type specimen

American  

noun

Biology.

1. an individual organism from which the description of a species has been prepared.

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type specimen British  

noun

1. Also called: holotype.  biology the original specimen from which a description of a new species is made

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Etymology

Origin of type specimen

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

In 2020, the authors set a goal to get a genome sequence for every Psilocybe type specimen.

From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024

The shoulder bone is especially valuable because it was the first A. sediba fossil to be discovered and is the reference, or type specimen, that defines the species.

From Scientific American • Sep. 13, 2023

The general accepted standards are to have a type specimen, or even better, a series of specimens.

From Slate • Nov. 20, 2021

But the type specimen of another species, H. rudolfensis, is a 2.1-million-year-old skull without teeth or a lower jaw.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 4, 2015

There is still no type specimen for modern humans.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson