metamorphosis

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metamorphosis

metamorphosis [Gr.,=transformation], in zoology, term used to describe a form of development from egg to adult in which there is a series of distinct stages. Many insects , amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, and fishes undergo metamorphosis, which may involve a change in habitat, e.g., from water to land. Metamorphosis is called complete when there is no suggestion of the adult form in the larval stage, e.g., in the transformation from tadpole to frog or from larva to pupa to adult in bees and butterflies. When the successive larval stages resemble the adult (as in the grasshopper and the lobster), metamorphosis is called incomplete.

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metamorphosis

A Dictionary of Biology | 2004 | Â© A Dictionary of Biology 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

metamorphosis The rapid transformation from the larval to the adult form that occurs in the life cycle of many invertebrates and amphibians. Examples are the changes from a tadpole to an adult frog and from a pupa to an adult insect. Metamorphosis often involves considerable destruction of larval tissues by lysosomes, and in both insects and amphibians it is controlled by hormones.

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