The study of the structure and form of plants and animals is known as morphology
Morphology studies the sizes, shapes, and structures of plants, animals, and microbes, as well as the interactions between their parts
Butterflies originated in the Americas about 100 million years ago
Using genome sequencing estimated the time of origin of butterflies from moths and dispersal of butterflies from North America, which is their place of origin, to the rest of the world
butterflies originated in the Americas in the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years after the origin of flowering plants.
The Cretaceous is a geological period that occurred approximately 145 to 66 million years ago.
It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era and is known for being the final period of the "Age of Dinosaurs."
Butterflies dispersed from North America to Europe relatively quickly about 75 million years ago due to the landmass then being nearly contiguous
The dispersal from North America to Asia was through colder northern regions and happened around 60 million years ago.
North America largely being a temperate region has far less diversity compared with the tropical region in South America and Asia.
Speciation is far higher in the tropics than the temperate region.
the greater diversity of habitats, and far higher diversity and absolute number of plant species that serve as source of food for butterflies serve as main drivers for higher speciation of butterflies in the tropics.
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