holotype

This first specimen described, called the holotype, still resides in the Natural History Museum in London.

The result of this rich digital data is a 'cybertype' of a single animal, rather than a physical 'holotype' that is traditionally found in museum collections.

Seago is currently applying for a grant to help locate, consolidate, and digitize holotype specimens at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

But in Brazil, 90% of holotype fossils described by foreign researchers were housed in foreign collections, which goes against Brazilian law.

According to the new proposal, Sue, the Field Museum’s nearly complete T. rex, is now the holotype — the specimen that anchors a species name — of Tyrannosaurus imperator.