Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Exquisite fossils show butterflies appeared before there were flowers to pollinate

"315,000-Year-Old Fossils From Morocco Could Be Earliest Recorded Homo Sapiens"

by Ben Guarino January 10 at 2:00 PM

[VIDEO] 1:29
Researchers are studying ancient fragments of insect wings to understand how these animals evolved. (Rixt Heerschop & Timo van Eldijk)

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/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/10/exquisite-fossils-show-butterflies-appeared-before-there-were-flowers-to-pollinate/?utm_term=.e1071f9ae292

Triassic-Jurassic Lepidoptera fossils. Some 200 million years ago.

If you asked Trump about a moth he might run for a mirror. He would likely believe humans were better survivors.