Definition

Noun: 1. The original individual organism (or a single part of one, such as a fossil) that is used as the reference example when a new species or subspecies is formally named and described. This specimen serves as the permanent, objective standard against which other individuals can be compared to determine if they belong to the same species.

Usage

The term is used almost exclusively in the formal, academic contexts of taxonomy, systematics, biology, and paleontology. It refers to a specific, physical object stored in a museum or herbarium collection.

Examples

• The botanist carefully compared the new plant to the type specimen stored at the Royal Botanic Gardens.
• When describing the extinct dinosaur, the paleontologist designated the most complete skeleton as the type specimen.
• Disagreements about the identification of a species can often be resolved by examining the type specimen.

Advanced Usage

• Holotype: This is the most precise and commonly used synonym for "type specimen." It refers to the single specimen explicitly designated by the original author as the name-bearing type.
• The concept of a type specimen is fundamental to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which provide the rules for scientific naming.

Variants and Related Words

• Holotype (n): The single specimen designated as the name-bearing type. (e.g., )
• Syntype (n): One of several specimens cited by the original author when no single holotype was designated.
• Lectotype (n): A specimen chosen from among the syntypes to serve as the single name-bearing type after the original publication.
• Paratype (n): A specimen cited in the original description that is not the holotype.
• Type series: The set of all specimens (including the holotype and paratypes) upon which the original description is based.

Synonyms

• Holotype
• Name-bearing type
• Standard specimen (less formal)

Related Phrases / Idioms

No common idioms or phrasal verbs exist for this highly technical term.

Noun

1. the original specimen from which the description of a new species is made