| Bassipterus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstruction of the swimming leg | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Order: | †Eurypterida |
| Superfamily: | †Adelophthalmoidea |
| Family: | †Adelophthalmidae |
| Genus: | †Bassipterus Kjellesvig-Waering & Leutze, 1966 |
| Type species | |
| †Bassipterus virginicus Kjellesvig-Waering & Leutze, 1966
| |
Bassipterus ("wing from Bass") is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Bassipterus is classified as part of the family Adelophthalmidae, the only clade within the derived ("advanced") Adelophthalmoidea superfamily of eurypterids. Fossils of the single and type species, B. virgnicus, have been discovered in deposits of the Late Silurian age in West Virginia and Maryland, United States. The genus is named after Bass, where most of the fossils have been recovered.
Bassipterus was a well-known 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 Pittsfordipterus's closest relative.