British swallowtail split from European cousins much earlier than thought, study finds (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 days ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/nature@feddit.uk

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The endangered swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon britannicus, which is only regularly found breeding in Britain on the Norfolk Broads, has been a distinct subspecies for at least 200,000 years, according to a study.

Smaller, darker in colour and much rarer than the continental swallowtail, britannicus was previously considered to have developed its distinctive form during its confinement in the wetlands of eastern England over the last 8,000 years, after the flooding of Doggerland.

But the new genetic study suggests britannicus is a wetland specialist and may have once occurred much more widely in north European wetlands, separating from its continental cousins between 200,000 and 1.7m years ago.

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this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2026

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