C# : how do you obtain a class' base class?

Question

In C#, how does one obtain a reference to the base class of a given class?

For example, suppose you have a certain class, MyClass, and you want to obtain a

Answer 1

This will get the base type (if it exists) and create an instance of it:

Type baseType = typeof(MyClass).BaseType;
object o = null;
if(baseType != null) {
    o = Activator.CreateInstance(baseType);
}

Alternatively, if you don't know the type at compile time use the following:

object myObject;
Type baseType = myObject.GetType().BaseType;
object o = null;
if(baseType != null) {
    o = Activator.CreateInstance(baseType);
}

See Type.BaseType and Activator.CreateInstance on MSDN.