IFL Science reports on the (beautiful) discovery of a (well-preserved) butterfly from 34 million years ago … a specimen with visible, identifiable wing patterns and veins that was originally excavated and ignored in 1979:
“This discovery highlights the importance of protected fossil deposits and the enduring value of museum collections and historical discoveries, which are often only recognized decades later and provide important scientific findings through new analyses”, Professor Dr Torsten Wappler, study author from the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt, said in a statement.
This fresh look revealed that the beautiful specimen was a new genus and the newly described species, called Apaturoides monikae, which fluttered through prehistoric forests between 34 and 28 million years ago.
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“This fossil find suggests that the Apatura lineage is either older than molecular analyses suggest, or that today’s Apatura species have preserved characteristics of their ancestors over long periods of time. In any case, the find provides an important empirical basis for better understanding when and how the most important butterfly groups evolved and diversified,” added [lead author Hossein] Rajaei.
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You can read more of the ancient emperor analysis here, in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.