metamorphosis
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
BioKIDS home | Questions? | Animal Diversity Web | Cybertracker Tools
BioKIDS is sponsored in part by the Interagency Education Research Initiative.
It is a partnership of the University of Michigan School of Education, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the Detroit Public Schools. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL-0628151.
Copyright © 2002-2009, The Regents of the University of Michigan. All rights reserved.
