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When do fossils clearly related to sturgeons and paddlefishes first appear?
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chondrostean
Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) swimming along the seafloor of the Black Sea.
Fossils that are clearly related to sturgeons and paddlefishes—which belong to the order Acipenseriformes—first appear in the fossil record during the Middle Jurassic Epoch, approximately 174 million to 163.5 million years ago.1
While the exact origins of this order remain uncertain, they are understood to have been derived from palaeonisciform groups. The earlier evolutionary history of the Acipenseriformes is considered poorly documented and confused. Some researchers suggest that certain suctorial feeders from the Chondrosteiformes order, which were prominent from the Early Triassic to the Late Jurassic, may have given rise to modern sturgeons.12