The holotype and only specimen,
KUMVP 3462, was collected by H. T. Martin from near the base of the Ogallala Formation in Sherman County,
Kansas, in the summer of 1924. It was subsequently stored in the collections at the University of Kansas' Museum of Vertebrate Paleontology. However, it was not described until 1934 when paleontologist
Claude W. Hibbard erected the new genus and species
Adelphailurus kansensis for the specimen. The genus name is derived from the Greek / meaning "brother", and / meaning "cat". The specific epithet
kansensis means "from Kansas". ==Description==