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.