DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) is a data format used in
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
for recording descriptions of living things. It is designed for computer processing, allowing the generation of identification keys,
diagnosis
Diagnosis (: diagnoses) is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in a lot of different academic discipline, disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " ...
, etc.
It is widely accepted as a standard and many programs using this format are available for various taxonomic tasks.
It was devised by the
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications.
CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
Australian Division of Entomology in 1971 to 2000, with a notable part taken by Dr. Michael J. Dallwitz. More recently, the
Atlas of Living Australia
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is an online repository of information about Australian plants, animals, and fungi. Development started in 2006. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an organisation sign ...
(ALA) rewrote the DELTA software in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
so it can run in a Java environment and across multiple operating systems. The software package can now be found at and downloaded from the ALA site.
DELTA System
The DELTA System is a group of integrated programs that are built on the DELTA format. The main program is the DELTA Editor, which provides an interface for creating a matrix of characters for any number taxa. A whole suite of programs can be found and run from within the DELTA editor which allow for the output of an interactive identification key, called Intkey.
Other powerful features include the output of natural language descriptions, full diagnoses, and differences among taxa.
References
External links
DELTA for beginners. An introduction into the taxonomy software package DELTA* {{Official website, http://delta-intkey.com
Taxonomy (biology)