Adapidae

A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | 700+ words | Copyright

Adapidae (suborder Strepsirrhini (or Prosimii), infra-order Lemuriformes) An extinct family of lemur-like animals; most were small, but a few had heads 10 cm or more long. The brain case was small with temporal crests and smooth cerebral hemispheres, and the tympanic ring was included in the bulla. Dentition was full and the incisors were not procumbent, but in Adapis species the canines were incisiform, the molars resembling those of some modern lemurs. The skeleton was adapted for grasping, leaping, and perching. Old World adapids (e.g. Adapis and Pronycticebus) probably resembled lemurs and lorises, to which they may be ancestral. They were distributed in Europe and N. America in the Eocene.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "Adapidae." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "Adapidae." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-Adapidae.html

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