The Chinese paddlefish has been around for 200 million years and predates even bamboo in the fossil record. They survived many prehistoric changes like the ones that killed off the dinosaurs. Like many other species native to the Yangtze River in China, the increased population and changes made to the river by people are what drove this ancient fish to extinction. The Chinese paddlefish was once considered common in the Yangtze & Yellow Rivers. By the 1840's the population of paddlefish in the Yellow River disappeared leaving these fish only in the Yangtze River. A major factor that devastated the Chinese paddlefish was the way that Chinese population growth caused changes to the river itself. 12% of the world's population, approximately 1 billion people, live along the Yangtze River and with that population increase, so did the need for development. There was an increase of pollution in the river affecting the river ecosystem. As industrialization moved into the area, cities grew along the shores of the Yangtze. This led to erosion in the river habitat and increased sediment in the rivers. The increased sediment was not as problematic for the Chinese paddlefish because of its unique paddle which it used to find prey in the murky waters. Overfishing was one factor that caused the population of paddlefish to decrease. In the 1970's, about 20 tons of paddlefish were caught per year. Even at this time the population could have rebounded as one female paddlefish can produce up to 100,000 eggs. Its biggest vulnerability was its life cycle. The Chinese paddlefish was anadromous, meaning that they swam upriver to spawn, the same way salmon do. In 1981 the Gezhouba Dam was created on the main stem of the Yangtze River. No salmon ladders were constructed into this dam, so the Chinese paddlefish were blocked from going upstream to spawn. This also fragmented the already dwindling population. By the late 1980's the average fish catch was down to less than 5 tons per year. By 1993, the Chinese paddlefish was considered 'functionally extinct' meaning there might still be fish in the Yangtze River but the population was too fragmented and too low to rebound. The last living specimen was caught and tagged in 2003. The tag stopped working soon after the fish was released, so there was no way to determine what happened to it. In 2003, the Three Gorges Dam was constructed which would have even further impacted this species if they had still been in the Yangtze. Most scientists agree the Chinese paddlefish went extinct sometime between 2005 and 2010. Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Chinese paddlefish might be a candidate. Scientists would potentially use DNA from specimens at museums. If the pinyin was brought to life, could it ever be reintroduced to its native homeland in the Yangtze River in China? While there were many efforts to protect the species found in the Yangtze River, the continuing population growth and development of other dams might make a return to China difficult. Today the Yangtze sturgeon is facing a similar fate to the Chinese paddlefish. It was last seen in the Yellow River in the 1960's. The dams affect its ability to spawn upriver. In the 1970's a captive breeding facility was established. In 1988, a fishing ban for sturgeon was put in place. On July 1, 2022 the sturgeon was listed as extinct in the wild. Efforts to breed and release the Yangtze sturgeon continue to keep the species from going extinct, but the released fish are still not breeding. Perhaps a similar future could await the Chinese paddlefish if it ever was resurrected from the dead.