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epitype

epitype noun: an additional, clarifying type (specimen or illustration) of a species or lower-order taxon, provided when the holotype and paratypes from the original classification are demonstrably ambiguous or insufficient.

Noun

epitype (plural epitypes)

  1. An additional, clarifying type (specimen or illustration) of a species or lower-order taxon, provided when the holotype and paratypes from the original classification are demonstrably ambiguous or insufficient.
    • It is clear, therefore, where any epitype, selected as an interpretive type, should be sought. The selection of an epitype, in the absence of type or authentic material, would be important, for any further molecular work will need to have available a culture of the type species of the genus which...2000, G.-S. Seo, P. M. Kirk, “1: Ganodermataceae: Nomenclature and Classification”, in J. Flood, P. D. Bridge, M. Holderness, editors, Ganoderma Diseases of Perennial Crops, CABI Publishing, page 4
    • The epitype does not displace the primary type it is to interpret, but rather supplements it.2010, Philippe Bouchet, Ellen E. Strong, “Chapter 6: Historical Name-Bearing Types in Marine Molluscs: An Impediment to Biodiversity Studies?”, in Andrew Polaszek, editor, Systema Naturae 250: The...
  2. (epigenetics) An epigenetic alteration in a gene.
    • To test this hypothesis our discussion is focused on finding evidence for gene-specific epitypes that supports or rejects cause-and-effect relationships between genotype, epitype and phenotype.[…]The first approach (A) examines the penetrance of transgenerationally inherited epitypes that are known...2013, Kasirajan Ayyanathan, Epigenetics and Pathology: Exploring Connections Between Genetic Mechanisms, Taylor & Francis (CRC Press), page 284

Examples of epitype in a sentence

  • It is clear, therefore, where any epitype, selected as an interpretive type, should be sought.2000, G.-S. Seo, P. M. Kirk, “1: Ganodermataceae: Nomenclature and Classification”, in J. Flood, P. D. Bridge, M. Holderness, editors...
  • Epitypes are increasingly being designated in mycology today for sequenced material where DNA has not or cannot be recovered from the name-bearing type.2016, David L. Hawksworth, “Chapter 2: Mycotoxin-Producing and Clinically Important Fungi: Their Classification and Naming”, in R. Russell...

Forms of epitype

pluralepitypes

Questions about epitype

What does epitype mean?
Epitype means an additional, clarifying type (specimen or illustration) of a species or lower-order taxon, provided when the holotype and paratypes from the original classification are demonstrably ambiguous or insufficient.
How do you use epitype in a sentence?
It is clear, therefore, where any epitype, selected as an interpretive type, should be sought.
What part of speech is epitype?
Epitype is a noun.
What is the plural of epitype?
The plural of epitype is epitypes.

Words near epitype in the dictionary

  1. epityche
  2. epityches
  3. epitympanic
  4. epitympanum
  5. epitympanums
  6. epitype
  7. epitypes
  8. epityphlitis
  9. epitypification
  10. epitypifications
  11. epitypified

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: epitype (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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