Type species

Cygnus cygnus, the whooper swan, is the type species of the genus Cygnus.

In zoological nomenclature, a type species (species typica) is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen (or specimens).[1] A similar concept is used for suprageneric groups and called a type genus.[2]

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.[3]

In bacteriology, a type species is assigned for each genus.[4] Whether or not currently recognized as valid, every named genus or subgenus in zoology is theoretically associated with a type species. In practice, however, there is a backlog of untypified names defined in older publications when it was not required to specify a type.

  1. ^ "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Fourth Edition, adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences". International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1999. Article 67.1
  2. ^ "Article 63. Name-bearing types". International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Retrieved 16 November 2023. The name-bearing type of a nominal family-group taxon is a nominal genus called the "type genus"; the family-group name is based upon that of the type genus
  3. ^ International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) articles 7 through 10 (Melbourne Code, 2012)
  4. ^ "Chapter 3: Rules of Nomenclature with Recommendations; Section 4. Nomenclatural Types and Their Designation", International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria: Bacteriological Code, 1990 Revision, ASM Press, 1992