Fossils show that butterflies and moths are older than flowering plants

Butterfly Fossil
Photo source: crystalinks.com

Dutch scientists have discovered the oldest fossils of moths and butterflies. The fossils of the insects are more than seventy million years older than the oldest fossils of flowering plants. Timo van Eldijk and Bas van de Schootbrugge from Utrecht (The Netherlands) University made the discovery together with German and American colleagues. Previously it was thought that flowering plants and pollinating insects had evolved together, but the moths and butterflies were found to exist before that time. It also became clear that moths and butterflies, unlike other life forms, did not become extinct during the transition from the Triassic period to the Jurassic period (201 million years ago). "In fact, it seems that they have benefited from the drastic changes in their environment," they say in Utrecht. The animals seem to have become more diverse.


Moth Fossil
Photo source:  inverse.com

The new discovery also suggests that the food of the oldest moths and butterflies came from non-flowering seed plants. The fossil remains in question, wing and body scales of the moths and butterflies, have been found in the German Lower Saxony. The researchers published their findings in the journal Science Advances, which appeared on Wednesday.

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