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Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families.
They evolved about the time that flowering plants underwent an expansive adaptive radiation in the mid-Cretaceous, and the Gelechioidea that evolved at this time also have great diversity. Whether the processes involved co-evolution or sequential evolution, the diversity of the Lepidoptera and the angiosperms increased together.
Declining butterfly populations have been noticed in many areas of the world, and this phenomenon is consistent with the rapidly decreasing insect populations around the world. At least in the Western United States, this collapse in the number of most species of butterflies has been determined to be driven by global climate change ...
Vultures are a result of convergent evolution: both Old World vultures and New World vultures eat carrion, but Old World vultures are in the eagle and hawk family (Accipitridae) and use mainly eyesight for discovering food; the New World vultures are of obscure ancestry, and some use the sense of smell as well as sight in hunting. Birds of both ...
A Lepidoptera specimen drawer in a museum collection in Poland Another Lepidoptera specimen drawer in a museum collection in Poland. Lepidopterology (from Ancient Greek λεπίδος (lepídos) ' scale ' πτερόν (pterón) ' wing ' and -λογία [1]) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies.
National Geographic's Ed Yong says Cooper's research supports a newer theory about the flightless bird family: that they "evolved from small, flying birds that flapped their way between continents ...
Lepidoptera (/ ˌ l ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɒ p t ər ə / LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths.About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, [1] [2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families [3] and 46 superfamilies ...
Birds are one of only four taxonomic groups to have evolved powered flight. A number of animals are capable of aerial locomotion, either by powered flight or by gliding. This trait has appeared by evolution many times, without any single common ancestor. Flight has evolved at least four times in separate animals: insects, pterosaurs, birds, and ...