Meaning & use
paratype
Last updated
A specimen, other than the holotype, that is cited by an author along with the original description of a species to help define its characteristics.
See it in a sentence
The museum's collection includes several paratypes of the newly described beetle species.
Researchers examined the paratype to confirm variations in wing pattern across the species.
A note on using this word
Paratypes support but do not replace the holotype, the single specimen formally designated as the species' name-bearing reference.
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