Ontologies are classification systems that define objects, or terms, and the relationships between those objects. For instance, we use the Uberon ontology to compare data containing anatomical terms across species since similar data can be described very differently within different communities. The necessity of using Uberon is exemplified in the earlier example case of Fanconi Anemia data where the same feature of FA is described in different anatomical terms in different species. Using ontologies allows a computer to “know” that these different terms are describing comparable phenotypes across multiple species. If you were looking to find all genes associated with abnormalities in limbs or fins (across species), we have a page for that here (pictured below); there are over 3,000 such genes and collectively, the associations were observed in nine different species, including goat! This limb/fin data was also sourced from numerous databases including: