Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
adapid

adapid

9.9
A small extinct primate that lived 30 to 50 million years ago and is related to lemurs
  • noun
  • /ˈæd.ə.pɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : adápido
  • Fossil evidence of adapids has helped scientists understand primate evolution.

Examples

  • The diet of adapids likely included fruit and leaves.

  • The adapid fossils provide insight into primate evolution.

  • Some researchers think adapids are related to modern lemurs.

  • Did the adapids live in trees?

  • The fossil records indicate that the adapid primates adapted to life in the trees during the Eocene epoch.

  • Researchers found that the adapid species showed a unique combination of traits similar to modern lemurs.

  • Paleontologists believe that adapids were crucial in understanding the evolution of early primates in Europe.

Synonyms

adapid group
vsadapid
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct group of small animals related to lemurs that lived 30 to 50 million years ago

is the same group but given a different name in this entry

Compounds

adapid group
  • Specialized
9.9

An extinct group of small animals related to lemurs that lived 30 to 50 million years ago

Surface Forms

adapid singular
adapids plural

Morphology

adapid = Adapis (opaque) = adap + id

Formed from a genus name plus the taxonomic suffix '-id'; this is a specialized scientific formation unlikely to be predictable by an average learner.

Etymology

The word adapid comes from the fossil name Adapis, the label scientists gave to a small, ancient primate found in old rocks, so a helpful way to remember it is to think of the name of that fossil group. So an adapid is one of those extinct, mostly active-in-the-day, lemur-like primates that lived millions of years ago.