Using the largest butterfly tree of life ever created, scientists have determined where the first butterflies originated and which plants they relied on for food. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace and phylogeny by Hillis, Zwickl, and Gutell
SciTechDaily has an article about the evolution of butterflies. A paper in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution details new evidence about the origin of butterflies about 100 million years ago. Until recently, the order lepidoptera was thought to have arisen as a result of predation by bats after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
Roughly 100 million years ago, a pioneering group of moths began to venture out during the day instead of night, seizing the opportunity presented by flowers abundant in nectar that had evolved alongside bees. This single event sparked the evolution of the entire butterfly species.
Since 2019, through extensive DNA analysis, scientists have known the precise timing of this evolutionary shift, debunking a previous theory that suggested the rise of butterflies was a result of pressure from bats following the extinction of dinosaurs.
Now, scientists have discovered where the first butterflies originated and which plants they relied on for food.
Before reaching these conclusions, researchers from dozens of countries had to create the world’s largest butterfly tree of life, assembled with DNA from more than 2,000 species representing all butterfly families and 92% of genera. Using this framework as a guide, they traced the movements and feeding habits of butterflies through time in a four-dimensional puzzle that led back to North and Central America. According to their results, recently published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, this is where the first butterflies took flight.
For lead author Akito Kawahara, curator of lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History, the project was a long time coming.
