-app", "title": "CITES Appendices I, II and III", "url": "https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php", "what_it_supports": "International trade controls on pythons, boas and listed venomous and look-alike species.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "ncbi-serpentes", "title": "NCBI Taxonomy Browser: Serpentes", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=8570", "what_it_supports": "NCBI taxonomic identifier 8570 for the clade Serpentes.", "url_status": "live" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "recognition-and-identity", "name": "Recognition and identity", "description": "Evidence that the subject is a snake and that any narrower identification is justified.", "rationale": "Mistaking another elongate animal for a snake, or assigning the wrong snake identity, changes both interpretation and permissible action.", "layers": [ { "id": "snake-recognition", "name": "Snake recognition", "description": "Observable anatomy and alternatives to the snake classification.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-anatomy", "name": "Diagnostic anatomy", "description": "Record visible scales, body form, head features and tail configuration, distinguishing absent features from features that could not be seen.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observed anatomical features support recognising this subject as a snake?", "kind": "definition", "id": "diagnostic-anatomy-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence distinguishes it from a legless lizard, caecilian, worm or shed skin?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "diagnostic-anatomy-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "taxon-and-individual", "name": "Taxon and individual", "description": "Confidence in taxonomic identification and continuity between encounters.", "findings": [ { "id": "identity-evidence", "name": "Identity evidence", "description": "Associate identification with locality, diagnostic observations and a traceable reference or expert assessment; keep individual matching separate.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which reference or expert assessment supports the proposed taxon, and which alternatives remain?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "identity-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What markings, custody records or other evidence justify treating successive observations as the same individual?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "identity-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "body-condition-and-life-stage", "name": "Body condition and life stage", "description": "The snake's physical condition, shedding observations and developmental or reproductive context.", "rationale": "Elongated anatomy and shedding require observations that a generic intact-or-damaged assessment would miss.", "layers": [ { "id": "body-and-integument", "name": "Body and integument", "description": "Dimensions, visible injuries and the location and progression of shedding concerns.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-and-shed-record", "name": "Condition and shed record", "description": "Record comparable size observations and visible skin condition, including suspected retained shed near the eyes or tail tip without attempting removal.", "questions": [ { "text": "What length, mass or body-profile observations are available, and how were they obtained?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "condition-and-shed-record-q01" }, { "text": "Where are visible lesions or suspected retained shed, and how have they changed between dated observations?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "condition-and-shed-record-q02" }, { "text": "Which observed changes warrant professional assessment before further manipulation?", "kind": "action", "id": "condition-and-shed-record-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "development-and-reproduction", "name": "Development and reproduction", "description": "Supported life-stage and reproductive information without extrapolating from size alone.", "findings": [ { "id": "life-stage-evidence", "name": "Life-stage evidence", "description": "Separate known history from inferred maturity, sex or reproductive condition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What dated history or qualified assessment supports the recorded life stage, sex or reproductive condition?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "life-stage-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Which apparent changes could reflect feeding or body condition rather than reproduction?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "life-stage-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "behaviour-and-environmental-needs", "name": "Behaviour and environmental needs", "description": "Movement, refuge use, thermal context and feeding observations needed to interpret the snake's state.", "rationale": "Activity and feeding cannot be assessed meaningfully without the snake's environmental and recent biological context.", "layers": [ { "id": "activity-and-microhabitat", "name": "Activity and microhabitat", "description": "Observed behaviour in relation to temperature, cover and opportunities to move away.", "findings": [ { "id": "activity-in-context", "name": "Activity in context", "description": "Record posture and locomotion alongside immediate conditions without assigning a cause from one observation.", "questions": [ { "text": "What movement, posture or refuge use was observed, for how long and under what disturbance?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "activity-in-context-q01" }, { "text": "What temperatures and access to cover were recorded at the snake's location, and by what method?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "activity-in-context-q02" }, { "text": "What additional evidence is needed before interpreting low activity as a condition requiring intervention?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "activity-in-context-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "feeding-and-water-access", "name": "Feeding and water access", "description": "Documented intake and access conditions interpreted against verified taxon requirements.", "findings": [ { "id": "intake-history", "name": "Intake history", "description": "Track feeding events, refusals, regurgitation and water availability while separating observed facts from keeper reports.", "questions": [ { "text": "What feeding, drinking or regurgitation events were observed or reported, and when?