Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The single specimen or other element used or designated as the type specimen of a species or subspecies in the original published description of the taxon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A particular individual selected as the type of a species, or the only specimen known at the time of publication of the species.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to be used when the taxon was formally described.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the original specimen from which the description of a new species is made

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

holo- + -type

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Examples

  • A holotype is single specimen or "illustration" designated as the type for naming a species or subspecies.

    Archive 2007-02-01 2007

  • Theretairus (Simpson 1926) is known from two specimens (the holotype is a single dentary from Como Bluff), although some consider it to be a juvenile form of Opisthias.

    The Tuatara -- The Fastest Evolving Animal ReBecca Foster 2008

  • Theretairus (Simpson 1926) is known from two specimens (the holotype is a single dentary from Como Bluff), although some consider it to be a juvenile form of Opisthias.

    Archive 2008-03-01 ReBecca Foster 2008

  • MCZ 1102, the holotype skull of Triceratops "eurycepahlus" Shlaikjer 1935 (now considered conspecific with T. horridus).

    Howard Hughes Wanders Out Among the Artifacts nineweaving 2010

  • Photograph and line drawing of holotype specimen of Limusaurus inextricabilis (scale bar = 5 cm).

    "This flood will swallow all you've left behind." greygirlbeast 2009

  • Originally described as Megalosaurus parkeri in 1923, the holotype was referred to a new genus in 1964.

    My Birth Dinosaur! greygirlbeast 2009

  • They depicted the holotype and paratypes of the species in photographs, and a specimen of the species had been unavailable for preservation and examination.

    Archive 2008-12-01 2008

  • The holotype of M. acetabulosus is from Mauritius and the new taxon described herein is from La Réunion.

    Archive 2008-11-01 2008

  • Several holotype specimens are on display and have been available for research.

    Archive 2009-06-01 ReBecca Foster 2009

  • Several holotype specimens are on display and have been available for research.

    University of Wyoming Geological Museum cuts ReBecca Foster 2009

  • Lorraine Daston (2004) shows in her history of botany that taxonomies often use holotypes, which combine the range of peculiarities a species might exhibit into an ideal specimen that has never existed.

    A Claxonomy of Mexico City’s Traffic Lachlan Summers 2023

  • The small dinosaur is a holotype, a specimen that scientists use to describe a new species.

    Most powerful cosmic event ever observed 2023

Comments

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  • I must have first read this in Darwin, J. Browne's biography.

    July 31, 2009

  • You should have dropped in to say hello!

    July 31, 2009