A new study has reported the discovery of the oldest known insect scales, likely from an early relative of butterflies or moths.
The findings suggest that Lepidoptera – the order of winged insects that includes butterflies and moths – may have evolved tens of millions of years before flowering plants appeared.
The specimen was found at embedded in Triassic coprolite (fossil dung) in the Chañares Formation in La Rioja Province in northwestern Argentina.
Researchers say that, like the coprolite, the scales date to the Triassic era, significantly earlier than when flowering plants are believed to have started appearing. This predates the previously oldest lepidopteran record by about 35 million years.
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