Interesting things can be hidden in preserved shit. In addition to providing clues about long vegetation, almost everything trapped in ancient dung and withstanding the test of time offers a glimpse into prehistoric life. Latest example? A small treasure buried in poop from 236 million years ago.
While it may not be as attractive as the Amber bug, this feces fossil left behind a birch-sized herbivore in today’s Argentina contains the oldest physical evidence of butterflies and moths ever discovered. According to researchers at the Argentine Regional Centre for the Scientific Research and Transfer of Technology at La Rioja (Crilar), this searchIt is published in Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Immediately after the biggest extinction event in Earth’s history, we were able to see that the butterfly appeared much earlier than previously thought.
Butterfly fossil gap
About 250 million years ago, life on earth was coming to a dangerous end. The mass extinction of the Endopermians It wiped out about 90% of all species, causing a slow, chaotic recovery. As ecosystems reconstructed themselves in the early Triassic period, new groups of insects began to evolve, perhaps in response to changes in the plant world.
Genetic data suggested that butterflies (more broader, the calpididae) could have appeared about 241 million years ago, but the oldest physics fossils, which we only went back two million years, dates back to the early Jurassic. There was a 40 million years gap in the fossil record.
read more: Mass extinctions in the late Permian period were explained
Examination of feces fossils
The key to solving this evolutionary mystery comes from an unlikely location: a fossilized poop deposit in Argentina’s Taranpaya National Park. The site was unearthed by Crilar paleontologists since 2011. Prehistoric communal toiletsthe area where plant-eating animals come back repeatedly to do business. Such behaviors are still observed in some herbivores today and may serve both social and defensive purposes.
When scientists began examining fecal fossils (officially known as coprolite) under a microscope, they found something surprising: lengths below 200 microns (or about the width of two human hairs), the kinds commonly found on butterflies and moth wings. These hollow patterned scales are a critical feature of the calpid order. The structure was unique enough to encourage researchers to name new species. Amphitiri eloisae.
This discovery places the calpids straight in the Triassic period, about 3,000-4,000 years ago than previously proven.
Butterfly in front of the flower
It doesn’t just mean pushing back the timeline. Researchers believe Amphitiri eloisae It may belong to a subgroup of the order calpids known as Glossata. It features a long tube-like tongue that is usually used by modern butterflies and moths to suck nectar from the flowers.
However, in the Triassic region, forests consisted only of coniferous trees and CYCAD. The flowers do not exist yet. These non-flowing plants secreted sugar droplets for pollination. This was a small treat that was the perfect food source for insects containing early substances. This means that the distinctive feeding structure of butterflies is likely evolved for these ancient nectar substitutes, not for flowers.
Based on this, researchers estimate that it may have first evolved between 260 and 244 million years ago, shortly after mass extinction. Its adaptation may have helped early butterflies and moth survive the harsh new world.
While whole body fossils offer even more clear insights, these reduced scales give us an incredible part of the evolutionary puzzle. They not only suggest that butterflies are much older than we thought, but also how life bounced back after the worst extinction of the planet, slowly changing into the vibrant ecosystem we see today.
read more: Dozens of disguised butterflies
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Jenny has worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs in three countries, and is good at translating complex scientific concepts, ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to modern nutritional discoveries. Her interests range from topics such as human evolution, psychology, and eccentric animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching or cruising waves around Vancouver Island with her longboard.
