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

Twenty-three of the 52 specimens were "type specimens," the gold standard designating a species against which all other samples are measured.

From Science Daily

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

"The whole point of a museum," said Means, is to take care of type specimens "in perpetuity."

From Salon

For example, the 170-year-old type specimen has bright yellow glass eyes and legs that have faded to pale brown.

From New York Times

Likewise, museums hold type specimens of fossils, meteorites and biological samples.

From Nature