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "intake-history-q01" }, { "text": "For a captive snake, what verified taxon-specific guidance supports changing prey provision or water access?", "kind": "action", "id": "intake-history-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "encounter-risk-and-intervention", "name": "Encounter risk and intervention", "description": "Evidence and authority governing proximity, custody, handling and referral.", "rationale": "Venom uncertainty, contact opportunities and wild-versus-captive context determine what an agent may responsibly recommend.", "layers": [ { "id": "venom-and-exposure", "name": "Venom and exposure", "description": "Separate taxon-linked venom information from the immediate possibility of contact.", "findings": [ { "id": "hazard-with-uncertainty", "name": "Hazard with uncertainty", "description": "Retain unresolved venom status and record barriers, proximity and reported contact without relying on head shape or colour alone.", "questions": [ { "text": "What reliable taxon identification and source support the venom hazard assessment, or does it remain unresolved?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "hazard-with-uncertainty-q01" }, { "text": "Can people or domestic animals reach the snake, and what barriers or escape routes are present?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "hazard-with-uncertainty-q02" }, { "text": "What immediate access restriction or qualified-response referral is justified by the observed encounter?", "kind": "action", "id": "hazard-with-uncertainty-q03" } ] } ] }, { "id": "custody-and-qualified-action", "name": "Custody and qualified action", "description": "Responsibility, competence and applicable constraints on intervention.", "findings": [ { "id": "intervention-basis", "name": "Intervention basis", "description": "Record whether the snake is wild, captive or a suspected escape, who is responsible, and what evidence supports any proposed intervention.", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence establishes custody or escape status, and who is responsible for the next decision?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "intervention-basis-q01" }, { "text": "Before capture, transport or release, which local requirements and responder qualifications must be verified?", "kind": "action", "id": "intervention-basis-q02" }, { "text": "Does the observed situation justify intervention, continued distant observation or specialist assessment?", "kind": "action", "id": "intervention-basis-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "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": [ "Vipers (Viperidae), including true vipers and pit vipers, with folding front fangs", "Elapids (Elapidae), including cobras, kraits, mambas and coral snakes, with fixed front fangs", "Sea snakes and sea kraits (Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae, nested in Elapidae in current taxonomy but treated separately in practice)", "Pythons (Pythonidae), Old-World constrictors", "Boas (Boidae), New-World and Madagascan constrictors and relatives", "Typical colubrid snakes (Colubridae), the majority of species, mostly non-front-fanged", "Blind snakes and thread snakes (Scolecophidia: Typhlopidae, Leptotyphlopidae and allies)", "Rear-fanged colubroids of medical interest (selected Atractaspididae, Lamprophiidae and opisthoglyphous colubrids)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of snake 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": "NCBI Taxonomy", "value_or_pattern": "8570", "note": "Taxon Serpentes (snakes)." }, { "scheme": "ITIS TSN", "value_or_pattern": "174118", "note": "Suborder Serpentes in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System." }, { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q2102", "note": "Item for snake / Serpentes; species and families have their own Q-ids." }, { "scheme": "CITES listing", "value_or_pattern": "family- or species-level listings (e.g. Pythonidae spp. App. II; selected App. I taxa)", "note": "No single code for all snakes; higher-taxon listings cover many constrictors." }, { "scheme": "IUCN Red List", "value_or_pattern": "species-level assessments under Serpentes", "note": "Conservation status is assigned per species, not to snakes as a whole." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of snake 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": [ "CITES Appendices I-III (CITES Secretariat / UNEP) control international trade in many pythons, boas and listed venomous or look-alike species.", "EU Wildlife Trade Regulations implement CITES for import, export and commercial use in the European Union.", "U.S. Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) restrict take and trade of listed snake species and of wildlife taken in violation of other laws.", "WHO Guidelines for the Production, Control and Regulation of Snake Antivenom Immunoglobulins (World Health Organization) govern antivenom quality and the list of medically important species.", "National and subnational wildlife and dangerous-animal laws (various ministries and states) license or ban keeping of venomous snakes and large constrictors.", "Invasive-species rules, e.g. U.S. injurious-wildlife listings and Florida python control (USFWS / state agencies), restrict possession and transport of some non-native constrictors." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of snake 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": [ "Wild predators of rodents, amphibians, birds, other reptiles and (in large species) mammals, encountered in agriculture, forests, wetlands and human settlements.", "Cause of snakebite envenoming in rural tropical work, especially farming and walking at night without protective footwear.", "Captive animals in zoos, laboratories and the pet trade (corn snakes, ball pythons, kingsnakes and others).", "Skins of pythons and boas used in the luxury leather trade under CITES permits.", "Venom extracted for antivenom production and for toxin and drug research.", "Food and traditional medicine in parts of East and Southeast Asia and West Africa.", "Invasive predators, notably Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades, collapsing native mammal populations.", "Cultural and religious symbols (e.g. Nagas, Asclepius staff, indigenous Australian and Mesoamerican iconography)." