The property rdfs:subClassOf is an instance of rdf:Property that is used to state that all the
instances of one class are instances of another.
The rdfs:domain and rdfs:range of
rdfs:subClassOf are rdfs:Class.
EXAMPLE: The class Person could be stated to be a subclass of the class Mammal. From this a reasoner can deduce that if an individual is a Person, then it is also a Mammal.
<rdf:Property rdf:about="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf">
<rdfs:isDefinedBy rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"/>
<rdfs:label>subClassOf</rdfs:label>
<rdfs:comment>The subject is a subclass of a class.</rdfs:comment>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class"/>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class"/>
</rdf:Property>
C1 rdfs:subClassOf C2 states that C1 is an instance of rdfs:Class*, C2 is an instance of rdfs:Class* and C1 is a subclass of C2.
* this must be so because both the rdfs:domain and the rdfs:range of rdfs:subClassOf are rdfs:Class
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="PassengerVehicle">
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class"/>
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#MotorVehicle"/>
</rdf:Description>
The rdfs:subClassOf property is transitive.
Class hierarchies may be created by making one or more statements that a class is a subclass of another class.