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Graphic showing butterfly specimen overtop portion of the largest butterfly tree of life ever created Download this image.
January 26, 2024

Butterfly phenology

Graphic showing a butterfly specimen overtop a portion of the largest butterfly tree of life ever created. The "tree" was assembled with DNA from more than 2000 butterfly species and representing all butterfly families and 92% of genera.

[Research supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grants DBI 1601369 and IOS 1920895.]

Learn more in the NSF Research News story Butterfly tree of life reveals an origin in North America. (Date of image: 2023; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Jan. 12, 2024)

Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace; phylogeny by Hillis, Zwickl and Gutell


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