Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) had a long sword-like rostrum, a snout-like structure packed with cells to detect electrical activity in prey animals such as crustaceans. They ranged over long distances throughout the expansive reaches of the Yangtze River basin, and even making their way into the East China Sea.
The Chinese paddlefish and its close relatives have been around for at least 200 million years. The species, reaching up to 23 feet in length, survived unimaginable changes and upheavals, such as the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs and marine reptiles like plesiosaurs that it swam alongside. In its time, flowering plants evolved, and came to populate the shores of its ancestral home, the Yangtze River, in modern-day China.
The last Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) was seen alive in 2003, and they’ve been declared extinct. Due to their rarity, and untimely demise, there are very few photos of the species.
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