Early Tetrapod Development
Early Tetrapod Development
Articles on developmental biology of early tetrapods, including larval stages, metamorphosis, and the evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial life cycles.
early tetrapod developmentJun 29, 20265 min
The First Land Vertebrates Never Had a Tadpole Stage — Fossils Rewrite 300 Million Years of Evolution
A new study of 300-million-year-old fossils reveals that early tetrapods developed directly from egg to miniature adult, skipping the aquatic larval phase biologists assumed was essential for the water-to-land transition — and suggesting amphibian metamorphosis is actually a later evolutionary innovation, not an ancient stepping stone.