I do have an old published list of some of the myriad types of 'types'compiled (in his words) by C.E. Decker (Curator at OU from 1916 to 1943):DEFINITIONS OF KINDS OF TYPE SPECIMENS
(ref: Dr. F.B. Horrell in Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 49,1929, p, 219)
Holotype - A single specimen on which a new species or subspecies is based.
Cotype (or Syntype) - Two or more specimens on which a new species orsubspecies is based, no one specimen being designated as the holotype.
Paratype - A specimen mentioned as having been used in addition to theholotype in preparing the original description of a new species or subspeciesfor which a holotype is designated.
Lectotype - A single specimen selected by a later worker from the originalcotypes of a species or subspecies as the holotype of that species or sub-species when the later worker finds that the original cotypes do not allbelong to a single species or subspecies.
Neotype - A specimen selected to ta~:e the place of an original tvpe of aspecies or subspecies when the original type has been lost. A neotype may beeither a neohololype or a neocotype.
Plesiotype (or Hypotype) - A specimen which was not used in the originaldescription of a species or subspecies, but which is used for a laterdescription or figure of it.
Heautotype: - A specimen figured by an Author as an illustration of a speciesor subspecies which had previouslv been described as new by him. This isreally only one particular kind of a plesiotvpe.
Allotype - A specimen chosen by the original author of a species orsubspecies, in addition to the holotype to show some part of the body notshovn in the holotvpe, This is really only one particular kind of a paratype,if it is chosen at the time when the species or subspecies is originallydescribed, If chosen later, it is a particular kind of a plesiotype.
Onomatype - A specimen which has been cited in print (a cited scecimen), butwhich has not been used to illustrate anything not previouslv known about themorphology of the species or subspecies to which it is referred.
Morphotype - A specimen which has been figured in print (a figured specimen),but which has not been used to illustrate anything not previously known aboutthe morphology of the species or subspecies to which it is referred.
Topotype - A specimen collected from the same horizon as the originalholotype or cotypes and from the same locality as the originals, or within afew miles of that place.
Metatype - A topotype identified by the original describer of the species orsubspecies to which it is referred, but at a date subsequent to thepublication of the original description.
Homeotype - A specimen that has been identified by a worker who is recognizedas an authority on the group of organisms to which it belongs, after thespecimen has been carefully compared by, him with the original type or typesof the species or subspecies to which it is referred.
Ideotype - A specimen collected from some other general locality than theoriginal type (that is, not a topotype) that has been identified by theoriginal author of the species or subspecies to which it is referred at adate subsequent to the publication of the original description. This is likea metatype, except that it does not come from the general locality from whichthe original type specimens of the species or subspecies were collected.

Thank you
Roger J. Burkhalter
Curatorial Specialist, Invertebrate PaleontologySam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of Oklahoma, Norman

Last modified on Wednesday, 25 July 2018