Adapis

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

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

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". 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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