Yangtze or Yangzi is the longest river in Eurasia, the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows 6,300 km (3,915 mi) in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the fifth-largest primary river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population.
River dolphins are a polyphyletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. Extant river dolphins are placed in two superfamilies, Platanistoidea and Inioidea. They comprise the families Platanistidae, the recently extinct Lipotidae, Iniidae and Pontoporiidae. There are five extant species of river dolphins. River dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Artiodactyla, with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives the hippopotamuses, from which they diverged about 40 million years ago. Specific types of dolphins can be pink.
The Chinese paddlefish, also known as the Chinese swordfish, is an extinct species of fish that was formerly native to the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China. With records of specimens over three metres and possibly 7 m (23 ft) in length, it was one of the largest species of freshwater fish. It was the only species in the genus Psephurus and one of two recent species of paddlefish (Polyodontidae), the other being the American paddlefish. It was an anadromous species, meaning that it spent part of its adult life at sea, while migrating upriver to spawn.
The Asian giant softshell turtle, also known commonly as Cantor's giant softshell turtle and the frog-faced softshell turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is native to Southeast Asia. The species is critically endangered and in the 20th century has disappeared from much of its former range.
The black softshell turtle or Bostami turtle, previously placed in genus Aspideretes, is a species of freshwater turtle found in India and Bangladesh. It was long believed to consist of inbred individuals of the Indian softshell turtle or the Indian peacock softshell turtle, but while it is a close relative of the latter, it is a distinct species. In the 1800s it was believed these turtles were brought from Iran to Chittagong shrine pond by Hazrat Bayezid Bostami. His turtles he had brought to this pond were treated as sacred and respected by the public. Previously declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2002, these turtles were found still to exist in a temple's pond called the Hayagriva Madhava Temple located in Assam, and in Kalyan Sagar lake in Tripura Sundari Temple in Udaipur, Tripura, India. Through conservation methods and protection of the species, some of these turtles can be found today throughout the wild, and scientists and environmental biologists are continuing to work hard to preserve this endangered species and their natural habitat. Their mitogenome represents relatedness to 19 other species of the Testudines. When looking at the phylogenetic tree, Nilssonia nigricans is a sister group to Nilssonia formosa.
Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals are a diverse group of mammals that dwell partly or entirely in bodies of water. They include the various marine mammals who dwell in oceans, as well as various freshwater species, such as the European otter. They are not a taxon and are not unified by any distinct biological grouping, but rather their dependence on and integral relation to aquatic ecosystems. The level of dependence on aquatic life varies greatly among species. Among freshwater taxa, the Amazonian manatee and river dolphins are completely aquatic and fully dependent on aquatic ecosystems. Semiaquatic freshwater taxa include the Baikal seal, which feeds underwater but rests, molts, and breeds on land; and the capybara and hippopotamus which are able to venture in and out of water in search of food.
The Yangtze giant softshell turtle, also known commonly as the Red River giant softshell turtle, the Shanghai softshell turtle, the speckled softshell turtle, and Swinhoe's softshell turtle, is an extremely rare species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. It may be the largest living freshwater turtle in the world. The species is native to eastern and southern China and northern Vietnam. With a known population of only two or three individuals, and with the last known females dying out, this species is considered functionally extinct.
The Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition 2006 was a six-week search expedition undertaken in November and December 2006 in central China in an attempt to locate continued proof of the existence of the endangered baiji Yangtze dolphin. It was carried out under the direction of the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology and the Swiss-based baiji.org Foundation and was notable for drawing to an end without any positive results. Thus it was announced that the species was functionally extinct.
A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range. Classification requires exhaustive surveys conducted within the species' known habitat with consideration given to seasonality, time of day, and life cycle. Once a species is classified as EW, the only way for it to be downgraded is through reintroduction.
This article is a list of biological species, subspecies, and evolutionary significant units that are known to have become extinct during the Holocene, the current geologic epoch, ordered by their known or approximate date of disappearance from oldest to most recent.
The baiji is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolphin species driven to extinction due to the impact of humans. This dolphin is listed as “critically endangered: possibly extinct” by the IUCN, has not been seen in 40 years, and several surveys of the Yangtze have failed to find it. In China, the species is also called the Chinese river dolphin, Han river dolphin, Yangtze dolphin and whitefin dolphin. Nicknamed the "Goddess of the Yangtze", it was regarded as the goddess of protection by local fishermen and boatmen. It is not to be confused with the Chinese white dolphin or the finless porpoise. This is the only species in the genus Lipotes.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is a species of toothed whale in the family Phocoenidae, the porpoise family. It is endemic to the Yangtze River in China, making it the country's only known freshwater cetacean following the possible extinction of the baiji, a freshwater dolphin also native to the Yangtze. The Yangtze finless porpoise is considered endangered and it is estimated that only about 1,000 remain. This small toothed whale faces many of the same threats as the baiji: High human activity on the Yangtze, such as illegal fishing, pollution, boat traffic, and dam construction. Due to the rapidly declining population of the species, the Chinese government and conservation charities are working to help save it from extinction.
