Skull of Toxodon platensis

**Description:** This is a 3D laser surface scan of the nearly complete cranium of *Toxodon platensis*. The skull was purchased on 26 November 1833 by Darwin. It is between 126,000 and 11,700 years old. This has been scanned as part of the Museum’s Darwin Fossil Mammals digitisation project. Find out more at www.nhm.ac.uk/darwinsfossils. **Comments:** This is the holotype specimen of *Toxodon platensis*. When a new species is proposed, a specimen is chosen to represent the species. This is called the type specimen or holotype. Types are important and it is the responsibility of museums to care for these and make them available for study. [What is *Toxodon*? ](http://ow.ly/4e4W30jkzw3) **Specimen number:** NHMUK PV M 16560 Visit the dataset (https://doi.org/10.5519/0086786) and [specimen record](http://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/darwins-fossil-mammals/resource/dadf577f-fa52-4f48-8cdb-d11c98448009) on the Museum’s Data Portal for images and to request high resolution scan data.