Name-bearing type

Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Code), the name-bearing type is the biological type that determines the application of a name. Each animal taxon regulated by the Code at least potentially has a name-bearing type. The name-bearing type can be either a type genus (family group), type species (genus group), or one or more type specimens (species group). For example, the name Mabuya maculata (Gray, 1839) has often been used for the Noronha skink (currently Trachylepis atlantica), but because the name-bearing type of the former, a lizard preserved in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, does not represent the same species as the Noronha skink, the name maculata cannot be used for the latter.