Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Code), the name-bearing type or onomatophore[1] is the biological type that determines the application of a name. Each animal taxon regulated by the Code at least potentially has a name-bearing type.[2] The name-bearing type can be either a type genus (family group),[3] type species (genus group),[4] or one or more type specimens (species group).[5] For example, the name Mabuya maculata (Gray, 1839) has often been used for the Noronha skink (currently Trachylepis atlantica), but because the name-bearing type of the former, a lizard preserved in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, does not represent the same species as the Noronha skink, the name maculata cannot be used for the latter.[6]