TYPE SPECIMEN Definition & Meaning

type specimen

noun

Biology.

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

type specimen

noun

biology the original specimen from which a description of a new species is made Also calledholotype

Discover More

�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of type specimen¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

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

From

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

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

From

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

From

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

From

Browse