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of snake 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": "Total body length (tiny scolecophidians to giant constrictors)", "typical_range": "0.10-7", "unit": "m" }, { "quantity": "Body mass", "typical_range": "0.001-200", "unit": "kg" }, { "quantity": "Extant species richness of Serpentes", "typical_range": "3900-4100", "unit": "species" }, { "quantity": "Precloacal (body) vertebrae", "typical_range": "120-400", "unit": "count" }, { "quantity": "Preferred body temperature in active terrestrial species", "typical_range": "25-32", "unit": "°C" }, { "quantity": "Global snakebite deaths per year (WHO estimates)", "typical_range": "81000-138000", "unit": "deaths/year" }, { "quantity": "Clutch or litter size", "typical_range": "1-100", "unit": "offspring" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of snake 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": [ "Envenoming after a bite: neurotoxic, hemotoxic, cytotoxic or mixed syndromes, with local necrosis, coagulopathy, paralysis, shock or death.", "Wrong or delayed antivenom, or no antivenom available, worsening outcome after a medically important bite.", "Misidentification of a venomous species as harmless (or the reverse), leading to delayed care or unnecessary killing.", "Constriction and asphyxia by large pythons or boas, rare in humans but documented in keepers and, exceptionally, in the wild.", "Salmonella and other zoonotic infections from handling captive snakes or cleaning enclosures.", "Invasive predation and ecological collapse where non-native constrictors establish.", "Overharvest for skins, meat, medicine or the pet trade, depleting wild populations.", "Persecution of non-venomous snakes driven by fear, removing rodent predators from farmland.", "Secondary bacterial infection of bite wounds and traditional first-aid harms (tourniquets, cutting, sucking)." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of snake 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": [ "Medically important genera differ by region: Bothrops in Latin America, Crotalus in the Americas, Echis and Naja in Africa and the Middle East, Naja and Bungarus in South Asia, Notechis and other elapids in Australia (no viperids on the Australian mainland).", "Sea snakes are Indo-Pacific; they are effectively absent from the Atlantic.", "British 'adder' is Vipera berus; in North America 'adder' is used loosely and is not a reliable name.", "Coral-snake mimicry rhymes (red on yellow, etc.) are valid only for some New World coral snakes and fail elsewhere.", "Australia's serious land snakes are elapids; Madagascar has boas and none of the typical African vipers or cobras.", "Python vs boa is a biogeographic and taxonomic split (Old World pythons vs New World/Madagascan boas) that the pet trade still uses as everyday kinds.", "Legal keeping of venomous snakes and giant constrictors ranges from licensed husbandry to outright bans, varying by country and U.S. state.", "Use as food or medicine is concentrated in parts of East and Southeast Asia and West Africa, unlike the Western pet-and-zoo pattern." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of snake 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": "Legless lizards (glass lizards, slow worms, pygopodids)", "difference": "Most retain movable eyelids and an external ear opening, a less deeply forked tongue, and often a lateral body groove; many autotomize the tail. Snakes have a spectacle, no external ear opening, a deeply forked tongue, and do not shed the tail as a regular escape." }, { "name": "Amphisbaenians (worm lizards)", "difference": "Short, often annulated bodies with a reinforced snout for burrowing and reduced eyes under skin; not the elongate, kinetic-skulled form of Serpentes." }, { "name": "Caecilians", "difference": "Lissamphibians with moist, glandular skin, no epidermal scales on the surface, and an amphibian skull; snakes are dry-scaled reptiles." }, { "name": "Eels and eel-like fishes", "difference": "Aquatic vertebrates with gills and fins (or fin folds) and no keratinous scales of the squamate type; snakes breathe air with lungs and have a forked tongue." }, { "name": "Earthworms and other annelids", "difference": "No vertebrae, no scales, no skull; segmentation is soft-bodied. Even tiny blind snakes have a skull, scales and a vertebral column." }, { "name": "Harmless mimics of venomous snakes (e.g. kingsnakes vs New World coral snakes)", "difference": "Head shape, pupil, loreal pit, scale characters and (only in limited regions) colour-ring sequence; field identification should not rely on a single mnemonic." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of snake this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Which existing Vercy world model, if any, already owns the snake concept and should supply the authoritative model?", "Which geographically relevant identification references cover difficult cases such as small burrowing snakes and superficially similar legless reptiles?", "Which validated taxon-specific criteria distinguish expected shedding, inactivity and feeding pauses from conditions needing professional assessment?", "What minimum evidence and expert review are required before assigning a venom hazard assessment that can influence action?", "Which jurisdiction-specific custody, capture, transport and release requirements must be attached to an actual encounter?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 9, "findings": 16, "questions": 28 } }, "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.", "facetsInferred": false, "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 snake, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous", "characteristics": { "substance": "living", "origin": "natural", "agency": "autonomous", "mobility": "self-moving" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: serpent, ophidian, colubrid snake, colubrid, hoop snake, thunder snake, worm snake, Carphophis amoenus, ringneck snake, ring-necked snake, ring snake, hognose snake.", "101 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it." ], "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 snake, 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." ], "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": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "serpent", "ophidian", "colubrid snake", "colubrid", "hoop snake", "thunder snake", "worm snake", "Carphophis amoenus", "ringneck snake", "ring-necked snake", "ring snake", "hognose snake" ] } ], "standing": "101 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one snake from another, and a snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake and the stages it passes through.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a snake 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 snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake 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 snake and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 snake is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a snake, 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 snake, 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 snake 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 } } } }