#this is called a homeotic transformation

[markscherz]

Just learned that tadpoles with injured tails sometimes regenerate them with extra legs

[src]

So that's neat.

#the more you know #frogs #science #animals #zoology #developmental biology #holy shit #this is called a homeotic transformation #and I think I have only really heard about them in fruitflies #so seeing it in frogs really fucked me up #how incredibly cool #I always thought the creatures from Pandora could not exist in vertebrates #because homeotic transformations in the *middle* of the trunk were basically impossible to achieve in a survivable manner #but it had not occurred to me that you could just… add more to the end #this changes everything