A note on the status of “Adapis” priscus Stehlin, 1916

Reappraisal of the morphology of the type (and only) lower jaw of the Swiss middle Eocene primate “Adapis” priscus shows that it is wrongly attributed to the genus Adapis . Indeed, its closest affinities do not lie with other European primates of the early Tertiary, but rather with the North American genus Smilodectes , to which we transfer the species priscus . The presence in Europe of a species of Smilodectes emphasizes that the separation of the Eocene primate faunas of Europe is substantially less complete than generally believed.