Résumé
Recent technological advances in biology allow the collection of large sets of data which permit a precise description of the phenotypes. To process those data, computers require a standardized language to which the users (zootechnician, geneticists, physiologists, biochemists, ethologists, producers...) will be able to refer. The construction of this language is based on ontologies. INRA in collaboration with USDA in the USA have set up a program called ATOL (for "Animal Trait Ontology for Livestock") aiming to define and organize the phenotypical characters of livestock species. Integrating societal concerns, the objective is to describe the traits underlying livestock production efficiency: welfare and adaptation, nutrition and feed efficiency, fertility and reproductive efficiency, mammary gland and milk production, growth and meat production. At present, 229 traits concern growth and meat production, of 6 major species (cattle, pig, chicken, trout, rabbit, sheep) with a good genericity.