Editing Type genus

{{Short description|Term in biological taxonomy}}
[[File:Female_mallard_nest_-_natures_pics.jpg|thumb|A female [[mallard]] (''Anas platyrhynchos'') and her clutch of ducklings. ''[[Anas]]'' is the type genus for the family [[Anatidae]].]]
In [[Taxonomy (biology)|biological taxonomy]], the '''type genus''' is the [[genus]] which defines a [[Family (biology)|biological family]] and the root of the family name.

== Zoological nomenclature ==
According to the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]], "The name-bearing type of a nominal family-group taxon is a nominal genus called the 'type genus'; the family-group name is based upon that of the type genus."<ref>[http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/index.jsp?article=63&nfv= ICZN Code Art. 63. "Name-bearing types."]</ref>

Any family-group name must have a type genus (and any genus-group name must have a [[type species]], but any species-group name may, but need not, have one or more type specimens). The type genus for a family-group name is also the genus that provided the stem to which was added the ending -idae (for families).

:Example: The family name [[Formicidae]] has as its type genus the genus ''[[Formica]]'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758.</small>

== Botanical nomenclature ==
In [[botanical nomenclature]], the phrase "type genus" is used, unofficially, as a term of convenience. In the ''[[International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants|ICN]]'' this phrase has no status. The code uses type specimens for ranks up to family, and types are optional for higher ranks.<ref>{{cite book|author1=McNeill, J. |author2=Barrie, F.R. |author3=Buck, W.R. |author4=Demoulin, V. |author5=Greuter, W. |author6=Hawksworth, D.L. |author7=Herendeen, P.S. |author8=Knapp, S. |author9=Marhold, K. |author10=Prado, J. |author11=Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F. |author12=Smith, G.F. |author13=Wiersema, J.H. |author14=Turland, N.J. |year=2012|volume=Regnum Vegetabile 154|title=International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011|publisher=A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG|isbn=978-3-87429-425-6|url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=art10#10.7}}</ref> The Code does not refer to the genus containing that type as a "type genus".

:Example: "''[[Poa]]'' is the type genus of the family [[Poaceae]] and of the order [[Poales]]" is another way of saying that the names Poaceae and Poales are based on the generic name ''Poa''.

== Bacteriological nomenclature ==
The 2008 Revision of the [[International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes|Bacteriological Code]] states, "The nomenclatural type […] of a taxon above genus, up to and including order, is the legitimate name of the included genus on whose name the name of the relevant taxon is based. One taxon of each category must include the type genus. The names of the taxa which include the type genus must be formed by the addition of the appropriate suffix to the stem of the name of the type genus[…]."<ref>{{cite journal | author = [No authors listed] | title = International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes | journal = Int J Syst Evol Microbiol | year = 2019 | volume = 69 | issue = 1A | pages = S1–S111 | doi = 10.1099/ijsem.0.000778 | pmid = 26596770| s2cid = 41561549 | doi-access = free }}</ref> In 2019, it was proposed that all ranks above genus should use the genus category as the nomenclatural type.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Tindall BJ. | title = Names above the rank of genus; the radical approach. | journal = Int J Syst Evol Microbiol | year = 2019 | volume = 69 | issue = 6 | pages = 1833–1834 | doi = 10.1099/ijsem.0.003169 | pmid = 30543321| s2cid = 56143159 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This proposal was subsequently adopted for the rank of phylum.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Oren A, Arahal DR, Rosselló-Móra R, Sutcliffe IC, Moore ER | title = Emendation of Rules 5b, 8, 15 and 22 of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes to include the rank of phylum | journal = Int J Syst Evol Microbiol | year = 2021 | volume = 71 | issue = 6 | doi = 10.1099/ijsem.0.004851 | pmid = 34161220| s2cid = 235625014 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

:Example: ''[[Pseudomonas]]'' is the type genus of the family [[Pseudomonadaceae]], the order [[Pseudomonadales]], and the phylum [[Pseudomonadota]].

== See also ==
* [[Principle of Typification]]
* [[Type (biology)]]
* [[Type species]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Merriam-Webster|Type-genus}}

[[Category:Taxonomy (biology)]]
[[Category:Zoological nomenclature]]
[[Category:Botanical nomenclature]]