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type specimen

See more synonyms for type specimen on Thesaurus.com
noun Biology.
  1. an individual organism from which the description of a species has been prepared.
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Origin of type specimen

First recorded in 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for type specimen

Historical Examples

  • The type-specimen of this species exists in the collection of the British Museum.

    New Zealand Moths and Butterflies

    G. V. Hudson

  • The type-specimen figured by Lambert does not show the longest cone and leaf of this species.

    The Genus Pinus

    George Russell Shaw

  • The type-specimen of Ziphius semijunctus (Cope), as already mentioned, is a young female.

British Dictionary definitions for type specimen

type specimen

noun
  1. biology the original specimen from which a description of a new species is madeAlso called: holotype
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012