Type (biology) in the context of "Scientific name"

In zoological nomenclature, a type species (species typica) is the species whose name is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated with the name of a genus or subgenus. In other words, it is the species that contains the biological type specimen or specimens of the genus or subgenus. A similar concept is used for groups ranked above the genus and called a type genus.

In botanical nomenclature, these terms have no formal standing under the code of nomenclature, but are sometimes borrowed from zoological nomenclature. In botany, the type of a genus name is a specimen (or, rarely, an illustration) which is also the type of a species name. The species name with that type can also be referred to as the type of the genus name. Names of genus and family ranks, the various subdivisions of those ranks, and some higher-rank names based on genus names, have such types.

A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have been previously described or related species. For a species to be considered valid, a species description must follow established guidelines and naming conventions dictated by relevant nomenclature codes. These include the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) for plants, and the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) for viruses. A species description often includes photographs or other illustrations of type material and information regarding where this material is deposited. The publication in which the species is described gives the new species a formal scientific name. Some 1.9 million species have been identified and described, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist. Additionally, over five billion species have gone extinct over the history of life on Earth.

Seriatopora hystrix is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It forms a branching clump and is commonly known as thin birdsnest coral. It grows in shallow water on fore-reef slopes or in sheltered lagoons, the type locality being the Fiji Islands. It is native to East Africa, the Red Sea and the western Indo-Pacific region. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being a "Vulnerable species".

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovine originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans, Australia, the Americas, and some African countries. Two extant types of water buffalo are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria: the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans, Egypt, and Italy; and the swamp buffalo from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze Valley of China in the east.

The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is most probably the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo. Results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the river-type water buffalo probably originated in western India and was domesticated about 6,300 years ago, whereas the swamp-type originated independently from Mainland Southeast Asia and was domesticated about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago. The river buffalo dispersed west as far as Egypt, the Balkans, and Italy; while swamp buffalo dispersed to the rest of Southeast Asia and up to the Yangtze Valley.

Feldhofer 1 or Neanderthal 1 is the scientific name of the 40,000-year-old type specimen fossil of the species Homo neanderthalensis. The fossil was discovered in August 1856 in the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte cave in the Neander Valley (Neandertal), located 13 km (8.1 mi) east of Düsseldorf, Germany.

In 1864, the fossil's description was first published in a scientific journal, where it was officially named. Neanderthal 1 was not the first Neanderthal fossil ever discovered. Other Neanderthal fossils had been found earlier but were not recognized as belonging to a distinct species.

Phylogenetic nomenclature is a method of nomenclature for taxa in biology that uses phylogenetic definitions for taxon names. This contrasts with the traditional method, by which taxon names are defined by a type, which can be a specimen or a taxon of lower rank, and a description in words. Phylogenetic nomenclature is regulated currently by the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature (PhyloCode).

A chemotype (sometimes chemovar) is a chemically distinct entity in a plant or microorganism, with differences in the composition of the secondary metabolites. Minor genetic and epigenetic changes with little or no effect on morphology or anatomy may produce large changes in the chemical phenotype. Chemotypes are often defined by the most abundant chemical produced by that individual and the concept has been useful in work done by chemical ecologists and natural product chemists. With respect to plant biology, the term "chemotype" was coined by Rolf Santesson and his son Johan in 1968, defined as, "...chemically characterized parts of a population of morphologically indistinguishable individuals."

In microbiology, the term "chemoform" or "chemovar" is preferred in the 1990 edition of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB), the former referring to the chemical constitution of an organism and the latter meaning "production or amount of production of a particular chemical." Terms with the suffix -type are discouraged so as to avoid confusion with type specimens. The terms chemotype and chemovar were originally introduced to the ICNB in a proposed revision to one of the nomenclatural rules dealing with infrasubspecific taxonomic subdivisions at the 1962 meeting of the International Microbiological Congress in Montreal. The proposed change argued that nomenclatural regulation of these ranks, such as serotype and morphotype, is necessary to avoid confusion. In proposed recommendation 8a(7), it was asked that "authorization be given for the use of the terms chemovar and chemotype," defining the terms as being "used to designate an infrasubspecific subdivision to include infrasubspecific forms or strains characterized by the production of some chemical not normally produced by the type strain of the species." The change to the Code was approved in August 1962 by the Judicial Commission of the International Committee of Bacteriological Nomenclature at the VIII International Microbiological Congress in Montreal.

Amaranthaceae (/ˌæmərænˈθeɪsi.iː, -ˌaɪ/ AM-ər-an-THAY-see-ee, -⁠eye) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.