''Archaeolepis mane'' is amongst the earliest undisputed lepidopteran fossils. It dates from the

Lower Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma&nb ...

(ca ). It was found in the Charmouth Mudstone Formation,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, United Kingdom.

Etymology

''Archaeolepis'' means 'ancient scale', referring to the antiquity of the specimen, and the

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

(modified and flattened hairs characteristic of butterflies and moths) that identify it as a Lepidopteran. The species name, ''A. mane'' means 'dawn', further emphasising that it is the earliest known member of this group.

Discovery

The fossil was found by J. F. Jackson (1894-1966) of

Charmouth Charmouth is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England. The village is situated on the mouth of the River Char, around north-east of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimated that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 1,31 ...

, and later purchased by the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum ...

. The fossil of ''Archaeolepis'' was not studied until the 1980s, when it was described as a type of early lepidopteran, the family that includes butterflies and moths. The fossil (which comprises a wing) is just over 5 mm long (0.2 inches) and 2 mm wide.

Significance

The fossil of ''Archaeolepis'' consists of wings with scales that are similar to those in

lepidopterans Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described specie ...

. Recent re-examinations have backed up this conclusion. When it was found it pushed the known fossil range of lepidopterans back another 50 million years. This was surprising, because it had been assumed that butterflies and moths first emerged alongside flowering plants in the Cretaceous. Finding ''Archaeolepis'' in the Early Jurassic, means that the first members of this group must have originated earlier. Similar scales to those of butterflies and moths have been found in earlier deposits from the Latest Triassic, and some researchers argue this, along with evidence from genes, provides evidence for a much earlier appearance of the group.Wahlberg, N., Wheat, C.W. and Peña, C. 2013
Timing and patterns in the taxonomic diversification of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
''PLOS one'', 8(11), p.e80875. But the identification of these fossils is disputed, so ''Archaeolepis'' remains the oldest confirmed fossil lepidopteran.

References

External links

Genus ''Archaeolepis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4034280 Early Jurassic insects Fossil taxa described in 1985 Transitional fossils † Fossil Lepidoptera Prehistoric insects of Europe Prehistoric insect genera