METAMORPHOSIS

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insects, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, Cnidarians, echinoderms and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is usually accompanied by a change of habitat or behavior.

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metamorphosis

Noun

  1. A transformation, such as that of magic or by sorcery
  2. A noticeable change in character, appearance, function or condition.
  3. A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development. (e.g. the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog.)
  4. A change in the structure of a specific body tissue. Usually degenerative.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: metamorphosis
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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