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Metamorphosis is the process by which an animal undergoes a fundamental and quite rapid change in body structure and ecology during its lifetime. Many species of invertebrates and vertebrates experience transformations to a more or less dramatic extent, at one or more stages of their lives. The transitions from caterpillar to pupa to butterfly, or from tadpole to adult frog, are just a couple of noteworthy examples.
This Collection brings together some of the latest studies expanding our fundamental knowledge of metamorphosis, animal development and morphogenesis, with the underlying genomic, proteomic and epigenetic mechanisms, as well as the implications to species’ ecology and conservation.