Who I was, covered up in leaves

[sovay]

My mother heard on the radio this afternoon that butterfly fossils prove that the proboscis evolved a full geologic period before flowering plants did.

Me: "So what were they eating with them?"

My mother: "Aha!"

(She's suspecting carrion.)

Comments

[sovay]

Yes, the modern butterflies that get minerals from mud & bird poop was the first thing I thought of.

Maybe it's just the publications, but I feel weirdly as though the paleontology is being too high-minded about this!