Re: paleonet Replicas as Type Specimens

[Franz-Josef Lindemann <f.j.lindemann@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 09:09 05.07.2004 -02-30, you wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>Are there documented examples of fossil replicas (latex, plaster, etc.) 
>being used as reposited types?

In botany a holotype may actually be an illustration (see article 9.1 of 
the Tokyo Code: "A holotype ... is the one specimen or illustration used by 
the author, or designated by the author as the nomenclatural type."). Yes, 
this sounds strange to me, too. After all, the illustration is presumably 
based on a real specimen. Nevertheless, that's the wording in the ICBN.

In zoology the name-bearing type must be a natural specimen (or its natural 
mould). There are of course cases where replicas are in practice "used as 
reposited types", in particular when the original has disappeared during 
destructive preparation (e.g. grinding method), but strictly speaking the 
type specimen in those cases does not exist any more.

Cheers,
fj



Franz-Josef Lindemann
Palaeontological Museum
Natural History Museums and Botanical Garden
P.O.Box 1172 Blindern, N-0318 Oslo
visiting address: Sars' gate 1, N-0562 Oslo
Phone: +47 22 85 16 59
Fax: +47 22 85 18 00