For many years, an “incredibly scarce” fossil remained unclassified at Japan’s Museum of Unusual Bug Fossils.
Identified in 1988 within the Hyogo Prefecture, the
impression of a big butterfly
The wing and body have been identified as belonging to an extinct species previously unknown to science, according to a study released in May and published in the journal Paleontological Research.
Tacola kamitanii, named after fossil discoverer Kiyoshi Kamitani, stands out due to its “exceptionally wide” wing span, which is believed to measure almost 3.5 inches, as stated in the research.
According to researchers, this marks the first butterfly fossil discovered from the Early Pleistocene epoch, indicating that Tacola kamitanii was probably
existed from 2.6 million to 1.8 million years ago
.
According to researchers, it is the newest instance of an extinct butterfly species.
The extinct species was a member of the Limenitidini subfamily of butterflies. Living examples from this subfamily include
viceroys and admirals
. This is the first named fossil from the Limenitidini subfamily, researchers said.
“Butterfly fossils are extremely rare,” researchers said in the study. “Butterfly bodies and wings are fragile and buoyant, making them less likely to be preserved as fossils than other insect groups.”
The fossil is considered to be from a female butterfly based on its large body size and “very thick” abdomen, according to the study.
Tacola kamitanii may have lived in warm to mild zones as the Japanese islands shifted from a warm to a cold climate a global temperatures shifted from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, researchers said.
The researchers indicated that finding this fossil in Japan expands the range of the Taccola butterfly group and implies “that during the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene” period, these species were broadly spread across Southeast Asia and East Asia.
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According to the research, the fossil was found in the town of Shin’onsen located in the northeastern part of Hyogo Prefecture. Shin’onsen lies approximately 115 miles northeast of Osaka.
The research team comprised Hiroaki Aiba, Yui Takahashi, and Kotaro Saito.
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