Pittsfordipterus

Pittsfordipterus
Temporal range: Ludfordian, 421.3–418.7 Ma
Restoration of the carapace of P. phelpsae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Order: Eurypterida
Superfamily: Adelophthalmoidea
Family: Adelophthalmidae
Genus: Pittsfordipterus
Kjellesvig-Waering & Leutze, 1966
Type species
Pittsfordipterus phelpsae
Ruedemann, 1921

Pittsfordipterus ("wing from Pittsford") is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Pittsfordipterus is classified as part of the family Adelophthalmidae, the only clade in the derived ("advanced") Adelophthalmoidea superfamily of eurypterids. Fossils of the single and type species, P. phelpsae, have been discovered in deposits of Silurian age in Pittsford, New York state. The genus is named after Pittsford, where the two only known specimens have been found.

Pittsfordipterus was a basal ("primitive") genus that was distinguished from the more derived adelophthalmids by the specialization of its genital operculum (a plate-like segment which contains the genital aperture) and its long and narrow eyes, being Bassipterus' closest relative. With an estimated length of 6 cm (2.4 in), Pittsfordipterus was one of the smallest adelophthalmids.