. 24/7 Space News .
EARLY EARTH
Indiana University paleobotanist plays role in discovery of 'Jurassic butterflies'
by Staff Writers
Bloomington IN (SPX) Feb 04, 2016


This is an artist's rendering of Oregramma illecebrosa consuming pollen drops from bennettitales, an extinct order of plant from the Triassic period. Image courtesy Vichai Malikul. For a larger version of this image please go here.

IU paleobotanist David Dilcher is a co-author on a study out this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: B that identifies a Jurassic age insect whose behavior and appearance closely mimic a butterfly - but whose emergence on Earth predates the butterfly by about 40 million years.

Dilcher - who made international Indiana University paleobotanist plays role in discovery of 'Jurassic butterflies's last year for his role in discovering the mythical "first flower" - said these proverbial "first butterflies" survived in a similar manner as their modern sister insects by visiting plants with "flower-like" reproductive organs producing nectar and pollen.

The butterfly-like insects, which went on to evolve into a different form of insect from the modern butterfly, is an extinct "lacewing" of the genus kalligrammatid called Oregramma illecebrosa. Another genus of this insect - of the order Neuroptera - survives into our modern era, and are commonly known as fishflies, owlflies or snakeflies.

The discovery of the insect was made possible by the examination of well-preserved fossils recently recovered from ancient lake deposits in northeastern China and eastern Kazakhstan. The study was led by Conrad Labandeira, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, and Dong Ren of Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, where the fossils are housed.

"Poor preservation of lacewing fossils had always stymied attempts to conduct a detailed morphological and ecological examination of the kalligrammatid," Dilcher said.

"Upon examining these new fossils, however, we've unraveled a surprisingly wide array of physical and ecological similarities between the fossil species and modern butterflies, which shared a common ancestor 320 million years ago. "

The species are an example of convergent evolution, Dilcher explains, where two distantly related animals develop similar characteristics independently.

As a paleobotanist, Dilcher contributed to the study by describing these ecological similarities, including the insect's relationship to a type of fossilized plant found in the same region of China as the insect fossils.

An extinct order of seed plants called bennettitales, these plants first appeared about 250 million years ago during the Triassic period, surviving for nearly 200 million years until the end of the late Cretaceous period.

Based on their examination, which drew in part upon microscopically small clues such as the fossilized remains of food and pollen trapped in the mouthparts of the insects, Dilcher and colleagues concluded kalligrammatid fed upon bennettitales using a long tongue to probe nectar deep within the plant.

The insects also possessed hairy legs that allowed for carrying pollen from the male flower-like reproductive organs of one plant to the flower-like female reproductive organs of another.

Eventually, this system of pollination by long-tongued lacewings traveling between plants with exposed reproductive parts - called gymnosperms - gave way to more familiar system of insect pollinators and modern flowers, or angiosperms, in which the reproductive parts of the plants are contained with a protective seed.

However, another evolutionary innovation found in the ancient lacewing fossils' wings remained remarkably unchanged over the course of millennia: so-called "eye spots."

This unique pattern on the wings, arising over 200 million years ago, is nearly identical to markings on the modern owl butterfly. To this day, owl butterflies use these circular marks as a defense mechanism against predators, which mistake the spots as the eyes of a larger, more threatening animal.

Evolution is a great innovator, Dilcher said. But at the same time: "if it worked once, why not try it again."

Research Paper: The evolutionary convergence of mid-Mesozoic lacewings and Cenozoic butterflies


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Indiana University
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
EARLY EARTH
Moon was produced by a head-on collision between Earth and a forming planet
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2016
The moon was formed by a violent, head-on collision between the early Earth and a "planetary embryo" called Theia approximately 100 million years after the Earth formed, UCLA geochemists and colleagues report. Scientists had already known about this high-speed crash, which occurred almost 4.5 billion years ago, but many thought the Earth collided with Theia (pronounced THAY-eh) at an angle ... read more


EARLY EARTH
Russia postpones manned Lunar mission to 2035

Audi joins Google Lunar XPrize competition

Lunar mission moves a step closer

Momentum builds for creation of 'moon villages'

EARLY EARTH
Mars Rover Opportunity Busy Through Depth of Winter

India to Cooperate With France on Next Mission to Mars

Opportunity rock abrasion tool conducts two rock grinds

Curiosity gets a good taste of scooped, sieved sand

EARLY EARTH
Challenger disaster at 30: Did the tragedy change NASA for the better?

Voyager Mission Celebrates 30 Years Since Uranus

Arab nations eye China, domestic market to revive tourism

2016 Goals Vital to Commercial Crew Success

EARLY EARTH
China aims for the Moon with new rockets

China shoots for first landing on far side of the moon

Chinese Long March 3B to launch Belintersat-1 telco sat for Belarus

China Plans More Than 20 Space Launches in 2016

EARLY EARTH
Russian Cosmonauts to Attach Thermal Insulation to ISS

Astronaut Scott Kelly plays ping pong with water

Japanese astronaut learned Russian to link two nations

NASA, Texas Instruments Launch mISSion imaginaTIon

EARLY EARTH
70th consecutive successful launch for Ariane 5

AMOS-6 Scheduled for May 2016 Launch by Space-X

SpaceX Tests Crew Dragon Parachutes

Arianespace's year-opening Ariane 5 mission is approved for launch

EARLY EARTH
Astronomers discover largest solar system

Lonely Planet Finds a Mum a Trillion Km Away

Follow A Live Planet Hunt

Lab discovery gives glimpse of conditions found on other planets

EARLY EARTH
Energy harvesting via smart materials

Imaged 'jets' reveal cerium's post-shock inner strength

ChemChina 'eyeing Syngenta' in biggest ever Chinese takeover

Controlling the magnetic properties of individual iron atom









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.