蝴蝶早已飞过沧海桑田
thursday，Jan 11
2018
Newly discovered fossils show that moths and butterflies have been on the planet for at least 200 million years.
最新发现的化石显示蛾类和蝴蝶已经在地球上至少生存了两亿年。
Scientists found fossilised butterfly scales the size of a speck of dust inside ancient rock from Germany.
科学家在德国一块古代的岩石里发现的蝴蝶翅膀鳞片化石只有一粒灰尘的大小。
The find pushes back the date for the origins of the Lepidoptera, one of the most prized and studied insect groups.
这一发现将鳞翅类的起源进行了倒推，而这一类是被研究和鉴赏得最多的昆虫类。
Researchers say they can learn more about the conservation of butterflies and moths by studying their early evolution.
研究者们称通过研究蝴蝶和蛾类的早期进化可以得知更多关于它们的起源。
They used acid to dissolve ancient rocks, leaving behind small fragments, including "perfectly preserved" scales that covered the wings of early moths and butterflies.
他们用酸溶解古代的岩石，留下小碎块，其中就包含有完美保存着的覆盖早期蛾类和蝴蝶的鳞片。
"We found the microscopic remains of these organisms in the form of these scales," said Dr Bas van de Schootbrugge from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
“我们发现了这些组织的显微残留物很像鳞片的形式。”荷兰乌得勒支大学的巴斯.范德.斯古布拉格博士说。
Intriguingly, they show that some of the moths and butterflies belonged to a group still alive today that have long straw-like tongues for sucking up nectar.
有趣的是，它们表明这些古代的蛾类和蝴蝶所属的种类至今仍然存活着，它们拥有长长的吸管一样的舌头用于吸食花蜜。
"These finds push back the evolution of this group with proboscises - with a tongue - by about 70 million years," said Dr van de Schootbrugge.
“这些发现讲这种长有长喙—舌头—的种类的进化回推了七千万年左右，”范德.斯古布拉格博士说。
"Our finds show that the group that was supposed to co-evolve with flowers is actually much older."
“我们的发现表明这种本来应该跟花朵一起协同进化的种类实际上要更为古老。”
The Jurassic was a world dominated by gymnosperm plants, such as conifers, which produced sugary nectar to capture pollen from the air.
侏罗纪时代是裸子植物的天下，例如针叶树，它们会生产甜蜜来捕捉空气中的花粉。The primitive insects may have fed on this nectar, before flowering plants came along around 130 million years ago.
在开花植物于一亿三千万年前左右出现以前，原始的昆虫可能就以这些蜜为食。
Dr Russell Garwood of the University of Manchester, who is not connected with the study, said it had always been assumed that coiled mouthparts had evolved alongside the flowers that these animals pollinate.
曼彻斯特大学的罗素，加伍德博士，他并没有直接参与此次研究，说道我们原本一直以为拥有卷曲的喙是于这些昆虫授粉的花朵一起进化的。
"This new evidence suggests that perhaps the coiled mouthparts had another role, before flowering plants evolved," he said.
“这次的新证据表明也许这些卷曲的喙在开花植物进化出来以前还有别的作用，”他说。
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, gives clues to how butterflies and moths became so widespread, thriving on every continent except Antarctica.
这项研究发表在了《科学前沿》杂志上，为蝴蝶和蛾类如何遍布世界，在除了南极之外的所有大洲上都繁荣昌盛提供了线索。
The early Lepidopterans survived the mass extinction at the end of the Triassic, which wiped out many other living things.
早期的鳞翅目在三叠纪末期的大灭绝中幸存，而很多生物都在此次事件中灭亡了。
This knowledge will help inform modern conservation efforts, said Dr Timo van Eldijk, also of Utrecht University, the lead researcher on the study.
这一知识也将帮助指导现代的保育学的行动，同样来自乌特勒支大学的蒂莫.范.艾迪克博士说，他是这些研究的领头研究者。
The information is "paramount to help us piece together how current manmade climate change might affect insects and their evolution in the future", he said.
“这项研究意义重大，可以帮助我们理解现有的人类对气候的改变将会如何影响昆虫和它们将来的进化，”他说。
Butterflies and moths are fragile creatures, meaning fossil evidence is rare.
蝴蝶和蛾类都是脆弱的生命，意味着化石证据非常稀少。
Scientists have relied largely on DNA evidence from modern butterflies and moths, which can be used to make an evolutionary tree of life.
科学家们主要依赖现代蝴蝶和蛾类的DNA证据用来绘制它们的进化树。
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