Editing Chinese paddlefish (section)

== Taxonomy and evolutionary history ==
[[File:Psephurus gladius.jpg|thumb|Scientific drawing of ''Psephurus gladius'' from 1868 (resource: ''Nouvelles Archives du [[National Museum of Natural History, France|Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]]'')]]
The species was first named as a species of ''[[Polyodon]]'' by [[Eduard von Martens]] in 1862.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Über einen neuen ''Polyodon'' aus dem Yantsekiang und über die sogenannten ''Glaspolypen'' |journal=Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin |volume=1861 (pt. 1) |date=2 May 1861 |access-date=29 July 2022 |pages=476–479 |url=https://archive.org/details/monatsberichtede18611knig/page/476/mode/1up }}</ref> It was placed into a separate, [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] genus by [[Albert Günther]] in 1873.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Günther |first=Albert |year=1873 |title=Report on a collection of fishes from China |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |series=4 |volume=12 |issue=69 |pages=239–250 |doi=10.1080/00222937308680749 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19214311 }}</ref> The species was also given a different name, ''Spatularia angustifolium'' by [[Johann Jakob Kaup]] also in 1862,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kaup |first=J.J. |year=1862 |title=Eine neue Art von Spatularia |journal=Archiv für Naturgeschichte |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=278–281 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ktKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA278 }}</ref> but this is considered a [[Synonym (taxonomy)|junior synonym]] of ''P. gladius.''<ref name="FAO fact sheet" />

[[Paddlefish]] (Polyodontidae) are one of two living families of [[Acipenseriformes]] alongside [[sturgeon]]s (Acipenseridae). The oldest records of Acipenseriformes date to the [[Early Jurassic]], over 190 million years ago. The oldest paddlefish fossil is that of ''[[Protopsephurus]]'' from the [[Early Cretaceous]] of China, dating to around 120 million years ago.<ref name=Grande2002>{{Cite journal |last1=Grande |first1=Lance |last2=Jin |first2=Fan |last3=Yabumoto |first3=Yoshitaka |last4=Bemis |first4=William E. |date=2002-07-08 |title=Protopsephurus liui , a well-preserved primitive paddlefish (Acipenseriformes: Polyodontidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of China |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634%282002%29022%5B0209%3APLAWPP%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=209–237 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0209:PLAWPP]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=86258128 |issn=0272-4634 |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-date=16 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716112521/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634%282002%29022%5B0209%3APLAWPP%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The oldest representatives of the genus containing the American paddlefish (''Polyodon'') date to around 65 million years ago, from the beginning of the [[Paleocene]].<ref name="Murray2020">{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Alison M. |last2=Brinkman |first2=Donald B. |last3=DeMar |first3=David G. |last4=Wilson |first4=Gregory P. |date=3 March 2020 |title=Paddlefish and sturgeon (Chondrostei: Acipenseriformes: Polyodontidae and Acipenseridae) from lower Paleocene deposits of Montana, U.S.A. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=e1775091 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1775091 |bibcode=2020JVPal..40E5091M |s2cid=222213273}}</ref> Various [[molecular clock]] estimates have been given for the age of the [[Genetic divergence|divergence]] between the American and Chinese paddlefish, including 68 million years ago<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Peng |first1=Zuogang |last2=Ludwig |first2=Arne |last3=Wang |first3=Dengqiang |last4=Diogo |first4=Rui |last5=Wei |first5=Qiwei |last6=He |first6=Shunping |date=March 2007 |title=Age and biogeography of major clades in sturgeons and paddlefishes (Pisces: Acipenseriformes) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790306003678 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=854–862 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.09.008 |pmid=17158071 |bibcode=2007MolPE..42..854P |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630180950/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790306003678 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> 72 million years ago,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shedko |first=S. V. |date=June 2022 |title=Molecular Dating of Phylogeny of Sturgeons (Acipenseridae) Based on Total Evidence Analysis |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/s1022795422060084 |journal=Russian Journal of Genetics |volume=58 |issue=6 |pages=718–729 |doi=10.1134/s1022795422060084 |s2cid=250059162 |issn=1022-7954|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and 100 million years ago,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=Yanjun |last2=Yang |first2=Na |last3=Liu |first3=Zhihao |last4=Chen |first4=Qiliang |last5=Li |first5=Yingwen |date=September 2020 |title=Phylogenetic perspective on the relationships and evolutionary history of the Acipenseriformes |journal=Genomics |language=en |volume=112 |issue=5 |pages=3511–3517 |doi=10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.02.017 |pmid=32105795 |s2cid=211555175 |doi-access=free }}</ref> all dating to the middle to [[Upper Cretaceous]].

Relationships of recent and fossil paddlefish genera, after Grande ''et al.'' (2002).<ref name=Grande2002/>
{{clade|{{clade
|label1=Polyodontidae
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1=†''[[Protopsephurus]]''
       }}      
    |2={{clade
     |label1=
      |1={{clade
        |1=†''[[Paleopsephurus]]''
         }}
       |label2=Polyodontinae
       |2={{clade
         |1=†'''''Psephurus''''' [[File:Psephurus gladius.jpg|70px]]
         |2={{clade
          |1=†''[[Crossopholis]]''
          |2=''[[Polyodon]]'' [[File:Paddlefish (white background).jpg|70px]]
          }}
        }}
      }}
    }}
  }}|style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%}}