General term for something that differs from the usual type; can refer to a biological variant, a different version of something, or an unusual example.
Biological taxonomy term for a rank below subspecies; used in scientific contexts.
This plant is a variant that differs slightly from the common species.
His work can be called a variation of the traditional style.
This variety is distributed only in alpine regions.
変種 refers to a variant or mutation of an existing species, while 新種 refers to a species that is entirely new to science.
Compound of 変 (hen, 'change, strange') and 種 (shu, 'kind, species'). The term is a straightforward Sino-Japanese coinage for 'variant kind'.