ICZN article 72.5.3 on eligibility as name-bearing types
states that only natural impressions, moulds, or casts can be used as
types. From this and other parts of article 72.5 it is evident that
man-made replicas can not be valid type specimens. Thus, for
example, if there is a specimen in a private collection and a cast of it
in a museum collection, the cast can not be designated the holotype of a
new species.
Regarding Mike's reply, the code is clear that illustrations of specimens
themselves can not be type specimens (72.5.6, 73.1.4, & 74.4); the
specimens shown in the illustrations are the types.
With regards to the situation when a holotype has been lost or destroyed
(e.g., WWII bombing of museums), casts or illustrations or photos of the
holotype that exist can in practical terms substitute for the holotype
and eliminate need for designation of a neotype, but they do not become
"official" type specimens.
Richard Hulbert
At 07:39 AM 7/5/2004, you wrote:
Greetings,
Are there documented examples of fossil replicas (latex, plaster, etc.)
being used as reposited types?
Cheers,
Doug Boyce
--
*Mr. Doug Boyce, M.Sc., P.Geo., Provincial Paleontologist,
Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador
P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL, Canada A1B 4J6
Phone: (709) 729-2163 Fax: (709)
729-4270
http://www.gov.nf.ca/mines&en/geosurvey/aboutus/sections/regional/boyce.stm
http://www.geosurv.gov.nf.ca/education/fossils/index.html
http://www.canadianrockhound.com/summer97/cr9701301_nfld.html
http://www.spnhc.org/documents/fossilprotection.htm
___________________________________________________________
Vertebrate Paleontology Collections Manager
Florida Museum of Natural History
Dickinson Hall, University of Florida
P.O. Box 117800
Gainesville FL 32611-7800 USA
phone: (352) 392-1721 ext 259 or 392-1721 ext. 252