Holotype in the context of "Harbin cranium"

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⭐ Core Definition: Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism that is the one that was used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It may be the only such physical example (or illustration), or it may have been explicitly designated as the holotype from among several examples. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), there are several kinds of name-bearing types, and a holotype is one of them. Between the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and the ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept.

For example, the holotype for the butterfly Plebejus idas longinus is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany and mycology, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, generally pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same genetic individual.

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👉 Holotype in the context of Harbin cranium

The Harbin cranium is a nearly complete skull of an archaic human found in sediments of the Songhua River near Harbin on the Northeast China Plain, dating to at minimum 146,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene. It was described in 2021, and that year it was assigned as the holotype of the new human species Homo longi ("dragon man") named after Long Jiang, where the fossil skull was discovered . The Harbin cranium was initially hypothesized to belong to the same species as the Denisovans, and subsequent proteomics and mitochondrial DNA analyses confirmed its Denisovan affinities.

The Harbin cranium is broadly anatomically similar to other Middle Pleistocene Chinese specimens. Like other archaic humans, the skull is low and long, with massively developed brow ridges, wide eye sockets, and a large mouth. The skull is the longest ever found from any human species. Like modern humans and the much earlier Homo antecessor, the face is rather flat, but with a larger nose. The brain volume was 1,420 cc, within the range of modern humans and Neanderthals.

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Holotype in the context of Denisovan

The Denisovans or Denisova hominins (/dəˈnsəvə/ də-NEE-sə-və) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene, approximately 200,000–32,000 years ago. Most of what is known about Denisovans comes from DNA evidence. While many recent fossils have been found and tentatively identified as Denisovan, the first Denisovans discovered were known from few physical remains. Consequently, no formal species name has been established. However, an analysis of the mitochondrial DNA and endogenous proteins from the Harbin cranium, which had been given the name Homo longi, showed with great certainty that this species represents a Denisovan.In a study published in September 2025, remains from six additional sites in China including the 1 million year old Yunxian man were proposed to be included in the species Homo longi along with the genetically confirmed Denisovans.

The first identification of a Denisovan individual occurred in 2010, based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) extracted from a juvenile finger bone excavated from the Siberian Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in 2008. Nuclear DNA indicates close affinities with Neanderthals. The cave was also periodically inhabited by Neanderthals. Additional specimens from Denisova Cave were subsequently identified, as were specimens from the Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau, Tam Ngu Hao 2 Cave in the Annamite Mountains of Laos, the Penghu channel between Taiwan and the mainland, and Harbin in Manchuria.

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Holotype in the context of Dinosaur National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah, north of the town of Jensen, Utah. The nearest Colorado town is Dinosaur while the nearest city is Vernal, Utah.

Originally preserved in 1915 to protect its famous Dinosaur Quarry, the monument was greatly expanded in 1938 to include its wealth of natural history. The park's wild landscapes, topography, geology, paleontology, and history make it a unique resource for both science and recreation. The park contains over 800 paleontological sites and has fossils of dinosaurs including Allosaurus, Deinonychus, Abydosaurus, and various sauropods. The Abydosaurus consists of a nearly complete skull, the lower jaw, and first four neck vertebrae. The specimen was found at the base of the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation and is the holotype for the species.

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Holotype in the context of A. sediba

Australopithecus sediba is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial juvenile skeleton, the holotype MH1, and a partial adult female skeleton, the paratype MH2. They date to about 1.98 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene, and coexisted with Paranthropus robustus and Homo ergaster / Homo erectus. Malapa Cave may have been a natural death trap, the base of a long vertical shaft which creatures could accidentally fall into. A. sediba was initially described as being a potential human ancestor, and perhaps the progenitor of Homo, but this is contested and it could also represent a late-surviving population or sister species of A. africanus which had earlier inhabited the area.

MH1 has a brain volume of about 350–440 cc, similar to other australopithecines. The face of MH1 is strikingly similar to Homo instead of other australopithecines, with a less pronounced brow ridge, cheek bones, and prognathism (the amount the face juts out), and there is evidence of a slight chin. However, such characteristics could be due to juvenility and lost with maturity. The teeth are quite small for an australopithecine. MH1 is estimated at 130 cm (4 ft 3 in) tall, which would equate to an adult height of 150–156 cm (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 1 in). MH1 and MH2 were estimated to have been about the same weight at 30–36 kg (66–79 lb). Like other australopithecines, A. sediba is thought to have had a narrow and apelike upper chest, but a broad and humanlike lower chest. Like other australopithecines, the arm anatomy seems to suggest a degree of climbing and arboreal behaviour. The pelvis indicates A. sediba was capable of a humanlike stride, but the foot points to a peculiar gait not demonstrated in any other hominin involving hyperpronation of the ankle, and resultantly rotating the leg inwards while pushing off. This suite of adaptations may represent a compromise between habitual bipedalism and arboreality.

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Holotype in the context of Dippy

Dippy is a composite Diplodocus skeleton in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the holotype of the species Diplodocus carnegii. It is considered the most famous single dinosaur skeleton in the world, due to the numerous plaster casts donated by Andrew Carnegie to several major museums around the world at the beginning of the 20th century.

The casting and distribution of the skeleton made the word dinosaur a household word; for millions of people it became the first dinosaur they had ever seen. It was also responsible for the subsequent popularity of the entire genus Diplodocus, since the skeleton has been on display in more places than any other sauropod dinosaur.

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Holotype in the context of Megatherium

Megatherium (/mɛɡəˈθɪəriəm/ meg-ə-THEER-ee-əm; from Greek méga (μέγα) 'great' + theríon (θηρίον) 'beast') is an extinct genus of ground sloths endemic to South America that lived from the Early Pliocene through the end of the Late Pleistocene. It is best known for the elephant-sized type species Megatherium americanum, primarily known from the Pampas, but ranging southwards to northernmost Patagonia and northwards to southern Bolivia during the late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. Various other species belonging to the subgenus Pseudomegatherium and ranging from sizes comparable to M. americanum down to considerably smaller, are known from the Andean region.

The first (holotype) specimen of Megatherium americanum was discovered in 1787 on the bank of the Luján River in what is now northern Argentina. The specimen was then shipped to Spain the following year wherein it caught the attention of the pioneering French paleontologist Georges Cuvier, who named the animal in 1796, making it one of the first prehistoric animals to be scientifically named, and was the first to determine, by means of comparative anatomy, that Megatherium was a giant sloth.

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Holotype in the context of H. gautengensis

Homo gautengensis is a species name proposed by anthropologist Darren Curnoe in 2010 for South African hominin fossils otherwise attributed to H. habilis, H. ergaster, or, in some cases, Australopithecus or Paranthropus. The fossils assigned to the species by Curnoe cover a vast temporal range, from about 1.8 million years ago to potentially as late as 0.8 million years ago, meaning that if the species is considered valid, H. gautengensis would be both one of the earliest and one of the longest lived species of Homo.

Since Curnoe's 2010 description, recognition of the species has been limited. The classification of most of the fossils referred to H. gautengensis was controversial before the description of the species and continue to be controversial to this day. Some palaeoanthropologists have gone as far as to declare that there is little reason to consider H. gautengensis a valid taxon.

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Holotype in the context of Yaverland

Yaverland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandown, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is just north of Sandown on Sandown Bay. It has about 200 houses. About 13 of a mile away from the village is the Yaverland Manor and Church. Holotype fossils have been discovered here of Yaverlandia and a pterosaur, Caulkicephalus. The White Air extreme sports festival was held annually at Yaverland pay and display car park between 1997 and 2008, but moved to Brighton for 2009.

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