Adapis

Adapis is an extinct genus of Adapidae primate belonging to the subfamily Adapinae.[1] The genus was named by Cuvier in 1821 and contains up to three species.[2] Males were larger than females.[3]

A. parisiensis jaws

Adapis
Temporal range: Early - Late Eocene
Adapis parisiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
Family: †Adapidae
Subfamily: †Adapinae
Genus: †Adapis
Cuvier 1822
Type species
Adapis parisiensis
Cuvier, 1821
Species
  • †A. bruni Stehlin, 1912
  • †A. collinsonae Hooker, 1986
  • †A. parisiensis Cuvier, 1821
  • †A. sudrei Gingerich, 1977

Thinking that the distorted remains from the Paris region belonged to an extinct genus of pachyderms, Cuvier adopted Adapis, a non-scientific name that was "sometimes used for the Hyrax", which was considered related to Adapis by Cuvier.[4] Cuvier's source for the informal name was Conrad Gesner, Historiae animalium, I (Zurich, 1551), chapter on rabbits, p. 395. Gesner himself believed that both adapis and the Aramaic word from which he thought it was derived actually referred to the common rabbit.

References
  1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/5258/Adapis
  2. The Paleobiology Database
  3. Gingerich, P. D. (1981). "Cranial morphology and adaptations in Eocene Adapidae. I. Sexual dimorphism in Adapis magnus and Adapis parisiensis" (PDF). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 56 (3): 217–234. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330560303.
  4. Cuvier, G.B., Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles, Vol. 3, 1822, p. 265, footnote


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