Origin and diversification of butterflies through geologic time
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Butterfly evolution is the origin and diversification of butterflies through geologic time and over a large portion of the Earth's surface. The earliest known butterfly fossils are from the mid Eocene epoch, between 40-50 million years ago.[1][dubious – discuss] Their development is closely linked to the evolution of flowering plants, since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on flowering plants. Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families.
^Hall, J.P.W., Robbins, R.K. and Harvey, D.J. (2004). "Extinction and biogeography in the Caribbean: new evidence from a fossil riodinid butterfly in Dominican amber." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271: 797–801. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2691 PMID 15255097
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Butterflyevolution is the origin and diversification ofbutterflies through geologic time and over a large portion of the Earth's surface. The earliest...
order of winged insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total...
Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is...
moths from butterflies are not well established, one very good guiding principle is that butterflies have thin antennae and (with the exception of the family...
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the...
Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes...
example of co-evolution, a number of highly successful insect groups — especially the Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants) and Lepidoptera (butterflies) as...
provided as an overview of and topical guide to evolution: In biology, evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological organisms over...
(2004). "Sea gulls, butterflies, and grasshoppers: A brief history of the butterfly effect in nonlinear dynamics". American Journal of Physics. 72 (4): 425–427...
two of which were: Monarch Butterflies: Increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to 225 million butterflies occupying an area of approximately...
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family ofbutterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members...
evolution, especially butterflies. His best-known work includes symbioses between caterpillars, ants and plants, and community level biodiversity of rainforest...
Convergent evolution is the independent evolutionof similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous...
wings flat when resting. They are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies, because they are known to stand on only four legs while...
The evolutionof cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) 50 million years ago (mya) and to...
studies of mimicry in some North American butterflies: Part I. The monarch, Danaus plexippus, and viceroy, Limenitis archippus archippus". Evolution. 12 (1):...
replaced in August by another Dolphins member, Bobby Elliott. The lineup of Clarke, Nash, Hicks, Haydock and Elliott remained stable for almost three...
osmeterium. Unlike most butterflies that have exposed pupae, they pupate inside a loose silken cocoon. Parnassius species ofbutterflies are often hard to identify...
These butterflies have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespans for any butterfly. It is also the state insect of the U.S. state of Montana...
The evolutionof mammalian auditory ossicles was an evolutionary process that resulted in the formation of the bones of the mammalian middle ear. These...
Ehrlich, P. (1961). How to Know Butterflies. Dubuque, Iowa: WM. C. Brown Company Publishers. Neck, R. (1996). Butterfliesof Texas. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing...
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