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Study Shows 300-Million-Year-Old Tetrapods Skipped Metamorphosis

6/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

U.S. researchers Pardo and Field Museum curator Arjan Mann published a Science study that challenges early tetrapod development assumptions.
Scientists had assumed early tetrapods began as aquatic tadpoles and later metamorphosed into terrestrial adults despite no direct evidence.
Examining 300-million-year-old embolomer babies, the team found these crocodile-eel predators likely did not follow an amphibian-like metamorphosis.

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Story summary

U.S. researchers Pardo and Field Museum curator Arjan Mann published a Science study that challenges early tetrapod development assumptions.
Scientists had assumed early tetrapods began as aquatic tadpoles and later metamorphosed into terrestrial adults despite no direct evidence.
Examining 300-million-year-old embolomer babies, the team found these crocodile-eel predators likely did not follow an amphibian-like metamorphosis.