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The technical noun type species in taxonomy is involved in the application or typification of formal names in biological and binomial nomenclature. The type species fixes or permanently attaches a genus to its formal name (its generic name).

In zoology[]

The term type species is regulated in zoological nomenclature by article 42.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, which defines type species as the name-bearing type of the name of a genus or subgenus (a "genus-group name") is the "type species". In the Glossary, type species is defined as

"The nominal species that is the name-bearing type of a nominal genus or subgenus".

The species name in turn is fixed to a type specimen. Ideally, every named genus or subgenus should have a type species, but in practice there is a backlog of untypified names.