Further information: Prehistoric Lepidoptera
The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago.[5] Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is Protocoeliades Kristensen from the Palaeocene-aged Fur Formation of Denmark, approximately 55 million years old, which belongs to the family Hesperiidae (skippers).[6] Molecular clock estimates suggest that butterflies originated sometime in the mid-Cretaceous, but only significantly diversified during the Cenozoic.[7] The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene Prodryas Persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds,[8][9] approximately 34 million years old.[10]
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