One of several specimens used together to define a new animal or plant species when a single reference specimen isn't designated.
From co- (together) + type (standard example), created in scientific terminology to describe specimens that collectively serve as the definition of a species.
Scientists realized that using just one specimen to define a species could be misleading if that one animal had unusual features, so they started using multiple cotypes to capture the whole species' variety—it's like describing 'average teenager' by looking at ten teenagers instead of one.
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