Scientists anchor first scientific animal name to a modern-day spider

Scientists led by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have restored the physical reference of one of the most historically significant names in biology. In a paper published in Taxonomy, researchers designated a new type specimen, or neotype, for Araneus angulatu

Scientists led by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have restored the physical reference of one of the most historically significant names in biology. In a paper published in Taxonomy, researchers designated a new type specimen, or neotype, for Araneus angulatus, the first animal species described using binomial nomenclature, the two-part naming system that scientists use today to identify and classify living organisms. The designation reconnects the name to a physical specimen decades after the original name-bearing spiders disappeared.