OArCS is a structural model for the description of anatomical features (morphemes) using ontologies. Its domain is the Arthropod ciruclatory system.

OArCS contains a comprehensive collection of over 370 terms tied to over 290 concepts which are used for the description of various phenotypic aspects of circulatory organ features in arthropods. Each concept contains a genus-differentia definition which is taxon-independent and is based exclusively on structural attributes in strict avoidance of any reference to function or homology. Besides the obligatory relationships “is_a” and “part_of”, it also provides relationships specific for the circulatory system, for example “gives_rise_to/emanates from”.

You can browse OArCS in various places, incuding here.

OArCS uses CARO as its upper level ontology. Ultimately it will serve as a domain component of a broader Pan Arthropod Anatomy Ontology (a proposal at present, "PAAO"). This integration will occur through either through UBERON or a similar pattern derived specifically for the PAAO.

OArCS was built by Christian Wirkner, his lab and collaborators including Torben Göpel, Jens Runge, Jonas Keiler, Bastian-Jesper Klußmann-Fricke, Katarina Huckstorf, Stephan Scholz, and Stefan Richter.

István Mikó formalized taxon specific exemplars. Matt Yoder provided technical support and helped describe the initial effort.

Christian Wirkner is the project lead. [email protected]

The ontology is provided under a CC-BY license.