Although the Museum changed its name, the abbreviation for specimens is still DMNH (Denver Museum of Natural History)
What is a holotype? The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature defines it as: "The single specimen ... designated or otherwise fixed as the name-bearing type of a nominal species or subspecies when the nominal taxon is established . " Is that clear? I didn’t think so. Think of it as the specimen to which a scientific name is first given; it is now the benchmark or reference for that species; all future discoveries are then compared to it.
Let’s assume that Joe Smith found the skeleton of a sauropod (a long-necked dinosaur). You collect it and later study it in detail and conclude that it is unlike any sauropod ever found because it has a pair of horns on top of its skull (I am making up this example). So you write up a scientific description and give it a name (Dicersauropod smithi, which means "Smith's two-horned sauropod"). This specimen is now the holotype for Dicersauropod smithi and anyone finding another horned sauropod would have to compare it with your specimen to determine if it is the same (they would have to use the scientific name you created) or different (they get to propose a new name). They cannot create a new name just because they don't like your name. What are given below are those specimens in the DMNS for which scientific names were first given (the publication where the name was first used and the scientific description are also shown).
Sometimes new information shows that the holotype specimen is actually the same as an animal named previously by a different name. The oldest name proposed then is the correct one to use. This change happened to two of the museum's holotypes as seen in the section Current Designation.
Cedarosaurus weiskophae
Holotype: DMNH 39045 eight dorsal vertebrae, several ribs, 25 caudal vertebrae, several chevrons, proximal portions of left and right scapulae, left and right coracoids, left and right sternal plates, right humerus, right radius and ulna, metacarpal IV, right pubes, proximal portions of left and right ischia, partial left femur, right femur, right tibia, three metatarsals, one phalanx, three unguals, numerous gastroliths.
Type Locality and Horizon: Billy’s Sauropod Site, Yellow Cat Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Grand County, Utah.
Collected by: DMNS party 1998.
Reference: Tidwell, V., Carpenter, K., and Brooks, W. 1999. New sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, USA. Oryctos 2: 21-37.
See also Sanders, F., K. Manley and K. Carpenter. 2001. Gastroliths from the Lower Cretaceous sauropod Cedarosaurus weiskopfae. P. 166-180 in Tanke, D. & K. Carpenter (eds.) Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Current Designation: Sauropoda: Neosauropoda: Titanosauriformes: Brachiosauridae: Cedarosaurus weiskophae
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Cedrorestes crichtoni Gilpin, DiCroce and Carpenter 2006
Holotype: DMNH 47004, fragments of ribs, fused sacrum, left ilium, preacetabular process of right ilium, right tibia, right metatarsal III, and ossified tendons.
Type Locality and Horizon: Dave's Camp Site near the top of the Yellow Cat Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Grand County, Utah.
Collected by: DMNH party 2001.
Reference: Gilpin, D., DiCroce, T. and K. Carpenter. 2006. A possible new basal hadrosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern
Current Designation: Ornithopoda: Iguanodontoidea: Hadrosauridae(?).
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Holotype: DMNH 468 skull lacking lower jaws.
Type Locality and Horizon: Hell Creek Formation, Corson County, South Dakota.
Collected by: DMNH party 1922
Reference: Bakker, R.T. 1988. Review of the Late Cretaceous nodosaurid Dinosauria. Hunteria 1(3): 1-23.
Current Designation: Ankylosauromorpha: Nodosauridae: Edmontonia schlessmani (Bakker 1988).
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Gargoyleosaurus parkpinorum Carpenter, Miles & Cloward 1998
Holotype: DMNH 27726 partial skeleton, including skull and mandible.
Type Locality and Horizon: Bone Cabin Quarry West, Morrison Formation. Albany County, Wyoming.
Collected by: Western Paleontology Labs 1996.
Reference: Carpenter, K., Miles, C. and Cloward, K.. 1998. Skull of a Jurassic ankylosaur (Dinosauria). Nature 393: 782-783.
Note: the original species was G. parkpini but was emended to G. parkpinorum by Carpenter 2001 per ICZN art. 31.1.2A. Carpenter, K. 2001. Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria. P. 454-483 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
See also: Kilborne, B. and Carpenter, K. 2005. Redescription of Gargoyleosaurus parkpinorum, a polacanthid ankylosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Albany County, Wyoming. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 237: 111-160.
Current Designation: Ankylosauromorpha: Polocanthidae: Gargoyleosaurus parkpinorum (In Ankylosauridae according to Vickaryous, Maryanska, and Weishampel. Ankylosauria. The Dinosauria. U. of Calif. Press).
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Pachycephalosaurus reinheimeri
Holotype: DMNH 469 fronto-parietal dome, nasals, part of squamosals.
Type Locality and Horizon: Hell Creek Formation, Corson County, South Dakota.
Collected by: DMNH party 1922
Reference: Brown, B. and Schlaikjer, E. M. 1943, A study of the tro ö dont dinosaurs with the description of a new genus and four new Species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 82: 115-150. (excerpts) (full article: )
Current Designation: Pachycephalosauria: Pachycephalosauridae : Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis (Maryanska, Chapman, Weishampel. 2004. Pachycephalosauria. The Dinosauria. U of Calif. Press).
*** Planicoxa venenica DiCroce & Carpenter 2001 Holotype: DMNH 42504 left ilium Paratypes: DMNH 42511 cervical neural arch; DMNH 42516 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42518 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42519 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42520 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42521 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42522 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42524 dorsal neural arch; DMNH 42513 dorsal rib fragment; DMNH 42515 dorsal rib fragment; DMNH 42525 dorsal rib fragment; DMNH 42510 one sacral centrum; DMNH 42514 caudal centrum; DMNH 42517 caudal centrum; DMNH 42508 left humerus (proximal part); DMNH 42505 left femur; DMNH 40917 right femur; DMNH 40914 right tibia; DMNH 40918 right tibia; DMNH 42506 left tibia (distal end); DMNH 42509 left metatarsal II; DMNH 42512 pedal phalanx. Type Locality and Horizon: Tony’s Bone Bed, Poison Strip Sandstone, Cedar Mountain Formation; Grand County, Utah. Collected by: DMNH party 1999 Reference: DiCroce, K. and K. Carpenter. 2001. New ornithopod from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Eastern Utah. P. 183-196 in Tanke, D. & K. Carpenter (eds.) Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Current Designation: Ornithopoda: Iguanodontidae?: Planicoxa venenica. (In the Dryosauridae according to Norman, 2004. Basal Iguanodontia. The Dinosauria, U of Calif Press) *** Venenosaurus dicrocei Holotype: DMNH 40932 nine caudal vertebrae, left scapula, right radius, left ulna, five metacarpals, four manus phalanges, right pubes, left and right ischium, three metatarsals, astragalus, chevrons, rib fragments. Type Locality and Horizon: Tony’s Bone Bed, Poison Strip Sandstone, Cedar Mountain Formation; Grand County, Utah. Collected by: DMNH party 1999 Reference: Tidwell, V., K. Carpenter and S. Meyer. 2001. New titanosauriform (Sauropoda) from the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Utah. P 139-165 in Tanke, D. & K. Carpenter (eds.) Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Current Designation: Sauropod: Titanosauriformes: family incertae sedis: Venenosaurus dicrocei.(In Titanosauria according to Upchurch, Barrett, and Dodson. 2004. Sauropoda. The Dinosauria. U. of Calif Press). .jpg)
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