Adapis


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

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. Cuvier's source for the informal name was Conrad Gesner, Historiae animalium, I, chapter on rabbits, . Gesner himself believed that both adapis and the Aramaic word from which he thought it was derived actually referred to the common rabbit.