Exquisite fossils show butterflies appeared before there were flowers to pollinate

[rangerrebew]

Exquisite fossils show butterflies appeared before there were flowers to pollinate

By Ben Guarino

January 10, 2018 at 2:00 PM
 
The two paleontologists dissolving rock cores more than 200 million years old were looking for vestiges of freshwater algae. Instead, tiny fragments of insect scales caught their eye — remnants that a report published Wednesday identifies as the oldest evidence of butterflies and moths.

A series of fortunate events led to this discovery, which dates the insects to around 70 million years earlier than previously known, well before there were flowers around that they could pollinate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/10/exquisite-fossils-show-butterflies-appeared-before-there-were-flowers-to-pollinate/