Metamorphosis

Biology

Zoology

Developmental plasticity

Poikilotherm

Juvenile

Larva

Thermodynamics

Phenotypic plasticity

Polyphenism

Plasticity

Abiotic component

Ecology

Amphibian

Physics

Neurobiology of Stress

The environment experienced by developing organisms can shape the timing and character of developmental processes, generating different phenotypes from the same genotype, each with different probabilities of survival and performance as adults. Chordates have two basic modes of development, indirect and direct. Species with indirect development, which includes most fishes and amphibians, have a complex life cycle with a free-swimming larva that is typically a growth stage, followed by a metamorphosis into the adult form. Species with direct development, which is an evolutionarily derived developmental mode, develop directly from embryo to the juvenile without an intervening larval stage. Among the best studied species with complex life cycles are the amphibians, especially the anurans (frogs and toads). Amphibian tadpoles are exposed to diverse biotic and abiotic factors in their developmental habitat. They have extensive capacity for developmental plasticity, which can lead to the expression of different, ada...

Stress hormones mediate developmental plasticity in vertebrates with complex life cycles