Best Type Specimen

Neanderthal 1 is a partial hominin skeleton discovered in 1856 in the Feldhofer Cave in Germany's Neander Valley. The remains include a distinctive skullcap and portions of the postcranial skeleton, and they became the name-bearing specimen for Homo neanderthalensis. Their recognition helped establi...

Stan, catalogued as BHI 3033, is a substantially complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found by Stan Sacrison in South Dakota in 1987 and excavated by the Black Hills Institute. The specimen preserves much of the skull and skeleton and shows several healed injuries, making it useful for anatomical and...

Wankel Rex, catalogued as MOR 555, is a partial Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton discovered by rancher Kathy Wankel near Fort Peck Lake in Montana in 1988 and excavated by the Museum of the Rockies. The specimen preserves a large portion of the skeleton and was the first T. rex found with a complete forel...

Tristan Otto, catalogued as MB.R.91216, is a Tyrannosaurus rex specimen discovered in Montana and named after the sons of its private owners. It has been publicly exhibited at Berlin's Museum für Naturkunde since 2015 and includes a notably well-preserved skull as well as substantial portions of the...

*Protea cynaroides*, commonly known as the king protea, is a flowering evergreen shrub native to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. It has served as the national flower of South Africa since 1976. The plant is distinguished by producing the largest flower heads in the genus *Protea*, which c...

Aubres is an aubrite meteorite that fell near Nyons in southeastern France in 1836. It gave its name to the aubrites, a class of enstatite-rich achondrites formed under unusually oxygen-poor conditions and distinguished by their pale, magnesium-rich silicate material. As the type specimen for the gr...

Hamamelis x intermedia is a hybrid deciduous shrub created by crossing Chinese witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis) and Japanese witch hazel (Hamamelis japonica). It is widely grown in gardens for its winter-blooming, fragrant flowers that feature distinctive narrow, strap-like petals in shades of yellow,...

Rudy VanderLaan is a Dutch graphic designer and artist known for his minimalist, geometric designs and explorations of digital typography, often employing unconventional color palettes and intricate grid systems in his work since the early 1990s.

Lodran is a meteorite that fell near Lodhran in Punjab, present-day Pakistan, in 1868. It is the type specimen of the lodranites, a small group of primitive achondrites composed principally of olivine and pyroxene with metal and sulfide. Lodranites record extensive heating and partial melting on an...

Cotinus coggygria, commonly called smoke bush or smoke tree, is a deciduous shrub native across parts of southern Europe and Asia. Its airy clusters of elongated hairs around the developing fruit create the hazy, smoke-like appearance behind its common name. It is grown as a specimen or border plant...

Winona is a meteorite found near Winona, Arizona, and is the type specimen of the winonaites, a group of primitive achondrites. Winonaites contain silicate minerals mixed with metal and sulfide and show evidence of heating, metamorphism, and partial melting on their parent asteroid. Their mineralogy...

Brachina is a meteorite found in South Australia in 1974 and is the type specimen of the brachinites, a group of primitive achondrites. It is composed predominantly of olivine, accompanied by smaller amounts of pyroxene, plagioclase, chromite, metal, and sulfide. Its texture and chemistry record ext...

Viburnum plicatum, or Japanese snowball, is a deciduous shrub native to eastern Asia, including China, Japan, and Taiwan. It is used in horticulture for its distinctive horizontal branching pattern, which creates a layered, tiered appearance. In late spring, the plant produces dense, globe-shaped cl...

Stachyurus praecox is a deciduous shrub native to Japan. It is widely grown in temperate gardens as an ornamental specimen plant for its unique winter and early spring flowers. The plant produces distinctive drooping racemes of pale yellow flowers on bare stems before its leaves emerge. It belongs t...

Milky cotoneaster is an evergreen shrub native to Yunnan, China, introduced to Western horticulture by explorer George Forrest around 1913 and valued for its large persistent clusters of red berries.

Winged spindle native to northeastern Asia, prized for brilliant scarlet autumn foliage and distinctive corky-winged stems, though invasive in parts of eastern North America.