Animal Life Cycles

Unit 4, Lesson 6

A series of distinct growth stages in an animal’s life cycle that are different from one another.

What is metamorphosis?

A series of four distinct growth stages in an animal’s life cycle.

Egg, larva, pupa, adult

What is complete metamorphosis?

An immature stage in complete metamorphosis where the organism does not resemble the adult

Larva

A non-feeding stage in complete metamorphosis in which a hard, case-like cocoon surround the organism

Pupa

A series of three growth stages that occur gradually

Egg, nymph, adult

Incomplete metamorphosis

A stage of metamorphosis where the organism is similar to an adult form but is smaller

Nymph

Larva

In the life cycle of a butterfly, what stage is the caterpillar?

The organism gets bigger but keeps the same basic shape and form

What happens during the nymph stage of incomplete metamorphosis?

Complete metamorphosis has 4 distinct stages, while the incomplete metamorphosis has only 3 distinct stages.

How does the complete metamorphosis differ from the incomplete metamorphosis?

Most tadpoles are herbivores, or plant eaters

What do tadpoles eat?

Frog eggs are laid in the water. If tadpoles hatched with lungs rather than gills, they would not be able to breathe.

Tadpoles are completely aquatic for the first part of their lives

Why don’t tadpoles hatch with lungs?

It moves onto landBreathes airBegins meat eating diet

What happens when a froglet becomes an adult?

The shell keeps the embryo from drying out.

The yolk provides food for the developing embryo.

How does a bird’s egg protect the embryo developing inside?

It is protected by a jellylike layer that surrounds the egg

How is a fish or amphibian egg protected?

Butterflies Moths Flies Beetles

Name some animals that go through complete metamorphosis

Grasshoppers Termites Bedbugs

Name some animals that go through incomplete metamorphosis

In incomplete metamorphosis, the nymph stage is the same as the larva stage in a complete metamorphosis, and the pupa stage is skipped.

What metamorphosis stage is skipped in incomplete metamorphosis?

Grasshoppers have an exoskeleton

Why can’t grasshoppers grow gradually like mammals, reptiles, and birds do?

Amphibians go through metamorphosis, but other vertebrate do not.

How does an amphibian’s life cycle differ from that of other vertebrates?

Animals have different eggs depending on their structures and the environments in which they live.

Why do animals have different eggs?

Monotremes are the only mammals that lay eggs.

What are the only mammals that lay eggs?