As in, why did certain animals evolve to become very vulnerable for a short amount of time just to change a lot?
In: Biology
In nature you need to be very very cost efficient.
In our modern lifes we might exercise just to get relaxed but in nature such expenses might be deadly.
Having an extra arm might be good but it costs you too much in evolutionary stand point.
You have added mass and tissue you need to feed. So it is better to not have it.
Metamorphosis is strategy of “i will have it when i need it”
During metamorphosis many trade-offs are made. To beacome suitable for next step in their life cycle.
For example luna moth just yeets out digestive system when they mature and goes all in to mate. When you look at it they crawl around to eat as much as they can and turn into flying mode to reach out to find a mate.
They got rid of the cost of wings ( energy cost, bigger target) when developping and has flying reach wjen they go out to find mate.
Evolution is game of trial and error. Much more species had loose the game compared to the ones are still playing.
Metamorphosis is a strategy allows them to find better fitting solutions.
Another example of tadpoles to frogs.
Having an aquatic birth system allows more offsprings even in colder or drier climates. When you think about life is easier in aquatic environment and it is harder in land. So they use easy kickstar with that change.
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