Type (biology)
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![Gossamer-winged butterfly Jamides elioti, upper pair is upper and lower surface of the holotype, lower pair is the paratype](/Images/godic/202502/03/JamidesEliotiMUpUnAC10717.jpg")
![Type illustration of Mormopterus acetabulosus](/Images/godic/202502/03/Mormopterus_acetabulosus_type_illustration0717.jpg")
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In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralize the defining features of that particular taxon. In older usage (pre-1900 in botany), a type was a taxon rather than a specimen.