 It was originally named by Dr. Albert Günther in 1875 as "Cheirogaleus trichotis" as part of the "Cheirogaleidae" family, or the dwarf lemurs.However, in 1967 Petter-Rousseaux and Petter reassigned the lemur to its own genus and is the now only member of the genus Allocebus.The hairy-eared dwarf lemur was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1989 in a northeastern primary lowland rainforest.