“Leptree fossil data-base”: The first step to construct molecular “backbone” phylogeny and dating of Lepidoptera

Recent increased interest in the value of fossils for phylogenetic and molecular dating studies has highlighted the importance of fossils whose taxonomic position and age are well-defined. The availability of such fossils is strongly taxon-dependent. The Lepidoptera is one of the animal groups which are rarely preserved as fossils, due to the fragility and buoyancy of the body and wings. It is estimated that only about 600-700 total specimens of fossil Lepidoptera are known (Kristensen & Skalski, 1998), and for very few of these has the systematic position been rigorously established. To maximize the utility of fossils for the reconstruction and dating of lepidopteran phylogeny, the Leptree project is undertaking a critical review of the fossil record of Lepidoptera. In the first phase of this review, we are attempting to assemble a complete catalogue of the known fossil species of Lepidoptera in an on-line data base. For each fossil species we are recording state of preservation, depository, geographical and chronological information, and all previously suggested taxonomic positions, as well as multiple images. In the second phase, we will use the on-line catalog to enlist all interested lepidopteran group experts as well as paleontologists in critical scrutiny of the identification and age assignments of these fossils. The result, we hope, will be a freely accessible, greatly expanded set of securely placed and dated fossils for use in systematic and divergence time studies of Lepidoptera.