Type
The specimen used by the author who was the first to publish a proper description of the species concerned and to give it a scientific name. The type specimen may also be called a 'holotype', and the place where it was obtained is called the 'type locality'. The author's name, usually abbreviated, may be quoted after the scientific name of the species (similarly with a genus or a subspecies), for example Parus caeruleus Linn. (Blue Tit), the author in this case being Linnaeus. If the species concerned, as a result of research in taxonomy, is now placed in a genus different from that originally proposed, the author's name is bracketed, for example, Podiceps cristatus (Linn.) (Great Crested Grebe), which Linnaeus placed in the genus Colymbus. If a newly described species is placed in a new genus, it becomes the 'type species' for that genus. As each family has a scientific name derived from that of one of the genera within it, the genus concerned is the 'type genus' for its family. For example, Fringillidae, the scientific name of the finch family, is formed from that of its type genus Fringilla.From Peter Weaver's Birdwatcher's Dictionary
Copyright © 1981 by Peter Weaver